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3 Best Places to Dispose Food Truck Waste Water

Where Food Truck Dump Grey Water

Are you about starting a food truck and you are wondering where food trucks dump waste water? If YES, here are 3 best places to dispose food truck waste.

Indeed, it may not be the most exciting part of owning a mobile food business, but getting rid of waste water from your truck is very necessary. The exact place will depend on the municipality you are licensed, and you may also have to complete this task daily or multiple times a week.

Food truck waste waters are generated from your truck’s hand and three compartment sinks, which must be disposed of in an approved grease interceptor at your commissary or commercial kitchen.

Types of Waste Water

Waste water in a food truck can be classified into two types: Grey water and Black water. Grey water differs from water from the toilets (very few food trucks have toilet facilities unless you have a full sized trailer) which is called sewage or black water to indicate it contains human waste.

How you remove these waste waters is critical from a legal perspective and you’ll face stiff fines or have your vending license revoked if you fail to meet this requirement. Regardless of the legal ramifications, disposing of this waste water correctly is the right thing to do.

It ensures that your waste won’t make anyone sick or backup sewer systems of your local municipality. Note that one easy recommendation is to ask your local health department for a list of approved resources in your area. Below are a few of the most common ways you can dispose of waste water:

Where Do Food Trucks Dump Grey Water?

1. Commissaries

Note that this is one of the most common locations for food trucks to dispose of their waste water at the end of the shift. Most commissaries will have a location setup where you can hook an external hose to release water into a grease interceptor.

2. Restaurants

If as a food truck owner you already own a restaurant, then this is your best option. If not, you’ll have to have to find another business owner that you can exchange value for and potentially pay a small fee. It is advisable you reach out to smaller restaurant owners that would be happy to do this for a small fee.

3. RV Dump Stations

Ensure you consult with your health department if this is an option in your area. Believe it or not, RVs have similar waste from bathrooms and cooking that food trucks do.

The hook up and disposal is similar as well. Nonetheless, when it comes to mobile vending the rules are a little bit different no matter where you go. Consulting with your local officials is the safest way to ensure that you’re following the letter of the law.

How to Get Ready to Discharge Your Food Truck Waste Water

While waste and wastewater may not be the most appealing part of running a food truck business, these two are major issues with regards to anti-food truck regulations. Below are factors to consider when you want to dispose of waste water from your truck.

  1. Know the Regulations

Even before you start your food truck business; it is pertinent you understand mobile food vending regulations in your council as it relates to Waste Management.

Have it in mind there is a slight difference in the waste disposal process across the councils, but nearly all of them need you to have a proper waste storage system within your truck. For example, in most US cities, you have to submit your truck for inspection and design approval.

Laws stipulate that solid waste, water waste, and other pollutants litter must be contained in the truck before disposing of them appropriately in a designated waste disposal facility. Failure to follow the laws may lead to prosecution and even worse, cancellation of your operating licenses.

  1. Obtain an Approved Waste Disposal System

If you are thinking of starting a food truck business, then you are mandated to install an approved wastewater system that meets your local council requirements. After you have installed appropriated sized waste tanks, you have to ensure you have a way of connecting your tank to an external disposal system through a horse to simplify the disposal.

However, some trucks have a grease trap. You should also ensure that there is no leakage from the waste system because you don’t want the inspectors from your council to be the first one to discover such faults.

  1. Locate Approved Disposal Facilities

Most cities and counties in the united states have a location set aside for solid and wastewater disposal. In most cases, food trucks dispose of wastewater into a grease interceptor. Some unethical vendors just dump waste water on the street, in the storm water, or in non-commercial drains.

These substances are harmful, and they usually contain soap, grease, food particles, chlorine, or bacteria. This is why it is very pertinent for food truck businesses to have a dedicated storage site or a commissary kitchen to ease waste disposal.

Ideal food trucks have a drain at the ground level and have a way to connect the truck’s wastewater tank into the drain. However, if you don’t have such a setup, you can still use a bucket to carry wastewater to a sink or container connected to a grease trap.

As for other waste, you should only dump it on your storage or commissary site. Garbage cans and chip boxes can assist in transferring the trash from the track to the designated dumping point.

Checklist for Food Truck Waste Water Disposal

1. Begin by pulling up to your approved waste water dump station, placing your holding tank drain valve as close to the opening of the dump station as possible. Note that this will make sure that if there is an accident, it will be contained within the dumping area.

2. Wear the latex gloves and get your sewer hose out. Before removing the cap to the holding tank drain opening, the gray water valve is usually closed.

3. Make sure to check your sewer hose to make sure the hose is securely clamped to the adapter that attaches to the holding tank drain outlet. Remove the cap and attach the sewer hose, ensuring the adapter is completely attached. You can tell if it is when the tabs on the adapter are lined up with the stubs on the tank drain.

4. Infuse the other end of the sewer hose into the dump station hole about four to six inches. Use the holes’ cover, a brick, or something heavy enough to hold the sewer hose in place so it doesn’t come out of the hole.

5. Immediately you are certain everything is secured, pull open the grey water tank valve. You will hear the effluent rush through the hose, start to slow down, and finally become a trickling sound.

6. At this point, close the gray tank valve.

7. If you decide to flush and rinse your tank again, you can do so by filling the tank to 2/3 full and repeat the emptying process. If others are waiting to use the dump station, be courteous and skip this step.

8. Always ensure you recheck that the tank valve is closed and disconnect the sewer hose from your truck’s tank outlet. Replace the tank outlet cover.

9. Lift the end of the sewer hose (the end you just disconnected) to completely drain the hose into the dump station. If a non-potable water hose is available, run water through the sewer hose to rinse it out. Remove the sewer hose from the dump station hole and rinse the outside of the hose. Rinse the area around the hole to ensure that any spillage has been cleaned up and cover the dump station hole.

10. If you use a water treatment solution in your grey water tank, go in to your food truck and add about five gallons of water to your tank and then add the appropriate amount of holding tank treatment.

Conclusion

Never try to dump your food truck waste water at home (or anywhere else that is not approved). Have it in mind that the build up from your gray water will plug the sewer systems and it will get back to you.

In recent times, water companies now have ways to send cameras down plumbing lines to identify where the source of a problem is coming from. If the problem is you, you’ll have to pay for it.