White Paper: Fats, Oil, and Grease (FOG) Microbiology Metabolic Pathways of FOG Removal Potential

The degradation of fats, oil, and grease that collect within the wastewater treatment system is critical for quality of life and economic reasons. Large amounts of FOG are deposited into waste streams on a continuous basis particularly where there are high numbers of restaurants or food processing facilities. When FOG enters the waste stream it tends to congeal at the entrance and within the piping system creating flow problems and odors due to the property of being poorly soluble in water. Some microbes are particularly useful in biodegrading most of the fats, oils, and grease deposited in the waste-stream.