In October the city of Bismarck will declare war on cooking grease, starting with an education program to "Fight the Grease Menace."

"We're seeing a lot of grease, not only at the treatment plant, but in the sewer system," said Keith Demke, director of utility operations. "We're planning a public-education program, which will hopefully include a media blitz, along with a brochure we're going to send out with all the water bills in October."

Also in the works is an ordinance aimed at discharge of cooking oils and grease by food-service establishments. Demke said that any ordinance for residences would be tough to enforce and not cost-effective. But the utility department has identified parts of town, particularly where there are a number of restaurants, where a lot of grease is being put down the sewer.

"Luckily, we've identified the areas that have problems and have caught most of them with regular maintenance," Demke said. "We have a program in which we go through all the city's pipes on a three-year basis. There are areas we've identified where the pipe cleaning has to be done quarterly."

The extra treatment of cleaning pipes with high-pressure jetting equipment is putting a strain on utility resources, according to Demke. Following a recent EPA audit of the sewer system, the city was ordered to come up with a plan to control oil and grease. The plan calls for education and the discharge ordinance.

The city is hoping that once residents understand that dumping grease down drains has some severe consequences, they will find other methods of disposing of the grease.

A better practice, Demke advises, is to simply put the grease in a can or similar waste container, let it harden and then throw it in the garbage, where it can be taken to the regular landfill for disposal.

For industrial-type users, there are grease collectors who will pick it up for recycling.

"The city actually has a grease dumpster at the public works building. We'd accept grease from fryers and all the cooking oil you can bring in," Demke said. "The city has someone that comes in and picks it up for recycling. We haven't seen a lot of use of this because not a lot of people know it's available."

When people dump the grease down the drain, it's usually in liquid form, and they figure it will just run through the system, Demke says. But once it hits cold water, the grease solidifies.

"Once it cools off and sets up you begin to have an obstruction in the service line," Demke said. "It's not until too late they see the consequences, and getting the blockages cleaned is expensive."

Demke says there is still a lot of work to do on the ordinance. He's hoping it will be brought to the city commission before the end of the year.

(Reach reporter Gordon Weixel at 250-8255 or gordon.weixel@;bismarcktribune.com.)