Sewerage Pretreatment
Help Protect Our Pipes
What is the Pretreatment Department?
The Pretreatment Department is responsible for identifying, eliminating, controlling, or reducing the discharge of harmful pollutants discharged into the sanitary sewer collection system from homes, commercial buildings, and industrial facilities, before the pollutants enter the wastewater treatment plant.
What does this mean for you?
Many of the items that end up in our pipes can lead to clogs, or even break a sewer line if enough pressure builds up. This can create sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs) in our neighborhoods, which are costly to clean and repair. Remember…
TOILETS ARE NOT TRASHCANS!
"Flushable" wipes DO NOT break down like regular toilet paper.
Please only flush the 3 P's:
- Poop
- Pee
- Paper (Toilet)
DO NOT FLUSH!
| Hair | Medications |
| Diapers | Gum Wrappers |
| Paper Towels | Flushable Wipes |
| Tissues | Dental Floss |
| Cotton Swabs | Cigarettes |
| Baby Wipes | Cotton Balls |
| Cleaning Wipes | Kitty Litter |
| Bandages | Women's Hygiene Products |
| Makeup Remover Wipes | Facial Cleansing Pads |
Did you know that “flushable” isn’t a regulated term? That means that you can claim a product is flushable even if it can cause clogs in your pipes. So-called flushable wipes really aren’t flushable – they don’t break down in the pipes and can cause costly plumbing issues for you and your family!
Put fats, oils, grease, and food scraps in the trash, NOT down the drain.
Protect Your Pipes
Clogged and broken pipes allow raw sewage to back up into your home, lawn, neighborhood, streets, and our local bayous.
Fats, oils, and grease (FOG) come from meat fats, cooking oil, shortening, lard, butter, margarine, gravy, mayonnaise, salad dressings, sour cream, and other products.
FOG in our pipes clings to materials like wipes that have been flushed or roots that have entered sewer pipes underground, creating clogs. These clogs can cause sewer pipes to break, bringing untreated wastewater back up into homes and businesses or into our neighborhoods. When manholes overflow into parks, yards, streets, and storm drains, FOG and bacteria can contaminate local waters, including drinking water. Exposure to untreated water is a serious health hazard.
Communities spend BIG every year unplugging or replacing grease‐blocked pipes, repairing pump stations, and cleaning up costly wastewater spills.
Keeping FOG, wipes, and other items out of our pipes helps everyone and protects our canals, Lake Pontchartrain, and the river, too.
Resources
Map of Oil and Grease Drop Off Sites
Application to DischargePDF
Pretreatment Enforcement Response PlanPDF
Under the requirements of 40 CFR 403.B(f) (5), Industrial Pretreatment Program Control Authorities are required to identify, document and respond to industrial pretreatment violations of Section 16.2-4 of the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans Plumbing Code.
Pretreatment Ordinance Section 16.2-16.4PDF
Rules Governing Discharges into the Public Sanitary Sewerage System
New F.O.G. Ordinance Section 16.5PDF
Rules governing discharge of fats, oils, grease in the Public Sanitary Sewerage System
Food Establishment's Grease Trap Interceptor Discharge Permit Application and InstructionsPDF
List of Licensed Plumbers (Plumbing Roster) on the Plumbing Information Page
Companies authorized to inspect and certify grease traps and/or interceptors for permit issuance:
- Liquid Environmental Solutions of Texas (504) 466-5995
- DARPRO Solutions (800) 536-9804
- Flo More Sewer Services (985) 340-4949
- BROVAC Environmental Service (504) 905-6864
- CCC Environmental Services (504) 505-2091
- Flip De Lis (504) 919-6699 or (504) 920-1701
- Safeway Used Oil and Grease (504) 234-8248
- Rebirth Bio-Fuels (985) 250-0054