Wastewater Department
NOTES TO YOU

GREASE: Wastewater discharges containing high concentrations of fats, oils and grease from restaurants and other food handling facilities contribute to more than half of the blockages or overflows in the city’s wastewater collection system. To effectively address the issue, the City of Malvern is in the process of developing a Grease Management Program that will change the city code in the form of an ordinance.

The purpose of the grease management ordinance is to establish uniform permitting, maintenance and monitoring requirements for controlling the discharge of grease from food service facilities discharging into the city’s wastewater collection system and commercial grease haulers.

Sewer Maintenance on Main Wastewater Lines
The Wastewater Division’s primary responsibility for the sewer system is to maintain unobstructed wastewater flow in the collection system. To accomplish this, the Wastewater Fleet routinely cleans sewer lines and performs preventive maintenance and repairs.

Sewer Stoppages
When a stoppage occurs, contact the Malvern Water Office at 332-3634, Mon-Fri 8 AM – 4:30PM or 332-2171 after hours and on holidays. The City will assess the stoppage to determine if the blockage is on the City’s side of the sewer line or the homeowner's side of the sewer line. The City of Malvern will clear blockages that occur in the main sewer line. Homeowners are responsible for blockages that occur in the sewer lateral, located between the clean out pipe and the dwelling. If there is no clean out pipe at the edge of the property (service renewal done by wastewater service crew), the homeowner is responsible for blockages that occur anywhere in the sewer lateral.

Helpful Hints:

Help us keep your plumbing bills, and possible rate increases down by observing the following:

• No grease down the drains. (Cooking oils, fats, etc..)
• No motor oils down drains. (This is illegal; take oil to a collection site.)
• No egg shells down disposals or drains. Dispose of these in solid waste bins.
• No kitty litter or coffee grounds down disposals or drains. These gritty materials sink, causing blockages in the line.

• Do not use clean outs or manholes to drain flooded areas during heavy rains -- this overloads the sanitary sewer system and can cause overflows
• Report broken clean-out caps at property lines or right-of-way -- they are city maintained and will be replaced.