Proper floor drains for clean, safe facilities

Choose a flooring installation specialist to install proper floor drains, and keep the floors in your food and beverage processing plant clean, safe, and up to code.

Food safety has become an important headline of mainstream news lately, and proper floor drains can impact safety in a number of ways. Studies show an estimated one in six Americans affected by foodborne diseases each year. That’s about 48 million people every 365 days.

This is no news to companies that build, work in and maintain food processing and beverage manufacturing facilities. Deadly pathogens such as the norovirus, salmonella, e-coli, and others can be easily transmitted by everyday procedures like processing products on a previously contaminated surface, or unknowingly passing contamination from one product to the next simply by handling it. For the food and beverage industry, minimizing and eliminating food contamination through proper facility design and sanitation protocols is always top of mind.

Federal Regulations & Certifications

The Code of Federal Regulations sets guidelines for good manufacturing practices that help food and beverage companies alleviate the danger of contamination in their plants, such as:

Floors, walls, and ceilings must be kept clean and in good repair

Moisture from fixtures, ducts, and pipes must not contaminate food, contact surfaces or food packaging materials

Aisles or workspaces between equipment and walls must be unobstructed and wide enough for employees to perform efficiently without contaminating food or contact surfaces through clothing or personal contact

Plumbing must be of adequate size, design, and installation to carry sufficient quantities of water to and from required locations throughout the plant, including sewage, disposing of waste, and drainage

In addition, guidelines set by the Safety Quality Food Institute (SQF) help food and beverage manufacturing facilities meet specific codes and achieve SQF certification, which validates that consistent food safety conditions are maintained throughout their facility.

This brings us to adequate drainage and high-performance flooring solutions.

Make Proper Drainage Part of the Plan

The best way to avoid potential contamination issues, slip-and-fall injuries, and maintenance nightmares in your facility is to make proper drainage part of a good construction plan.

Food and beverage facility operators must prevent standing water in order to prevent the growth of mold and bacteria. Surface Solutions flooring installers can re-slope the substrate if it’s a flat floor before installing a high-performance flooring system, so water flows easily to the drain.

A few more rules of thumb:

Use the right type of drain for the duty required

If an area in your facility is subject to flood-type cleaning protocols or where normal operations release water or other liquid waste onto the floor, provide exceptional floor drainage there
Provide separate dedicated waste systems grease and solids waste with interceptors to mitigate the contaminants

Use 4 inch-diameter piping for process-waste
Cast iron piping is recommended for waste at a temperature of 140 °F and above

Have the lines of your existing waste system scoped to determine the condition, location, and pitch of the pipes before re-using them in a new system

Never run waste piping below a freezer, which could lead to flow and clogging issues, pipe fractures, and leakage

About Surface Solutions

Surface Solutions is an independent industrial floor contractor specializing in seamless, polymer flooring systems utilizing the most trusted brands in the industry. From testing to consultation and complete installation services, Surface Solutions is your premier source of non-toxic, safe, and environmentally friendly flooring systems, offering turnkey installations using only in-house personnel. All installations come with a complete single-source warranty.