What to Specify on a Food and Beverage Facility: Industrial Flooring, Grease Separation, and Sewage Treatment

Food and beverage facilities are among the most technically unforgiving building types in construction. The margin for specification error is narrow. A floor coating that cannot handle thermal shock will fail within months of commissioning. A drainage system without proper grease separation will block, create odour, and put the facility out of compliance with environmental regulations. A sewage treatment system that is undersized or incorrectly specified will become an operational liability that no amount of maintenance can fix.

These are systems where getting it right at specification stage is not just a matter of building performance, it is a matter of food safety, regulatory compliance, and operational continuity.

HOMNA has delivered construction systems across leading food and beverage facilities in East Africa, including Coca-Cola Beverages Uganda in Kampala, KFC across Rwanda and Uganda, Inyange Industries in Kigali, and Harris International in Kampala. This guide draws on that experience to walk engineers and architects through the three systems that define whether a food and beverage facility performs or fails, and what the correct specification looks like for each one.

Industrial Flooring: The Foundation of Every Food and Beverage Facility

The floor is the most heavily used surface in any food and beverage facility. It carries the full weight of production equipment, forklifts, pallet jacks, and constant foot traffic. It is exposed daily to thermal shock from steam cleaning, chemical aggression from cleaning agents and food acids, and wet conditions that never fully dry out during production hours. A standard epoxy coating does not survive this environment. The specification needs to match the actual conditions of the space.

Understanding the exposure conditions

Before selecting a flooring system for a food and beverage facility, the specification needs to account for four key variables:

Thermal shock occurs when hot liquids, steam cleaning equipment, or high-pressure washdown systems hit a cold floor surface. The rapid temperature differential causes standard coatings to delaminate from the substrate, often within the first year of operation. This is the most common cause of premature flooring failure in food production environments.

Chemical aggression from food acids, citric acid from fruit processing, lactic acid from dairy production, acetic acid from fermentation, attacks standard epoxy binders and degrades the coating over time. Cleaning chemicals add a second layer of chemical exposure that compounds the problem.

Mechanical loads from production equipment, forklifts, and heavy palletised goods create point loads and abrasion that standard floor coatings cannot sustain under continuous production conditions.

Hygiene requirements demand a seamless, impermeable surface with no joints, cracks, or surface irregularities where bacteria, moisture, and food residues can accumulate. A floor with surface defects is a food safety risk, and a regulatory compliance issue in any facility subject to food safety inspection.

The correct specification: Sika Ucrete heavy-duty polyurethane concrete flooring

For food and beverage production floors, processing areas, filling lines, cold stores, washdown bays, and loading areas, Sika Ucrete heavy-duty polyurethane concrete flooring is the system that resolves all four exposure variables simultaneously.

Sika Ucrete heavy-duty polyurethane concrete flooring is a polyurethane concrete system, a hybrid material that combines the compressive strength of concrete with the chemical and thermal resistance of polyurethane. It is the global specification standard for food and beverage flooring, and it is the system HOMNA has installed across food production facilities in Rwanda.

The key performance characteristics that make Sika Ucrete heavy-duty polyurethane concrete flooring the correct specification for this environment are:

Thermal shock resistance up to 120°C, meaning the floor withstands steam cleaning and hot liquid spills without delaminating or cracking. This is the performance threshold that standard epoxy systems cannot reach.

Chemical resistance against a broad spectrum of food acids, cleaning chemicals, and disinfectants, maintaining surface integrity under the daily chemical exposure of a production environment.

Compressive strength sufficient for forklift traffic, heavy production equipment, and palletised loads, without the surface cracking or joint failures that compromise hygiene and create trip hazards.

Seamless, impermeable surface that meets food safety standards for hygienic floor design, with coved skirting details at floor-wall junctions that eliminate the recesses where contamination accumulates.

Zoning the flooring specification

A food and beverage facility is not a single floor environment, it contains multiple zones with different exposure profiles, and the flooring specification should reflect that.

Production and processing areas carry the highest thermal, chemical, and mechanical loads and require the full Sika Ucrete heavy-duty polyurethane concrete flooring specification at appropriate thickness, typically 6mm to 9mm build depending on the severity of the environment.

Dry storage and warehousing areas face mechanical loads from forklifts and racking systems but lower chemical and thermal exposure. A high-build epoxy system like SikaFloor 161 epoxy primer and coating or SikaFloor 264 self-smoothing epoxy floor is appropriate here, providing the load resistance and seamless hygiene surface required without the cost premium of a full polyurethane concrete system.

Cold stores and freezer rooms present a specific challenge, the flooring system must perform at sub-zero temperatures without becoming brittle or losing adhesion. SikaDur 504 and SikaDur 507 epoxy systems are formulated for low-temperature environments and maintain their performance characteristics through the freeze-thaw cycling that standard systems cannot tolerate.

Staff welfare areas, offices, and corridors within the facility can be specified with standard SikaFloor epoxy coatings, appropriate for the lighter traffic and lower exposure conditions of non-production spaces. View Sika Industrial Flooring Solutions

Grease Separation: A Non-Negotiable Specification for Any Food Facility with a Kitchen

Every food and beverage facility that includes a commercial kitchen, whether it is a quick service restaurant, a staff canteen in a production plant, or a full food processing operation with cooking lines, generates grease-laden wastewater that cannot be discharged directly into the drainage network.

Fats, oils, and grease discharged without separation solidify in drainage pipework, accumulate in inspection chambers, and eventually block the system entirely. The consequences are predictable: drainage failure, odour complaints, pest attraction, and regulatory non-compliance, all of which carry operational and reputational costs that dwarf the cost of a correctly specified separator.

How grease separation works

A grease separator intercepts kitchen wastewater before it enters the main drainage system and separates the fats, oils, and grease from the water through a controlled retention and flotation process. The separated grease accumulates in the unit and is removed during periodic maintenance. The treated effluent, now within acceptable grease concentration limits, discharges into the drainage network.

The ACO grease separation range

HOMNA supplies the full ACO Grease and Starch Separator range, engineered systems that are sized and specified based on the volume of wastewater generated by the kitchen operation.

ACO Grease Separators are specified for commercial kitchens and food service operations where animal fats and vegetable oils are the primary contaminants. Sizing is calculated based on the number of meals served, the type of cooking processes, and the peak flow rate of kitchen drainage, and getting this calculation right at specification stage is what determines whether the system performs in service.

ACO Starch Separators are specified for food processing operations where starch-based food residues, from potato processing, bread production, pasta manufacturing, and similar operations, are the primary drainage contaminant. Starch behaves differently from grease in a drainage system and requires a dedicated separation process.

ACO Lipusmart compact grease separators are engineered for smaller kitchen operations, quick service restaurants, cafeterias, and staff canteens, where space is constrained but the drainage specification still requires compliant grease removal before discharge.

Positioning and installation

The grease separator must be positioned downstream of all kitchen drainage outlets and upstream of the connection to the main drainage network, typically installed below floor level in a dedicated plant area adjacent to the kitchen. Access for maintenance and desludging must be designed into the specification from the outset, because a grease separator that cannot be maintained will not be maintained.

On HOMNA's food and beverage projects, including KFC and Inyange Industries, solutions being integrated into the drainage design from the earliest specification stage, ensuring regulatory compliance and long-term operational reliability. View ACO Drainage Solutions

Sewage Treatment: Specifying for Facilities That Cannot Connect to Municipal Infrastructure

Not every food and beverage facility in Rwanda sits within reach of adequate municipal sewage infrastructure. Production plants on industrial sites, facilities in peri-urban locations, and large-scale food processing operations often generate wastewater volumes and effluent characteristics that require on-site treatment before any discharge, to a watercourse, a soakaway, or a municipal connection with concentration limits.

Getting the sewage treatment specification wrong has consequences that extend beyond the site boundary, environmental contamination, regulatory penalties, and community relations issues that can threaten the operating licence of the facility.

Understanding the wastewater profile

Food and beverage facilities generate wastewater with significantly higher biological oxygen demand (BOD) and suspended solids concentrations than standard domestic sewage. Process washdown water, equipment cleaning, and production residues all contribute to an effluent stream that requires more robust treatment than a standard septic system can provide.

The specification needs to account for peak flow rates, which in a food production facility can be significantly higher than average flows during shift changeovers and cleaning cycles, as well as the specific contaminants generated by the production process.

The ACO sewage treatment range

ACO Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) is an engineered biological treatment system that processes wastewater through a controlled aeration and settlement process, reducing BOD, suspended solids, and pathogen concentrations to levels suitable for discharge in compliance with local environmental standards.

For food and beverage facilities, the STP specification must be sized to handle not just the daily average flow but the peak hourly flow generated during production and cleaning operations. Undersizing the treatment capacity is the most common specification error on industrial wastewater systems, and it results in a system that is constantly in hydraulic overload, producing inadequately treated effluent.

ACO Wastewater Treatment Plant extends the treatment capability for facilities where the effluent stream requires additional processing, including nutrient removal, pH correction, or enhanced solids separation, before discharge compliance can be achieved.

ACO Lipusmart compact treatment systems serve smaller food service operations where the wastewater volume is lower but on-site treatment is still required, providing a space-efficient, low-maintenance solution for restaurants, canteens, and small food processing units in locations without municipal sewage connections.

Integration with the drainage system

The sewage treatment system does not sit in isolation, it is the endpoint of the entire site drainage network, and the specification needs to consider how the various wastewater streams from the facility are collected, pre-treated where necessary, and delivered to the treatment plant.

In a food production facility, this typically means separate drainage networks for processed wastewater, which may require pre-treatment through grease or starch separation before entering the main treatment system, and for domestic sewage from welfare facilities, which can be directed to the treatment plant without pre-treatment.

The ACO channel drainage system, including ACO Drain Monoblock and ACO Drain Qmax Neo slot drainage system, provides the surface collection infrastructure that feeds the treatment system, with appropriate load ratings for the forklift and vehicle traffic common in food production environments. View ACO Water Management Systems

Supporting Systems: Completing the Food and Beverage Facility Specification

Beyond the three primary systems, a food and beverage facility specification requires several supporting systems that directly affect the performance and longevity of the building.

Waterproofing

Production areas, washdown zones, and cold stores all require waterproofing beneath the floor finish and at wall-to-floor junctions. SikaTop Seal-107 waterproofing slurry membrane applied as a cementitious waterproofing membrane beneath the Sika Ucrete heavy-duty polyurethane concrete flooring floor system ensures that moisture cannot migrate through the substrate, protecting the structural slab and preventing the underfloor dampness that degrades adhesion and compromises hygiene. View Sika Waterproofing Systems

Insulation

Cold stores and temperature-controlled production areas require thermal insulation in the wall and roof construction to maintain the required internal temperatures efficiently. Jumbo Chem thermal and acoustic wall insulation and Rockal Rockwool High Density Boards provide the thermal performance needed to maintain cold chain integrity while minimising the energy demand on refrigeration systems, a direct operational cost saving over the life of the facility.

For HVAC ductwork serving production and clean areas, Supreme Duct Slab and Supreme Ductwrap insulation systems minimise heat gain in supply air distribution, maintain air quality, and meet the fire resistance requirements of food facility mechanical specifications. View Jumbo Chem Building Envelope & Insulation

Sealing and bonding

Floor-to-wall junctions, drainage channel edges, and equipment plinths in food production areas require sealants that resist the chemical and thermal exposure of the production environment. Sikaflex Pro3 chemical-resistant floor joint sealant provides a chemical-resistant, flexible seal at these critical interfaces, maintaining the hygienic, impermeable surface that food safety standards demand. View Sika Sealing & Bonding Systems

Specify for the Environment. Build for the Operation.

A food and beverage facility is a production asset. Every specification decision on the floor, the drainage system, and the wastewater treatment plant directly affects how that asset performs, how safely it operates, and how long it runs before major remediation is required.

HOMNA has delivered industrial flooring, grease separation, sewage treatment, and supporting construction systems across food and beverage facilities in Rwanda, including KFC & Inyange Industries. The team brings sector-specific technical knowledge to every project and is available to provide specification guidance from design stage through to certified application.

Reach us here:

📍 Rwanda: 2 KG 125 St, Remera, Gasabo, Kigali | +250 792 402 072 / +250 796 603 500

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