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Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Understanding and Maintaining Your Restaurant's Grease Trap

A grease trap, sometimes called a grease interceptor, is an integral part of any restaurant’s plumbing drainage system. Unlike residential homes, restaurants manage large amounts of cooking greases, fats, and oils on a daily basis. While these substances are liquids at high temperatures, they cool and solidify quickly. Thus, fats, oils, and greases that enter your restaurant drain or the municipal sewer system beyond can cause severe clogs, drain backups, and significant water damage.

Grease Trap Basics
Your grease trap prevents fats, oils, and greases from causing problems by providing a place where these substances can cool and separate from the rest of your wastewater. As they cool, greases, oils, and fats form a “scum” layer at the top of your grease trap, which is typically a large tank buried beneath the ground outside your establishment. Most grease traps are designed to hold wastewater for approximately 30 minutes, which allows greases and other food wastes to separate from the water. The cleaned wastewater then flows out of the trap and into your sewer drain, while the fats, oils, greases, and any other solid wastes remain behind. Anaerobic bacteria inside the grease trap slowly digest the fats, oils, and other food solids to eliminate them.

Grease Trap Maintenance
The type of maintenance you will need to perform on your grease trap depends upon the size of your grease trap’s tank. Restaurants with larger grease traps generally hire a professional plumbing service to pump out the tank on a regular basis, removing accumulated solids. If you have a smaller grease trap, your own staff may be able to remove solids using a vacuum or shovel. Regardless of the tank size, you should monitor your grease trap regularly to measure the levels of scum inside the tank. A tank that becomes too full can cause drain backups that can bring your kitchen to a standstill until a plumber can solve the issue. Additionally, overfull tanks may release gases or odors into your restaurant, reducing air quality and comfort inside. Keep accurate records of your grease trap maintenance history so you’ll know when it was last pumped or cleaned. If you schedule professional service, talk to your plumber about setting up visits at predetermined intervals so you cannot forget to have your grease trap pumped. Avoid “hot flushing” your drain lines, which entails flushing hot water through your drains to clear them. This practice can prevent grease and fats from cooling inside your grease trap, allowing them to escape and damage the sewer system beyond. Additionally, never pour caustic drain-cleaning chemicals down your drain in an attempt to clear out a clog; these chemicals can kill the bacteria in your grease trap, causing it to cease functioning properly. If you do need help clearing your restaurant drains, a professional plumber will know how to clear out clogs without affecting the efficacy of your grease trap.


Do you still have questions about maintaining your restaurant’s plumbing or grease trap in Santa Rosa? Visit our website to check out a full listing of our commercial and restaurant plumbing services, including drain cleaning, grease trap maintenance, and emergency plumbing repairs. You can also click through our blog to stay on top of the latest plumbing news and developments.

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