Keep Fats, Oils And Grease Out Of Your Kitchen's Drain Line

What is the difference between grease trap cleaning and pumping?

Pumping evacuates the contents. Cleaning evacuates the contents and then physically removes the hardened grease from the walls, the baffles, and the outlet tee, and evaluates the internals. Both have a place, and the right mix depends on your load.

A high volume kitchen on a tight interval can run pumping visits between periodic full cleanings. A lower volume operation on a longer interval generally wants every visit to be a full cleaning, because more time between visits means more hardened buildup. Grease trap cleaning and grease trap pumping each cover their scope in detail, and the comparison table above puts them side by side.

How often should a commercial grease trap be serviced?

The interval is a function of trap capacity and grease loading rate, checked against the 25 percent threshold. A small under sink unit in a busy fryer kitchen may need attention on a very short cycle, while a large in ground interceptor serving a light menu can go substantially longer.

The only reliable way to set it is to measure. We record the grease and solids depth on each visit and adjust the schedule from the trend, so you are not paying for service you do not need or getting caught short. Grease trap cleaning frequency for Denver restaurants walks through how that calculation works.

Your local health department or wastewater authority may also set a minimum frequency and a documentation requirement independent of the measured need. Confirm what applies to your address directly with them, because it varies across the metro.

Our restaurant grease trap program puts the schedule, the visit window, and the paperwork on a standing arrangement so it stops being something you have to remember.

What happens if grease trap service is skipped?

First the kitchen slows down. Drains at the sinks and floor drains back up, odor gets noticeable during quiet hours, and staff start working around it. Then it overflows, usually at the worst possible time, and you are mopping a floor instead of running service.

Downstream is where it gets expensive. Grease that leaves the trap cools and hardens in the building's drain line and in the sewer main, and a grease blockage in the lateral is a plumbing emergency during a shift. Discharging grease past a trap also puts you crosswise with the wastewater authority, and enforcement and documentation requirements are set locally.

The trap itself suffers too. A trap that runs full for long periods accumulates hardened deposits that no longer come out with routine service, and eventually the unit needs replacement rather than cleaning. Grease trap installation covers that path, and it is a far bigger disruption than a scheduled visit.

What is not included in grease trap service?

Interior kitchen plumbing is a separate trade. A blocked drain line inside the building, a failing floor drain, or fixture work is plumbing rather than interceptor service. Our sister company Afford-A-Rooter Plumbing handles that lane. We also do not perform enzyme or bacteria dosing programs, because they do not remove accumulated grease and solids and they can carry emulsified grease past the trap into the line, which is the outcome the trap exists to prevent. Permits, fees, and compliance filings imposed directly by your local authority are yours to pay and file, though we provide the service documentation you need for them.