The grease trap in your kitchen is both an investment and an asset to your business. Proper maintenance means prevention of problems like disagreeable odors, clogged sewer lines, shutdowns, and possible fines. Considering the fact that millions of dollars per year are spent on clearing sewer pipes clogged with fats, oil, and grease from animal and vegetable sources while cooking, both can result in environmental issues when oil disposal is incorrectly done. In fact, the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) reports, “The annual production of collected grease trap waste and uncollected grease entering sewage treatment plants can be significant and ranges from 800 to 17,000 pounds/year per restaurant.”
Understanding that, routine maintenance and cleaning of grease traps helps keep your kitchen safe as a healthy place for your employees but also protects local water supply and waterways. This means that restaurant owners who work operate and maintain their kitchens with fats, oil, and grease reducing methods in place not only decrease the risk of sewer overflows, but also enhance their own operations as well as service to their customers. Keeping kitchen grease traps cleaned and maintained helps your restaurant and the environment. Here the professional technicians at Flamingo Plumbing and Backflow Service share what you need to know about maintaining your grease trap.
Grease Traps 101
You should already know your grease traps is part of your plumbing system, which captures fats, oil, and grease so they don’t enter the wastewater system. Grease traps can be inside the kitchen, by the sink or dishwasher. Interior grease traps are smaller and must be cleaned and maintained more frequently. Exterior grease traps are outside your restaurant or business. These exterior grease traps are considerably larger. Most localities require grease traps in commercial kitchens to avoid expensive sewer problems.
Regular Grease Trap Cleaning
Did you know that grease from commercial kitchens, industrial sources, and homes are responsible for nearly half of all sewer blockages? It’s true, as water from sinks goes through the grease trap, fats, oil, and grease gather, water is unable to drain, and the trap fills. Regularly cleaning your grease trap prevents overflow, reduces unwanted smells, and saves you costly plumbing expenses. Experience technicians, like those at Flamingo Plumbing and Backflow, can prevent grease trap problems before they happen.
How Often Should the Grease Trap be Cleaned?
The frequency with which you need to clean your grease trap depends on its size and the amount of fats, oil, and grease used in your establishment. In most localities, restaurants must maintain less than 25 percent of accumulated fats, oil, and grease which can result in the need for monthly cleaning. For others, a quarterly cleaning may be sufficient. Some cities mandate cleaning four times annually, but in some instances more frequent cleanings are required.
Not Cleaning your Grease Trap often Enough?
When you fall short in cleaning your grease trap you risk unpleasant odors, drainage issues, overflows, and clogs which can cause problems with your restaurant operations. Why? Fats, oil, and grease harden with accumulation, which makes cleaning more challenging and costs you valuable time as well as money. You’ll need a plumber to clean the clog, and if an overflow occurs, you may face local fines. While it may seem cleaning less frequently is a money saving measure, in truth it can cost your considerably more in the long run.
Grease Trap Cleaning 101
An experienced service technician will effectively clean your grease trap, in most instances, through pumping and scraping to remove fats, oil, and grease which has accumulated. At times, a grease trap may not only need pumping, but also have grease lines hydro jetted. This process uses powerful streams of water to clean the lines. The Flamingo Plumbing and Backflow Services team if while servicing your grease trap they note your grease lines need to be hydro jetted. Even better, they will perform the additional service at no extra charge. Call today.