Grease Trap Cleaning
A grease trap runs on arithmetic: fats, oils and grease enter with every service rush, separate by density, and accumulate until the unit either gets pumped or stops separating. At that point FOG heads downstream toward the sewer, and the kitchen heads toward a backup, an odor problem, or a conversation with the pretreatment authority. Cleaning on a measured rhythm is what keeps all three theoretical.
This page covers the maintenance side: pump-outs, service-time inspection and the records that prove compliance. Cracked bodies and failed baffles route to the repair page; the kitchen's drain lines themselves belong to restaurant drain cleaning. One system, three disciplines, deliberately separated.
How a Plumber Diagnoses the Problem
What a proper service visit contains:
- Levels measured, not eyeballed. Grease layer and solids depth measured against the unit's capacity: the numbers that set your real pumping interval and satisfy authorities that regulate by fill level, as many do.
- Full evacuation. Complete pump-out of grease, liquids and solids. Skimming the top layer leaves solids compounding below, which is how 'cheap' service quietly shortens the interval and ages the tank.
- The while-it's-empty inspection. Inlet and outlet tees, baffles, cover and visible walls checked with the unit evacuated: the one moment problems are visible for free, and the handoff point to the repair page when they are.
- The paper trail. Service records and manifests kept per local requirements. In FOG programs, the documentation is half the compliance, and the binder answers inspectors before they ask.
- The rhythm, revisited. Interval adjusted to what measurements show: menu changes, volume growth and seasonal swings all move FOG load, and last year's schedule is not evidence about this year's kitchen.
Service Details & What's Included
The operational reality:
- Trap or interceptor, same discipline. Small under-sink traps and large in-ground interceptors differ in capacity and access, not in logic. Both separate by gravity, both fill, both run on measured intervals.
- Service around service hours. Cleaning schedules around the kitchen's operating reality: the work is planned to stay out of the rush, and access to covers and ports is part of the site assessment.
- What cleaning does not fix. Recurring backups after a fresh pump-out point at the grease line downstream or at undersizing. Those are routed to their own pages rather than solved by pumping harder.
- The cost logic. Price follows unit size and access, solids load, disposal requirements and interval. The honest lever for lowering it is kitchen practice: scraping plates and dry-wiping pans upstream slows the arithmetic at its source.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often should a grease trap be cleaned?
On the interval your measurements and your authority set. Fill-level standards are common in local FOG programs, and kitchen volume decides how fast you reach them. A busy fryer-heavy kitchen and a salad-forward café own completely different calendars. The measured levels at each service turn the schedule into evidence.
What is the difference between a grease trap and an interceptor?
Scale, mostly: traps are the compact under-sink or floor units serving limited fixtures; interceptors are the large in-ground vaults serving whole kitchens. Terminology overlaps in practice and codes vary in usage. The service logic is identical, which is why one page covers both honestly.
Who sets the cleaning frequency: us or the city?
Both: the local pretreatment authority sets the compliance floor (fill-level rules, minimum intervals, documentation), and your kitchen's actual FOG load decides whether you need to beat it. The measured-levels approach satisfies the stricter of the two, which is the only safe interpretation.
Why does the kitchen still back up right after a cleaning?
Because the blockage lives downstream of the trap, in the grease line to the main, or the unit is undersized for the kitchen it serves. Pumping cannot fix either. Recurrence right after service is a diagnostic gift: it acquits the trap and points the investigation at the line or the sizing.
What records should we keep, and why do they matter?
Service dates, volumes pumped, manifests where required, and the measured levels at each visit. FOG programs run on documentation. Inspections go smoothly for kitchens whose binder answers first, and the same records defend you if a shared line's backup starts a blame conversation between tenants.
Put the Trap on a Rhythm
Share the unit's type and location, the kitchen's volume, and the last service date if known. The first visit measures, evacuates and inspects, and leaves you with an interval built on your numbers, not folklore.
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