Restaurant Grease Trap

Summary: Food service facilities are required by law to install a restaurant grease trap. To prevent future problems learn how to properly maintain the restaurant grease trap.

When we propose service for a restaurant we always include restaurant grease trap maintenance in our list of services. It boggles the mind when the owner's response is, “What's a grease trap?” or “I had it cleaned a couple of years ago.”  I don't think these people are intentionally trying to get away with something. It's just that they are uninformed.

You have to think of restaurant grease traps as living organisms. Just like any living thing, it is going to have times it is feeling good and other times, not so good. On those good days the trap is catching grease and allowing

grease-free water to escape through the outlet portal. On bad days things can go very wrong including drain line backups that turn your establishment into a smelly house of horrors.

Here are a few things you can do to avoid the negative times. Be sure your employees are not abusing the grease trap. You have to trust that your cleaning crew is not dumping the deep fryer oil down the sink; a sure way to give your restaurant grease trap an upset tummy.

Another little trick to maintain a healthy grease trap is to install an effective strainer in the three-bay sink. The in-drain strainer that comes with the sink simply cannot handle the bits of food that routinely get rinsed off plates. The strainer continually clogs up and your employees revolt by “accidentally” tossing the strainer out with the garbage. There are numerous in-line basket strainers available that overcome this problem. You will save hundreds of dollars by reducing the buildup of solids at the bottom of your grease trap.

Use grease eating bacteria products to help reduce grease buildup. These products are approved for use in any grease collection system and are available from numerous distributors or, in our case, from us. Every month our service specialist adds a restaurant grease trap product that goes to work digesting grease in the trap and drain lines.

Even with monthly biological additives we still strongly suggest no less than one annual grease trap pump out performed by a licensed grease trap pumping company. It pays to keep your restaurant grease trap healthy.