A grease trap protects your sewer and saves you money. Fat, oil and grease hardens as it cools and sticks to the inner lining of sewer pipes, eventually causing a blockage. By preventing grease from going down your drain, you won’t have to spend money:

• cleaning and disinfecting after sewer backup,
• hiring a contractor to clean the buildup from your sewer,
• repairing or replacing your sewer pipe if the blockage is severe.

Wastewater enters the grease trap from your sinks and dishwashers etc. The water cools and the grease and oil harden and float to the top of the trap. The rest of the wastewater flows through the trap and out the exit pipe to the sewer. The grease, oil and fat remain in the trap.

A qualified licensed plumber at Groove Plumbing can determine which of these devices is best suited for your facility. They will consider the volume and flow rate of wastewater from your sinks, dishwashers and mop sinks to determine proper sizing.

Blockages will occur if the trap is not cleaned often enough. A grease trap which is not cleaned will eventually clog up.

Usually local authorities do require that the system be cleaned out every 13 weeks to begin with. A trade waste inspector will visit your premises occasionally to carry out an inspection measuring the grease build up. The trade waste inspector will then determine if your system needs to be cleaned out more often or not.

Yes. The ground up solids from food waste grinders settle to the bottom of the trap and take up room. The trap will clog up with grease more quickly and will need to be cleaned more frequently.

Grease traps back up either because they need to be cleaned or because an outlet is blocked. If you buy a large unit you will need to clean it less often because it will hold more grease. But all grease traps will clog up if you don’t remove grease regularly.

Yes. A grease trap not only collects grease, it removes fats and oils, such as:

• fats from butter, margarine, shortening and mayonnaise,
• cooking oil,
• grease from cooking or baking.

• Do not pour it down the drain.
• Use strainers in your sinks to catch food waste. Empty the strainer into the garbage.
• Put greasy foods in the garbage, not down the drain or in the food waste grinder.
• Use dry paper towels or a spatula to wipe all grease and food waste from cookware into the garbage before washing in the sink or dishwasher.
• Pour small amounts of cooking oil and grease into a container with a tightly sealed lid (e.g., coffee can, small ice cream pail) and once it hardens, put it out for regular garbage collection.

• Yes. The maintenance log is a record of how often you clean the trap and how full it is each time.