Cleaning And Maintaining A Grease Trap: A Step-By-Step Guide

When you own a commercial kitchen, you should be conscious of the cleaning and hygiene of the environment. In these scenarios, grease traps can help you a lot, but when it comes to maintenance, it should be done step by step. Here we talk about those steps and tips to maintain grease traps.

When you deal with commercial kitchens, dealing with oil, grease, and fat is common. But disposing of them by maintaining and following the law is challenging.

This solid food waste creates issues like bad odor and blockage. Because of the low temperature, the fog cools down after flowing through the sink and turning into semi-solid waste. To prevent this situation, grease interceptors are installed that promote faster FOG disposal.

To keep the restaurant functioning smoothly and reliably, grease pumping in San Diego can be beneficial a lot. The grease traps help to trap the semi-solid waste and only allow the water to flow down the drain. By installing the grease trap, you can prevent the grease and oil from entering the drainage lines.

Installing a grease trap and maintaining it for a long time are two different things. The installation steps are super quick and easy but maintaining this for a long time is tough. The maintenance should be done in regular intervals that help to keep the grease trap functioning effectively.

Not being properly maintained produces multiple risks, including an ineffective local water flow system. This is why it is recommended not to drain the fat and oil into the kitchen sink and prevent a clogged sewer line.

Let’s check the role of the grease trap and how it should be cleaned properly. You can save a lot of money by learning the steps of grease trap cleaning. In this blog, we will also disclose how often grease traps need cleaning.

About Installing Grease Trap And Its Benefits

So, what is a grease interceptor? The grease traps are also known as the grease converter and interceptors designed to intercept the solid and grease. It creates a barrier to stopping the flow of oil and grease into the sewer waste system.

These are manufactured with different materials, for example, cast iron, plastic, and stainless steel. The grease traps can be located in areas inside or outside the kitchen or above and below ground level. This valuable tool should be installed in your kitchen if you constantly drain the grease to the sink.

Confused about what is grease trap waste? Grease traps eliminate pollution and keep the environment clean. When you run a commercial kitchen without installing the grease trap, the fat and oil flow through the pipe into the sewer lines, and over time, it becomes toxic to the sewage system; installing grease traps helps to reduce the expensive repairs. Once you install this into your home, there is no need to make costly maintenance for repairing the blocked pipes.

The grease traps are mostly installed in the food business, schools, and hospitals. It helps to run the sewage system smoothly until you maintain this properly. A badly installed or maintained grease trap can become the most significant problem and require expensive repairs. You can keep your kitchen safe and healthy by routine cleaning and maintaining the grease trap. It also prevents the overflow of water from the sewage.

Therefore, keeping the grease trap in prime condition is necessary to preserve the local water source. It will prevent a negative impact on the environment, health, and hygiene. Now let’s move to how to clean grease traps in San Diego without causing any harm!

Ways To Clean The Grease Trap In 10 Easy Steps

Cleaning and maintaining the grease trap regularly is the best way to prevent any mishap. The experts say the grease trap should be cleaned twice a month. Well, sometimes it depends upon how much you use. So, here we share the steps that the experts mostly follow!

Step 1

In the initial stage of cleaning the grease trap, ensure that the boiling water inside the trap has cooled down. Let the water cool down so the grease can float over the surface. In this way, you can make the scoop-out process smooth.

Step 2

Now, by using the crowbar and wrench, you can remove the stainless steel lid of the grease trap. Make sure it is detached carefully to prevent damage to the gasket installed underneath the lid.

Step 3

Now you will see the grease floating over the water, and you can easily suck it out through the vacuum. This step ensures no grease stays stuck when the liquid level slowly drops.

Step 4

After that, remove the wastewater and clean out all the food solids left. In this process, you should be clear about the sink and dishwasher; other fixtures are not used. Ensure the vacuum isn’t overfilled; otherwise, it will cause the grease to spill out!

Step 5

So, do you still feel that there is any grease waste present on the lid? By using a scraper, you can clear them out. Clean out the tank’s stainless steel sides and baffle filters inside the tank. Clean every piece of solid item that hinders the functioning of the grease trap.

Step 6

So, now you have cleaned all the particles of grease, fats, and oils with solid food waste. So, it’s time to clean the grease trap filter. You need a few basic things like warm water, detergent, and a steel scourer to clean the grease trap filter. Before cleaning, eliminate the filters and open the hood filters to eliminate any foul-smelling odors.

Step 7

In this step, you must go through each step to recheck. If you left any steps, complete this out. Check whether all the food solids and grease have been removed or not.

Step 8

Now it’s time to check whether the flow of water is perfectly fine. Pour a bucket of water into the sink and check the flow. If it’s perfect, you have successfully done the task. But what if the water doesn’t flow easily? In this case, there might be a blockage in your drain line. To resolve this, you need to call a professional for drain repair in San Diego.

Step 9

After hiring the drain system expert and successfully repairing the blockage, you can ensure smooth flow. In this case, you can replace the components of the grease trap.

Step 10

So, what should you do with the waste product? Mix the waste product with the sand and pour it into the bin. Make sure you have sealed the bin bag in an ideal way for maintaining the cleanliness of the environment.

Do you want to keep your grease trap of premium quality for an extended period? Here check the ideal tips to maintain a grease trap.

Ideal Ways To Maintain The Grease Trap

Bring A Stainless Steel Trap

Whenever you buy a grease trap for commercial kitchen purposes, make sure it is made with stainless steel. The grease traps made with stainless steel materials hold many features like anti-corrosion, long lifespan, anti-rut, and non-deformation.

Check The Trap Regularly

Depending on the size of your kitchen, you should check the grease trap. Based on the uses, you should decide when to clean the trap. The ideal suggested duration to clean it out is every two weeks.

Track The Temperature Of Water

We all are living in the biggest myth that cleaning the sink by adding extreme hot water can clear the solid waste. But when you pour the grease into this meltdown, you mix the grease with hot water. Therefore, it is suggested to add cold water during vessel cleaning.

Clean Vessel Before

Before cleaning the vessel into the sink, ensure you have scraped all the food particles into the dustbin. Put the waste food particles into the garbage.

Add Screens Under The Sink

It is also recommended to add steel screens under the sink to prevent solid waste from entering the sewage system. It stops the chances of contamination of waste particles into the local streams. Not every time you put all the food particles into the dustbin. Still, there are some food particles left that can block the sewer line. By adding screens, you can prevent that from happening.

Following the above-mentioned tips, you can easily maintain and clean the grease trap effectively. After following the procedure for the suggested period, you can avoid multiple problems.

You can understand now that adding a grease trap is the healthiest solution, and it helps your commercial food business to maintain its cleanliness up to the mark!

If you don’t have much time to complete the whole step alone, you can ask for expert help. Consider EZ Plumbing USA.

Book for grease trap cleaning service in San Diego. Indicate the time and fix the appointment. You can also book for bi-weekly grease trap cleaning.

EZ Plumbing USA only provides you with the services of experts in grease pumping in San Diego. All the grease trap cleaning work will be done within a short time and in the correct manner. Consult with EZ Plumbing USA to keep your commercial kitchen’s plumbing systems in perfect condition.

Marketing Manager
About:
Angela is a marketing manager at EZ Plumbing USA. She has a great interest in educating readers about various leakages that can happen in their home or offices through her articles. With extensive knowledge of water leak and slab leak detection techniques as well as HVAC systems, Angela wants to make readers aware about the warning signs indicating leakage and predictive AC and Heater maintenance and also how to fix them to refrain from dangerous and costly consequences.

Read articles to get more valuable information about detection and damages of water and slab leak repair, techniques to fix clogging, and installation and maintenance of AC & Appliance in San Diego.