Grease Trap Cleaning: What It Is, What to Expect, and Why It's Essential for Your Restaurant

The grease traps in your restaurant perform an unpleasant but essential task: to trap fats, oils, and grease (FOG) that flow from your kitchen and keep them out of the municipal sewer system. These plumbing devices slow water flow to allow the FOG particles to separate, then capture and remove the grease through a series of baffles and screens.

Grease trap cleaning removes FOG waste and other food particles from the grease trap units in your plumbing system. While it’s possible to clean grease traps on your own, it can be challenging and messy. Roto-Rooter’s professional grease trap cleaning experts have the know-how and experience to clean your grease trap safely, correctly, and with minimal mess. 

What should you expect when contacting Roto-Rooter for grease trap cleaning services? We’ll give you a preview of the experience here — along with some critical info about why grease trap maintenance is so important.

Why Do You Need Regular Grease Trap Service?

Restaurant grease trap cleaning is a must, whether you’re in fast food or fine dining. Here’s why:

1. Prevent Clogs and Backups: Grease can build up quickly in your drainpipes and cause a backup – something you absolutely do not want, especially during a busy mealtime. Restaurants are especially at a risk for backups if they run food scraps down the garbage disposal, because food particles can fill up the grease trap and create a sewer line clog.
2. Maintain Hygiene and Safety: Grease clogs can cause pest infestations, foul odors, and other threats to a clean and pleasant restaurant. If the problems aren’t handled, they could even affect your compliance with local health code standards.
3. Extend Grease Trap Lifespan: Cleaning your grease traps regularly helps keep them in good condition. Buildups in grease traps can cause the traps to break down more quickly, potentially requiring costly repairs.
4. Stay In Compliance: Most local governments require restaurants to clean their grease traps regularly. Failure to keep up with your grease trap cleanings could mean a fine or, in a worst-case scenario, a shutdown by local health authorities.

How Often Should a Grease Trap Be Cleaned?

Most often, commercial grease traps should be cleaned every one to three months. Restaurants that use a lot of oil and grease in cooking, such as kitchens with multiple large fryers, might need their grease traps cleaned more often, even multiple times per month. The smaller individual grease traps underneath kitchen fixtures, such as sinks, might need cleaning as often as once a week.

What Best Practices Are There For Grease Trap Maintenance?

These basic tips will help you use your grease trap more efficiently and reduce grease trap odors:

• Don't pour grease down your sinks or toilets. It will harden and stick to your pipes. In addition, food particles will stick to the grease, and together, they'll create clogs.
• Dispose of waste cooking oil correctly in a cooking oil receptacle. Contact a grease disposal company to have your grease dumpster picked up. In some areas, you might be able to dispose of it via a grease recycling company, which can use old cooking grease to make biofuels and other useful products.  
• Avoid or limit garbage disposal usage. Food particles can fill up your grease trap, so the less you put down your sink, the more slowly it fills up – and the less often you need maintenance. 
• Don’t flush your grease trap with soap or degreasers. This liquefies the grease and sends it into the drainage system , which goes against the purpose of a grease trap. For smaller grease traps, however, you can remove the screens and soak them in dish soap and hot water to dissolve the grease. Scrub the screens after to remove FOG buildup, then replace them in the trap.

What to Expect During Grease Trap Cleaning

Cleaning a grease trap in a commercial kitchen is a messy, foul-smelling, and time-consuming chore. While small grease traps under sinks can usually be cleaned by employees, it’s almost always worth investing in professional grease trap cleaning for full-sized grease traps. Some plumbing companies will put your restaurant on a scheduled program to pump and clean your grease trap on a predetermined schedule based on the unique needs of your facility. This lessens the chance that you’ll forget to call and risk a clogged or overfilled grease trap shutting down your kitchen.

When you contact Roto-Rooter’s grease trap cleaning services, here’s what you can expect:

1. Scheduling: Use our online scheduling tool to set up a time with our professional plumbers. Alternatively, you can call us 24/7 at 800-768-6911 for backups and other emergency situations.
2. Inspection and Quote: Our technician will personally inspect the condition of your grease traps and provide a detailed, up-front quote for the cost of grease trap cleaning/pumping. Note that not all Roto-Rooter locations provide this service, so be sure to confirm that your local Roto-Rooter does. 
3. Pumping and Cleaning: For the actual cleaning, our plumber will use a powerful specialized pump to remove grease from your grease trap and into a storage tank built into the truck. They’ll also clean the baffles, screens, and any other elements of the grease trap that need attention.
4. Inspection: The technician will inspect your grease trap to determine if any of the parts aren’t working properly. If your grease trap needs repair, they’ll discuss your options and can usually complete repairs on the spot and without delay
5. Waste Disposal: Another upside of working with Roto-Rooter: We handle grease trap waste cleaning and disposal, too! No more wondering where to dump your grease trap waste — our liquid waste pumping and transport service will safely dispose of your grimiest grease and foulest fats at an approved and licensed waste receiving facility.

Do you dread spending hours mucking out a clogged, smelly grease trap? You’re not alone — and Roto-Rooter is here to take care of your commercial grease trap cleaning and FOG removal needs. Schedule your grease trap cleaning online today and let somebody else brave the stink.

• Please note: Not all Roto-Rooter locations offer grease trap cleaning services. Service offerings vary by location. Check with your local Roto-Rooter location to learn which services they provide.