What New Restaurant Owners Need To Know About Grease Trap Pumping
Opening a restaurant comes with a lot of new responsibilities. One that you may initially overlook is the responsibility of keeping your restaurant's grease trap clean. The grease trap is a piece of equipment that catches grease to prevent it from traveling into the public sewer system. It needs to be cleaned periodically to ensure the grease buildup does not start impeding drain flow. So, what do you need to know about grease trap cleaning as a new restaurant owner? Here are the top things.
How Often Grease Traps Should Be Cleaned
How often your grease trap needs to be cleaned will depend on the food prepped in your restaurant kitchen. A kitchen where you're deep frying a lot of food will need its trap cleaned more often than one that mostly makes salads and sandwiches, for example. With that being said, most kitchens need their grease traps cleaned every 1 to 3 months. If you start on a one-month schedule, you should be safe. Your grease trap cleaner can let you know whether you can safely wait longer between visits the next time around.
What Cleaning Involves
So, you have someone out to pump your grease trap. What do they actually do? In most cases, the technician will begin by removing the cover to your grease trap, which is usually located outside. They'll then use a big, powerful pump to suck out the contents of the grease trap. These contents will be emptied into the pumping truck and taken to an outside location where they can be safely disposed of. The cleaning process doesn't take long, but it can be a little noisy and smelly, which is why most restaurant owners schedule their grease trap cleaning after-hours.
Signs Your Grease Trap Needs Cleaning
Even once you're on a cleaning schedule with a grease trap cleaning company, it's important to know the signs that your grease trap is full and needs cleaning. This way, if the trap fills up sooner than expected, you can take action.
Here are the key signs your grease trap needs cleaning:
- Foul odors coming from the kitchen drains
- Slow drains in the kitchen
- Grease backing up into other drains and fixtures
Armed with the knowledge above, you're in a good position to take better care of your restaurant's grease trap. If you have any lingering questions, ask your grease trap pumping company the next time they come out.
