7 Tips To Maintain Your Grease Trap
1. Clean your grease trap regularly at least once a month
2. Minimize the amount of waste that goes down the sink
3. Use a catch basket in your sink to catch solid food particles
4. Avoid pouring hot liquids down into the grease trap
5. Keep a log of maintenance records
6. Do not use enzyme products that liquefy the grease
7. Hire a professional contractor to clean your grease trap
Clean your grease trap regularly at least once a month
To maintain an efficient grease trap, and to keep your food service establishment sanitary, regular cleaning of the grease trap must take place. Different types of grease traps have different levels of capacity for grease, even some that require to be cleaned even at just 25% grease buildup. Whether your grease accumulation is high or low, or your grease trap is small or large, it is always ideal to clean it at least once a month.
For smaller grease traps, a member of your staff can manually remove grease buildup in the system. However, for larger grease traps, these might require the assistance of professional cleaning services that can efficiently clean the trap by having it pumped, and all the solid waste scrubbed off.
Minimize the amount of waste that goes down the sink
To reduce the waste and grease accumulation in your grease trap, it makes sense to start from reducing what goes into your drain first. Start from training your staff to dispose of leftover food particles first into the trash. This will limit the accumulation of solid food waste particles from accumulating into your grease trap and eventually creating more bacteria and brown grease within it.
As much as possible, leftover oils from frying, thick animal lard, and similar oily deposits from cooking and dishes must be disposed of straight into the trash bin.
Use a catch basket in your sink to catch solid food particles
Simple tools such as catch baskets can create a world of difference to extending the efficiency of your grease trap. These catch baskets will strain the remaining solid food particles and prevent it from entering into your drain. The collected food particles must be disposed of in your recycling bin.
This helps reduce the amount of waste that your grease trap will have to deal with. When solid food wastes enter your grease trap and settle at the bottom, once it starts rotting, it can only do harm for your grease trap as it can deteriorate it and it can also be the source of unpleasant odors. Also, it’s worth mentioning that when rotten food is combined with yellow grease (that is recyclable), it becomes non-recyclable brown grease that’s headed straight to the landfill and is unsuitable for any other re-use.
Avoid pouring hot liquids down into the grease trap
It is counterproductive to flush down hot liquids into your grease trap. Since grease and oils solidify inside the trap, the hot temperature from the hot liquids you’re putting into the drain will just melt the solidified grease and oils, thus allowing them to pass through along with your wastewater. This will get rid of the grease buildup in your grease trap, but will still create problems along the way as the grease cools up as it passes through your drainage pipes, and therefore will only clog up your sewage system. When this happens, repair can be very costly, and your business reputation can be put at risk.
Keep a log of maintenance records
It is recommended that you keep a log of maintenance activities being done to your grease trap. Information such as the schedules of when it was cleaned manually, and when it was pumped out by a professional contractor must be logged at all times. This will help your business maintain a regular schedule for your grease trap cleaning, and can help solve any technical problems or malfunctioning if ever it should arise.
Do not use enzyme products that liquefy the grease
Some would recommend the use of pouring bacteria, chemicals, and surfactants into the grease trap to minimize the volume of the accumulated grease and oil within your receptacle. While this seems like a quick and convenient solution to easy maintenance of grease levels, it can eventually just lead to wreaking more havoc as the grease is only being liquefied and released together with the wastewater, clearing the grease out of your grease trap. But, once the grease reaches your drainage or sewer system, it will eventually coagulate and solidify, therefore creating a clogging problem that can be very costly to reverse.
Hire a professional contractor to clean your grease trap
Sometimes, it’s always best to just hire a professional contractor that specializes in grease trap cleaning. While these maintenance options can cost your business more, sometimes it can be well worth the extra expense because of the quality and thoroughness of cleanliness it provides, as well as the convenience, especially if you are understaffed, or your staff is not properly trained to handle the maintenance of your grease traps.
Hiring professional cleaning services for your grease traps might also save you a lot of time and money in the long run, because of the quality of cleanliness they provide. When your grease traps are thoroughly scrubbed off and pumped out, sometimes you can even reduce the frequency of cleaning.
To learn more about maintaining your grease trap, find our page and further details here: https://acambie2020.wpengine.com/commercial-services/grease-trap-cleaning/
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A Cambie Cleaning is located at 120-11120 Bridgeport Road Richmond, BC V6X 1T2.
We can be reached by phoned at 604-279-0501.