A grease trap is an essential system in both home and commercial kitchens. A grease trap’s job is to gather and thus cut the levels of fats, oils and greases that access the main sewers. Entering the grease in the main drainage system will lead to clogged, foul odors, and pest problems over time Commercial grease trap cleaning often get ignored despite its importance. Most people are unaware of the grease trap until it screws up. It can also be a major cause of kitchen fire accidents. Even though gathered grease is not a fire hazard, the existence of oils in it can cause it to burn when exposed to fire.

How Often Should Commercial Grease Trap Cleaning Be Done?

The frequency with which you must wash your grease trap is determined by the size of your trap and the quantity of grease produced by your cooking. They require cleaning every one to three months on average. Inspect your grease trap regularly to understand how fast it gets full. Based on that timeline, you can generate a cleaning cycle. If your grease trap gets full and needs to be washed in less than a month, it’s better to replace it with a bigger one.

Follow The One Quarter Rule

Commercial grease trap cleaning follows a universal known 1/4th principle. The rule says that you should clean the grease trap when it has reached one-quarter of its overall capacity.

The said rule applies to all grease traps used in ovens and cooking ranges. The maximum capacity of the grease trap is unimportant. When the grease trap reaches around a quarter of its total capacity, it should be washed to preserve the grease trap’s efficiency and effectiveness. If it is not maintained then oils and grease will leak from the trap’s pipes. So when the grease trap is not accumulating waste properly, it begins to fill to around half capacity. It also becomes more prevalent to fires.

You Can Reduce The Accumulation Of Grease

Cleaning your grease trap daily can enhance its efficiency and keep it from overflowing. Tell your staff to scrape everything inside the trap at the end of the day from cooking. This caution will save you a lot of trouble later on. Depending on the season and day of the week, you may need to vary the frequency of commercial grease trap cleaning. Restaurants have more customers on weekends or during some seasons, so you can inform your staff to clean it when more cooking is done. On days when you will not cook much, you might be allowed to clean the trap every other day.

REASONS FOR COMMERCIAL GREASE TRAP CLEANING

1. Clogged Drainage System- If the tank is not maintained on a routine basis, waste will accumulate in the tank, resulting in increased food waste and FOG to flow down the sewer system from the washbasin or dishwasher. This will eventually produce major blockages in the piping system, preventing wastewater flow. The final result would be backups and overflow, which would lead to costly damage.

2. Bad Odour- A grease trap gathers FOG in its tank, which decays over time and emits a rotting odor. If this is not addressed, the odor may become unbearable, even if the grease trap is underground. This could have a negative impact on the number of people who visit the restaurant, eventually risking the company image.

3. Costly Tank Replacement- Chemical compounds are present in solid wasted food and FOG stuck in the grease trap. If the tank is not cleaned, the trapped waste degrades, releasing hydrogen sulfur gas, which converts to sulphuric acid. The highly harmful sulphuric acid can corrode the steel and the walls of the trap, requiring a costly replacement.

4. Disastrous Cleaning- When a grease trap collects FOG, the solid food particles sit at the tank’s bottom. If this cemented waste is not eliminated regularly, it hardens into a thick, solid mass that forms an immovable barrier that appears to be hard to clean.

Nearly every municipality worldwide has penalties associated with improper commercial grease trap cleaning. Some have fines for not installing a grease trap and others for failing to properly maintain the equipment. Because the municipality will notice the high concentration of FOG in the sewers in both cases. As a result, you may face heavy fines, suspension of processes, or even dismissal of your business license until the underlying issue is resolved.