Service
Grease Trap Cleaning
Servicing grease interceptors on a schedule, with the documentation most jurisdictions require kept as part of the job.
- Licensed and insured
- Price agreed before work
- A plumber who works your area
Full service, not a skim
A grease interceptor holds three layers, and all three have to come out.
Grease floats to the top. Water sits in the middle. Solids settle to the bottom.
A cheap service removes the floating grease, which is the visible part, and leaves the settled solids. Those solids take up capacity, so the trap fills again sooner, and they continue decomposing, which is where the smell people associate with grease traps actually comes from.
A proper service takes the full contents, then inspects the baffles and the inlet and outlet connections while the trap is empty. That is the only opportunity to see them, and a damaged baffle means the trap has stopped intercepting properly regardless of how often it is pumped.
The records are the compliance
This catches operators out more than the servicing itself.
Grease interceptors exist to keep grease out of the public sewer, and jurisdictions generally enforce that through documented service intervals rather than by inspecting traps.
So the paperwork is not administrative overhead. It is the evidence of compliance, and an inspection will ask for it.
Each service should be recorded with the date, the volume removed and where it was disposed of. Missing records are a problem even when the trap is genuinely clean, because there is no way to demonstrate it.
And the record has a second use: how full the trap is at each service tells you whether the interval is right, or whether the interceptor is undersized for the kitchen.
Does this sound familiar?
Problems this service solves
- A grease trap that has not been serviced on schedule
- Kitchen drains backing up because the trap is full
- A grease smell in or around the premises
- An inspection requiring service records
- An interceptor undersized for the kitchen's output
Signs you need grease trap cleaning
If more than one of these is true, the problem is usually past the point a plunger or a store-bought cleaner will fix.
- Drains are slowing across the kitchen
- There is a grease odour near the trap or outside
- Service records are missing or out of date
- The trap fills again very soon after servicing
What to expect
How the visit works
Service the whole interceptor
The full contents are removed, not just the floating layer, since the solids in the bottom are half the problem.
Inspect while it is empty
Baffles, covers and the inlet and outlet are checked with the trap empty, which is the only time they can be seen.
Document the service
Date, volume and disposal are recorded, because most jurisdictions require the records and an inspection will ask for them.
Set the interval from evidence
How full the trap is at service tells you whether the interval is right, too long, or the interceptor is undersized.
What's included
What you get on every job, whoever we send.
- The full contents removed, including the settled solids
- Baffles and connections inspected while empty
- Service documented for inspections
- The interval adjusted from what the trap actually holds
Questions
Grease Trap Cleaning questions
How often does a grease trap need cleaning?
Most jurisdictions set a maximum interval, and many use a rule based on how full it is: service when the combined grease and solids reach roughly a quarter of the trap's capacity. In practice that means a busy kitchen may need monthly service while a light-use premises manages quarterly. What matters is measuring rather than guessing, since a trap allowed to fill stops intercepting and passes grease straight into the drain.
Why do the records matter?
Because most jurisdictions require them and inspections ask for them. Grease interceptors exist to keep grease out of the public sewer, and enforcement generally works through documented service intervals rather than through inspection of the trap itself. Missing records are a compliance problem regardless of whether the trap is actually clean, and they are the kind of thing that carries penalties.
Can a grease trap be pumped only partly?
It should not be, and partial servicing is a common shortcut. Removing only the floating grease layer leaves the settled solids in the bottom, which take up capacity and continue to decompose, producing the smell people associate with traps. The whole contents come out, and the trap is inspected empty. A cheaper service that only skims is not a service.
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Get it fixed
Grease Trap Cleaning, handled locally
Call with your ZIP code and what you are seeing. We route you to a licensed plumber in your area who does grease trap cleaning every week.
- Licensed and insured
- Answered 24/7
- Price before work