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Why Do You Need Grease Trap Cleaning?

All commercial kitchens and restaurants have a grease trap system, which separates fat, oil, and grease from the wastewater before it flows into the municipal sewer system. Although these filters function efficiently and separate oil and fat, it needs regular cleaning so that it functions effectively.

Grease traps in your kitchen sink keep oil from entering the pipes, but it is incapable of collecting a large amount of oil at a time. Therefore, it is important not to dispose of gallons of oil in your kitchen sink. When there is an overload in the grease trap, it clogs the pipes and backs up the drain. This can prove to be a great health hazard for the staff and the customers. Failure to clean the grease traps regularly can pose serious problems.

Reasons to Clean Your Grease Trap

Toxic and Pungent Odor

In due course, a large amount of grease, oil, and fat accumulates in the grease trap. The accumulated fat begins to rot and emanate a foul smell. Even if the grease trap is underground or outside, the smell makes its way into the pipe and back to the restaurant, if left unclean for a long period. This will undoubtedly affect the business of the restaurant. You can avoid this risk with a regular cleaning schedule for the grease trap.

Clogs the pipes

When grease and oil accumulate over time, it begins to form into a hardened mass that is extremely difficult to clean. It will obstruct the free flow of water from the kitchen sink and dishwasher to the main sewage system. When the regular flow is inhibited, wastewater and sewage will spill back into the restaurant, which is the last thing you want. Cleaning this oily mess can be quite expensive. Moreover, it might contaminate your kitchen making it unsafe to prepare food. You might even need to shut down your restaurant while cleaning up.

Damages the tank

The accumulated food debris breaks down in a natural and slow process. During the process of breaking down, it creates hydrogen sulfur gas, which in turn becomes sulfuric acid. It can damage the walls of the grease trap tank causing even more damage and expense. Regular cleaning is mandatory to avoid this major problem.

A penalty from the Health Department

Municipalities conduct regular inspections of grease trap system, and kitchen drains. If there is an excess flow of grease from your grease trap to the municipal sewer line, you will have to incur a penalty. A grease trap system fails when the tank has reached its maximum retention capacity. Therefore, it is essential to empty the tank and clean it regularly to avoid such problems.

Regular cleaning simplifies the task

When food debris accumulates in the grease trap for a considerable amount of time, it becomes a solid mass, which is extremely difficult to remove and clean. Some of this grease sticks to the walls of the tank rendering it extremely difficult to clean in the future. You can avoid this with regular cleaning and maintenance of the grease trap system.

Damages pipes and the trap

Built-up grease can wreak havoc on the pipes and the grease trap if it is grimy for a long period. Rotting food debris releases toxic gases, which can be detrimental to the pipes and the trap. Although plastic grease traps last longer than steel and concrete traps, it will also deteriorate eventually without regular maintenance.

Grease trap cleaning is not such a tedious task, as it might seem. There is hardly any need for you to worry about cleaning these traps, as there are many reputed and professional grease trap-cleaning companies. Some of the grease trap cleaning companies suggest draining, scouring and removing all the grease once in a month. However, if it is a busy restaurant, it is wise to clean the traps every fifteen days to avoid foul smell and drainage backups.

After all, you want your customer to enjoy the food and the ambiance rather than complain about the foul stench emancipating from the parking lot or worse from the kitchen.

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