Grease traps are one of the more fickle, but oh-so-necessary components of any lift station or septic system. We all know grease traps are there to help intercept greases and solids before they get into your system. But what most folks don’t know is that they need lots of special care and maintenance on their own in order to work correctly.
Today, we’re going to discuss why this is so important and what some of the benefits are. Let’s jump right in!
Cleaning a grease trap: Why it’s important
Cleaning your grease trap regularly is vital to the continued function of a septic system. There’s a number of reasons for this – but certainly the big one is that, well… if left unattended grease traps can smell terrible. And that odor will find a way out of the trap, into your kitchen or establishment and we’re being gentle when we say that customers will be less than enthused.
More important – grease traps that are left unattended carry with them a big, fat bullseye from local health and safety inspectors. If they see an uncleaned grease trap, you could be fined, dressed down by the local health and safety board or in the most extreme scenarios – lose your restaurant license altogether.
So how much do I do it?
It really depends on the setting and how much your septic system gets used – but if you’re in any kind of commercial setting then it should be cleaned out monthly. This’ll help reduce the hydrogen sulfide eating away at the traps – which increases their longevity – but will also help you stay well out ahead of many of the issues we discussed above.
In addition – the more greases and solids that get stuck in your trap, the more likely your drains can get backed up – and that can be an even bigger disaster than simply dealing with unpleasant odors. Our general rule of thumb for any grease trap is that if it’s right around 25% full, then you should likely get it cleaned out.
As you can tell – grease traps serve a number of important functions in the operation of a septic system, so staying out ahead of any potential maintenance issues is fundamental to the sound operation of any wastewater facility. In the event that you need help or that your grease trap is getting to critical levels, give us a call today and we’ll be happy to help.
Until then, we hope these tips help and good luck!