A restaurant grease trap is essential to cooking foods your customers love, but it’s also crucial to keep it well-maintained to prevent problems. Having a clean and functional grease trap ensures your customers’ satisfaction and keeps your business’ reputation strong, so you need a cleaning vendor you have faith in to keep it in the best condition – like SeQuential. Here, we explore how often restaurant grease traps should be cleaned and explain our grease trap services, which are available across the West Coast.
Why Does My Grease Trap Need Cleaning?
A grease trap is a plumbing device used in restaurant kitchens to collect fats, oils, and greases (FOG) before they enter the wastewater system. Restaurant grease traps are required by many cities because they help prevent costly sewer problems caused by inadequate control of FOG in the sewage system. Many cities also have rules and regulations on how kitchen grease traps should be cleaned and how often.
It can be harmful to your customers, employees, reputation, and the environment if you don’t have your grease trap cleaned and serviced regularly. Built-up fats, oils, and greases (FOG) can cause problems like:
- Sewer blockages and clogged pipes
- Foul odors and harmful fumes
- Fines and penalties for allowing fats to enter the sewer system
Furthermore, as FOG builds up, it becomes more difficult to remove, lengthening the time it takes to clear the trap.
Your Cleaning Schedule Frequency
The cleaning frequency of your grease trap will depend on the size of it, the type of restaurant, and the amount of FOG used in your kitchen. Most cities have regulations that require that traps be cleaned on a regular basis to keep FOG collection to a minimum. In most cases, this means cleaning at least once every quarter, and in certain cases, even more regularly. For grease trap cleaning and maintenance, the one-quarter rule is an internationally accepted standard. If the grease trap is 25 percent full of FOG, then the trap requires timely cleaning to keep it working effectively and safely.
Enlist Help from Trusted Professionals
At SeQuential, we are proud to be a part of the Preferred Pumper Program in the Pacific Northwest, which means we work closely with local grease inspectors along the West Coast to guarantee our customers comply with their city’s grease regulations. Keeping your restaurant grease trap maintained regularly with SeQuential prevents functional issues, penalties, and regulatory problems, so you can focus on running your business smoothly.
When you choose SeQuential, we’ll propose a cleaning schedule specific to your restaurant’s grease output and your city’s requirements. Our account managers work with you to determine an appropriate cleaning frequency for your restaurant to keep it in top shape.
Contact Us Today to Sign Up
SeQuential’s grease trap and cooking oil recycling services are available for restaurants across the West Coast, including the Seattle, Portland, and San Francisco metro areas, and we work closely with local grease inspectors to ensure you’re always in compliance. Contact us today to register your restaurant grease trap for cleaning services or learn more about other services we provide.