The Drain Strainer™ Makes Grease Trap Cleaning Easier

Of all the duties that come along with restaurant ownership and management, grease trap cleaning can be one of the most frustrating.

Grease trap cleaning is messy. It stinks. If you don’t perform it on a regular basis, you run the risk of many more expensive problems.

Why waste your time and frustration worrying about grease interceptor cleaning when there are bigger concerns during the day to day operations of your restaurant?

What is a Grease Trap?

A commercial grease trap is an important part of any restaurant kitchen’s functionality.

The grease trap prevents waste and grease from clogging your pipes and flowing into the sewer system. It stops the flow of hot, greasy water from your kitchen’s dishroom and allows it to cool in a holding tank so the grease and fat separates from the water.

After the grease solidifies, the cooled water flows out into the sewer system. What’s left behind is the harmful grease waste and solid food scraps.

Why Do You Need to Clean Your Grease Trap?

Your restaurant is doomed if you don’t clean your grease trap on a regular schedule.

Left unattended, the grease waste that builds up in your trap will need a place to go. The place it will go is your plumbing. That grease will eventually clog your pipes unless you address it.

Any clogs in your plumbing system will cost a lot of money to fix and may lead to a temporary shutdown where you lose sales revenue.

Another risk you run from not maintaining your grease traps properly is a back-up. If you haven’t cleaned your grease interceptor, foul-smelling grease and wastewater could flow out through your drains and dish machine.

You could end up with a kitchen flood during dinner rush where your restaurant has to stop service. In this case, not only will you have to give out money in comps and refunds, but your guests end up with a whiff of that foul grease smell and a bad impression of your business.

Can You Clean Your Grease Trap Yourself?

As with anything in a restaurant, if you know how to clean your grease trap and have the proper tools you can. But if you’re going to perform commercial grease trap maintenance yourself, you’ll need a few items. You’ll need rubber gloves, nose plugs, protective clothing, a scraper, and a shop-vac.

After you’ve lifted the lid and scooped out the grease at the top of the trap, you’ll use your shop-vac to suck out all the remaining water. From there, you’ll get to work cleaning out the grease with your own elbow grease, scraping and scrubbing the tank.

Once you’ve finished this laborious process, you’ll have to haul the waste to an environmental company.

Hire a Professional Grease Trap Pumping Service

The life of a restaurant owner and operator is a life dedicated to the many tasks keeping a restaurant running. You’re required to order food and other supplies. There’s to-go containers, bags, linen, flatware, and glassware.

Then there’s the wine, beer, and liquor you have to order and inventory. Not to mention hiring, scheduling, and training your staff. Restaurant ownership and management is not for the faint of heart.

Considering all you have to do as an owner or manager on any given day, why mess with grease trap cleaning?

You may think you will save money by doing it yourself. But the process is laborious and time-consuming even if your restaurant has a small grease trap.

If you clean your own grease trap, you lose the valuable time you need to devote to other aspects of restaurant operation.

There are many professional grease trap cleaners you can hire. They will work on a regular schedule, and make sure your grease interceptor functions properly.

Regular Plumbing Check Ups

Another way to avoid grease trap issues is to have regular plumbing check ups performed to make sure your pipes run clean.

While a grease trap helps prevent large scale pipe clogging issues, grease and food particles will still cling to your pipes.

You should have a plumber come out and hydro jet your restaurant’s plumbing bi-annually. Hydro jetting is a process where pressurized water “jets” through your pipes, clearing them of debris.

Cleaner pipes will help increase the performance of your grease trap.

Replace Your Commercial Garbage Disposal

Your kitchen may be fitted with a commercial garbage disposal. These units function the same as your home disposal, but on a much larger scale.

These commercial garbage grinders take food waste and chop it into smaller pieces, but all that food debris still ends up going into your grease trap and sewer system.

If they malfunction, you’re looking at an expensive repair that could shut your restaurant down for days.

Not only that, but commercial garbage disposals use a lot of energy and water. Replacing your commercial kitchen’s garbage disposal unit will help cut your utility bills.

To replace your garbage disposal and help keep your grease trap free of food waste, you should consider a commercial garbage disposal alternative.

The Drain Strainer™ is an effective commercial garbage disposal alternative that was invented by a former restaurant owner. It captures all the food debris while still allowing your sinks to drain quickly. Our drain screen system filters out food waste without electricity and creates an air gap between your commercial sinks and your grease trap.

Grease Trap Cleaning Solutions

Whether you do it yourself or hire professionals, grease trap cleaning is essential.

If you don’t clean them on a regular basis, you run the risk of a kitchen nightmare that could shut your restaurant down and damage your business.

Though cleaning is inevitable, there are ways to keep your trap functioning between cleanings. One of the best, most cost-effective ways to do so is to install The Drain Strainer™ to capture the food debris so you will need less frequent grease trap cleaning.

Are you a restaurant owner interested in improving your kitchen with The Drain Strainer™? Contact our team today!