Home Tips 6 Best Grease Trap Cleaning Tips That Save You Money – 2024...

6 Best Grease Trap Cleaning Tips That Save You Money – 2024 Guide

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Millions of tonnes of grease are annually spilled into sewerage systems all around the world. Considering that the grease sticks to the walls of the pipes, this can cause damage and blockage in the system leading to enormous expenses and more importantly serious damage to the environment.

For that reason, in many places over the world, there have been laws put into place that regulate the disposal of the fats, oils, and grease (FOG). If you do not properly dispose of the FOG waste, you can face significant charges and fines. But, how are you to properly dispose of the FOG waste? How can you make sure you follow the regulations and protect the environment? Well, fortunately, there’s this machine, or a device, called grease trap, that is the industry standard for managing FOG waste.

What is a grease trap?

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Although this is by no means a new thing, not a lot of people are familiar with the existence of the grease trap. The reason behind that is probably the fact that the grease trap is not something commonly found in a household. You can find grease trap in large kitchens such as those in restaurants, hotels, or school. To put it simply as possible, a grease trap is just what the name suggests, a trap for fats, oils, and grease.

It works based on the simple fact that the FOG is less dense than water so it floats on top. When dirty flows into a grease trap, it’s slowed down enough for the layers to form. You’re left with grease, solid matter, and ‘clean’ water that continues into the sewers. Naturally, since the fats and solids stay inside the machine, they tend to build up and can cause a machine to fail or overflow, which is why it’s important to clean it regularly.

Even though cleaning the grease trap is really important, it is often overlooked. With all the other stuff happening, it’s easy to forget about it and cause yourself some trouble. Like we’ve said, FOG builds up inside the system and it can overflow and cause the machine to break all while creating a huge mess and unwanted expenses. So, how can you make sure that there are no leaks, breaks, or unwanted expenses? Well, we’ve created a simple guideline that you can follow and save yourself some time and money.

1. Proper installation

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The first and most important step is to have your grease trap adequately installed. It’s paramount that the process is done correctly so you don’t encounter problems in the future. If you’re worried that you might expect problems with the machine or you’ve previously experienced problems with it, it might be due to the bad installation. Avoid doing it by yourself, leave the job to the professionals. A company that specializes in grease traps will certainly have a team at your disposal and they will do the installation the right way. Even if you do install it by yourself, call a professional to come to take a look at it and check if the job is done right.

2. Opt-out for the suitable grease trap

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There are a few options here to choose from.

The first and the most basic model is the passive hydromechanical or manual grease trap. It’s commonly known as the manual or the traditional trap, the official name makes it sound more complex than it is. This is the model most commonly used in smaller establishments or even households. It’s fairly cheap to get, there are several sizes available and as you can tell by the common name, it’s manually cleaned.

AGRU’s or automatic grease removal units essentially work the same way as the previously mentioned ones, with the exception that they can be programmed to automatically separate the oil from the water into a separate container that you can empty out easily.

The third option is suitable for those who operate on a larger scale and that is a gravity grease trap. Basically, they are the same as the traditional model, only the tank is over a hundred times larger. These tanks are made either from concrete or fiberglass and are buried underground.

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3. Stop flooding your grease trap with solid food

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This machine is designed to trap FOG. It’s not a trashcan. Naturally, some food or other solid stuff is inevitably going to go down the drain, it’s just the way it is, but if you can remove some of the solid stuff, do it. If you make sure that the smallest possible amount of solid food ends up in your trap you’re going to have a more reliable machine and you’ll need to clean it less often. If you can, find a way to dispose of solid food and garbage into a trashcan or any other kind of garbage disposal, don’t let it down your drain.

4. Use a strainer

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Another great way to achieve the previous goal other than always separating stuff is to install the strainer in your sink. This will not only prevent food and other foreign items from going down the drain and into the grease trap, but it will also make your drain less susceptible to clogging.

5. Don’t pour all of your greases down the drain

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Even though you have a grease trap, don’t pour all of the greases down the drain every time. Whenever you can, pour the grease you use for frying and so on into a separate container and give it to the cleaning company for disposal.

6. Hire a professional for cleaning

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If possible, hire a professional to clean your grease trap. Not only you’ll make sure you don’t break anything, you’ll avoid mess and the horrible smell as well. Also, the professional will certainly do a better job than a tired employee or an inexperienced one. It’s better to pay for cleaning than the repair.

Hopefully, this article was helpful if you were wondering about a way to save some money when it comes to cleaning your grease trap.