Grease traps are a necessary and irreplaceable equipment part of every commercial kitchen. This utensil is so convenient that it even become a part of many home kitchens. Grease traps provide great benefits from accumulating cooking waste to preventing unpleasant kitchen smells. However, if you don`t clean your grease trap regularly, it can become an uncomfortable issue. To help you take care of your grease trap, emergency septic service south Miami has provided tips on how to efficiently clean and maintain a grease trap system.
How grease trap function?
To better maintain the grease trap its convenient to comprehend the basis of this system, the mechanism of its functioning, and the major parts that compose this apparatus.
A grease trap is also usually called a grease converter, grease interceptor, and grease recovery device. Its purpose is to prevent fat, oils, and grease to enter a sewer waste system.
The capacity of the grease trap varies and its manufacturing material also differs.
Grease traps can be installed in or outside the kitchen, and below or above the ground.
Passive manual (hydromechanical) grease traps are the most common type of grease trap for residents. These are the small units often installed beside the dishwasher or under the sink. They are usually affordable investments due to small initial costs and maintenance expenses.
This plumbing fixture functions by filtering grease substances and solids. Filter has a role to separate water from oil, by its catching feature that provides time for substances to cool off and thicken while water can pass through a system freely.
By the time the accumulated solids and grease build up and block the inlet. This is why it’s necessary to regularly clean grease traps to prevent clogging.
How to clean a grease trap?
- Lid detaching
To gently detach the grease trap lid, we recommend using a pry bar. Under the grease trap cover, there are usually three gaskets. Detecting a lid should be careful and gentle as those gaskets can get damaged or broken in uncovering process and if so it will require buying a new one and replacing wracked ones.
- Take a good look at the grease trap
When you open the grease trap lid, we suggest you take a good look at where each part of the grease trap is placed so that you can properly install them back later after cleaning. This will also help you put them back into their place without damaging them.
If you are not sure that you can remember the position of grease trap elements, you can use your mobile phone to take a picture that you will later look at to successfully complete the reversion.
- Insert a measuring stick
After you have opened a grease trap, you need to measure how full your grease trap is. To do this, you require a measuring stick. To install a measuring stick you should gently lower it and lightly stir so that debris marks the level. After having a clear mark of fulness level, remove a measuring stick and record the result.
- Remove still water
If there are remains of still water in a grease trap, you should remove it with a bucket. You can also keep that water and pour it back after you complete collecting the waste.
- Removing a waste
To remove waste from the grease trap you can use a scoop and scraper. Scraping will successfully remove waste stuck to the grease attached to a grease tank top, walls, and button. To transport waste more easily, you can use dry oil as it solidified the liquid making the waste collection quicker. Collected waste, then place it in a solid plastic bag.
- Clean grease trap
Use room temperature water with soap and a pot scrubber to clean grease trap parts, lids, and sides. Further, flush soap and debris with water.
- Return the grease trap parts to their place
Now that your grease trap is clean you can reinstall its elements back to their place. Put back a grease trap lead considering the gaskets mentioned in the first step of cleaning. Make sure that everything is properly tightened. This will prevent the leaking and flooding of the trap.
Final thoughts
Cleaning a grease trap is ideally once every two weeks but it depends on how often you use this utensil and how much waste you produce. When cleaning a grease trap consider cleaning the filters above the hood of the stove as well, as they also tend to collect a significant amount of waste. To avoid more often grease trap cleaning and clogging, we suggest simple prevention steps such as scraping and removing food residues from dishes before placing them in the sink, adding screeners under sink, don’t use water above 144 degrees as this water temperature can melt fat and oils allowing them to drain into the sewer.