Preventing Grease Trap Backups

Identifying Warning Signs

What are the danger signs that your grease trap is clogged or not working properly? If it’s an inside grease trap, all of the inside drains may be backed up. You will also smell a noxious odor caused by the grease and oil fumes having nowhere to escape.

If you have an outside grease trap that’s backing up, you will see water coming out of the manhole covers. That’s a warning that the main sewer has to be rodded out to the city sewer.

Backups to the inside grease trap

An inside grease trap backing up is caused by two things:

1. The outlet pipe of the grease trap is blocked by material that has collected over time and needs to be rodded.
2. The grease trap is not being serviced frequently enough. Due to inside grease traps having a relatively small capacity of 10-100 gallons, there is a constant need to keep pumping the grease trap out.

Backups to outside grease traps

Important steps to follow when your outside grease trap is blocking up:

1. Check to see if there is an inspection manhole. This would very close to where your grease trap is located. (Note: Do not confuse the inspection manhole with the storm sewer. Not every establishment has an inspection manhole)
2. Check if there are any clean outs attached to your grease trap. A clean out will be a smaller (4″) PVC pipe with a cap on top.
3. After removing the covers from the clean out port, check if there is visible water flowing. If no water, then the sewer should be rodded back from the sanitary sewer to the grease trap to cut through all the grease and solids built up in the pipe and help restore flow.
4. If there is water flowing then the main sewer has to be rodded out to the city sewer. In situations where there is no access to the sewer past the grease trap, a pump truck will need to gain access to the main sewer through the grease trap.
5. If you have access to the main sewer through a clean out or an inspection manhole, call your plumber. If you DO NOT HAVE ACCESS, then call the company that pumps your trap.

Have your grease trap serviced regularly to avoid backups and emergency clean ups.