GREASE TRAP SERVICES IN AUSTIN
AUSTIN GREASE TRAP SERVICES
GREASE TRAP CLEANING & MAINTENANCE
Austin Grease Trap Services Provides Restaurant Grease Trap Cleaning and Maintenance
Why grease traps are important for your food service business
If you run a food services business, you know that having the right grease trap cleaning in Austin is crucial for a streamlined operation.
Grease traps are a critical part of your foodservice operation. Grease traps act as a clean and safe way to prevent drainage issues and sewer backups, as well reduce noxious odors.
When grease traps are properly installed and regularly maintained, the grease trap interceptor is an effective countermeasure against grease buildup (referred to as FOG, or “fats, oils and grease”). However, when grease builds up and clogs the system, grease trap cleaning is a must to avoid business interruption, fines for negatively impacting the environment, and expensive plumbing repairs.
To accommodate your business, Austin Grease Trap Services provides indoor and outdoor grease trap services in Austin for businesses in the food service industry. Our trained and experienced technicians are here to provide your business with this necessary service that works with your hours of operation and unique needs.
- Grease Trap Installation
- Grease Trap Cleaning
- Grease Trap Pumping
- Grease Interceptor Cleaning
- Grease Interceptor Pumping
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Understanding How Grease Traps Work
Grease buildup in plumbing is a common problem for commercial businesses that prepare and process food. In order to offset oil and fats that is disposed of in drains, a device referred to as a grease trap is installed.
Grease traps are an important line of defense to keep fats, oil, and grease (FOG) from food production from entering the sewer line with waste water. When properly functioning, grease traps help separate waste water that enters the grease trap. Through a system of baffles, oils and grease rise from the water and become trapped within the receptacle to allow for an unobstructed flow. The water at the bottom of the grease trap can then pass into the sewer line.
When this flow and separation is not working effectively, grease can quickly accumulate and create a health hazard for your employees and patrons. And while a grease trap provides a necessary function, they do require grease trap pumping in Austin on a regular basis from a reputable company.
Warning signs of a clogged grease trap
Clogs that appear in a grease trap usually have a couple of indicators that something is amiss, potentially creating expensive problems in the near future.
There are a couple of commons signs that may indicate a clogged grease trap:
- Poor drainage and water flow in drains
- A greasy or putrid smell that lingers in food preparation areas
- More frequent clogging over the course of time
- For outdoor grease traps, backups in the main sewer line can cause wastewater and sewage to rise out of the manhole covers
To prevent some of these issues, grease traps need to be manually rodded on a frequent basis to remove built-up debris. Also, be sure to check your grease traps regularly to ensure that the grease, oil, and other debris has not accumulated in the receptacle or excessively clogged the lines in and out of the trap.
Rodding out the grease trap is labor intensive, requiring not only the trap be clean, but also the inlet and outlet pipes. Improper rodding can cause damage and requires a professional to adequately remove buildup. Furthermore, grease trap pumping is a must to clear out accumulated grease – which requires specialized tools that most businesses don’t have on hand.
That’s where having knowledgeable grease trap service Austin TX from Austin Grease Trap Services is a smart choice to protect your business. We provide regular comprehensive maintenance for your grease traps to prevent clogs and breakdowns that occur from faulty and old equipment.
Reasons why your business needs grease trap cleaning in Austin, Texas
Having your commercial grease trap cleaned on a regular basis helps avoid serious issues that can affect your bottom line, including:
- Monetary fines and citations
- Foul odors and poor air quality
- Complaints from customers and staff
- Backed-up plumbing and flooding issues
- Food contamination
- Health issues
- Pest infestations
- Business interruption and closures
- Costly remediation services
Reliable restaurant grease trap cleaning services from Austin grease trap services
Since 2001, Austin Grease Trap Services has been a leading provider of grease trap maintenance and cleaning services in the greater Austin area. We believe in providing our clients with the best grease trap cleaning in Austin to give you peace of mind.
Known as the first-choice in grease trap services in Austin, Austin Grease Trap Services understands the needs and fast-paced demands for the food service industry. Our professionals go the extra mile, regularly inspecting the condition of your grease traps and ensure they are working properly to help prevent overflows, buildup, and clogs.
Unlike other companies that offer grease trap services in Austin, it is our mission to provide the best services for commercial businesses. We offer the following services:
- Regularly scheduled maintenance: We reliably provide services at scheduled times that ensure grease traps are regularly maintained and avoids business interruption.
- Trap cleaning and repair: Our team of professionals thoroughly clean both inside and outside grease traps, providing repairs as necessary.
- Rodding and jetting: Our industry-standard equipment is designed to rod out clogged areas, remove debris, and ensure buildup is reduced for the future.
- Inspection report: Every time we service your grease traps, we will provide you with a detailed report of work performed each time we service your grease traps.
- History reports: We provide our customers with an accurate record of your condition of your grease trap. Our long-term clients benefit from knowing about past issues and help identify potential problems that may occur.
- Compliance with municipal and state regulations: Every municipality requires restaurants and food service businesses to adhere to regulations for public health and environmental reasons. Our professionals understand what is needed to bring your operations into compliance to avoid fines and shutdowns.
- On-demand emergency 24/7 cleanup: Problems can strike at any time. We are available at all hours to clean and maintain your grease traps in an emergency where every minute counts.
Does your business need commercial grease trap cleaning services?
If you are in the food services industry, grease trap services Austin TX are a must.
Since our company’s founding in 2001, Austin Grease Trap Services has worked with hundreds of businesses in Texas to ensure the cleanest work environment possible. No matter how big or small your operation is, Austin Grease Trap Services is a trusted name in grease trap cleaning services. Our clients include:
- Restaurants
- Cafeterias
- Schools
- Supermarkets
- Hotels
- Country clubs
- Food production facilities
- Manufacturing facilities
- Hospitals
- Stadiums
- Nursing homes
- Event centers
- Shopping malls
- And more
If you’ve ever searched for grease trap pumping companies near me in Austin, the choice is clear. Choose Austin Grease Trap Services for comprehensive service that works as hard as you do every day. Our extensive experience is guaranteed to meet your needs efficiently and meets grease trap service requirements in Austin in compliance with local ordinances for worry-free operation.
The cost of professional grease trap cleaning
The truth about grease trap pumping in Austin is that pricing varies based not only on your business, but also the company that you choose to work with. Not all grease trap service companies in Austin are able to provide reliable service with your needs in mind. We believe in offering accurate estimates so there’s no pricing surprises or unexpected charges.
To learn about how affordable grease trap cleaning in Austin can be, give us a call to speak with our representatives. We can give you a quote over the phone for grease trap cleaning service when you need it.
Servicing grease traps is important
Every restaurant and commercial business that prepares food needs a grease trap and are not optional. To ensure your business adequately separates FOG (Fats, Oils and Greases), a grease trap helps separate these waste products from water in pipes that flows through Austin’s sewage lines.
Businesses that fail to keep these clogging materials from entering city sewer lines leads to unwanted consequences, including off-putting odors that linger, trap blockages that prevent proper drainage, and/or overflow of sewer water. Austin Grease Trap Services helps ensure these consequences are minimized, optimizing your working environment to run smoothly and avoid fines for polluting the environment.
We understand the compliance side of your food service business
With Austin Grease Trap Services, you can gain the peace of mind by partnering with the most reliable and environmentally-conscious companies in Austin. There are a number of grease trap requirements in Austin that must be followed exactly to comply with municipal codes. We keep up to date and pride ourselves in helping your business succeed.
Our grease trap cleaning process
The expert technicians at Austin Grease Trap Services are ready to provide your business with complete evacuation of your grease trap material, including FOG material and/or grey water. After emptying the grease trap, our technicians carefully cleanse the trap with water to break up any hardened grease buildup caught inside the trap, then empty again. It should be noted that this process is done without any harmful chemicals and does not extend to further cleaning/unclogging of the pipe system, which should be performed by a professional plumbing service.
- To ensure that your system runs properly and avoids any unwanted backups, we set up a preventative grease maintenance schedule. Depending on size of the trap, volume of grease, and local ordinance specifications, we work to ensure that your business is in complete compliance.
- Our service is provided during non-peak hours to minimize any interruption to your foodservice business.
- Our grease trap cleaning services are comprehensive and thorough, removing the sludge layer as well as the FOG layer (fat, oil, and grease) at top of trap.
- Certified technicians inspect your system and note any potential issues that can occur in the future, including excessive grease and solids in the trap, broken tee pipes, the integrity of baffles and manhole covers, and more.
- We believe in complete transparency for our customers. That’s why we provide complete records of service and procedures to understand your grease trap servicing.
- Our technicians are trained in the industry’s best-practices to ensure the longevity of your system to minimize potential problems and redundant service calls.
- As an ecologically-minded company, we recycle usable grease for a clean energy source and dispose of other material at a licensed waste management facility.
Common questions about grease traps
Why do I need a grease trap?
Grease traps are a necessity for businesses with commercial kitchens in order to maintain cleanliness, minimize downtime due to cleaning/plumbing issues, and minimize the impact on the environment.
How do I maintain my grease trap?
Grease traps require a fair deal of preventative and ongoing maintenance. By ensuring that your grease trap is cleaned professionally, you can avoid costly repairs and downtime. Regular maintenance by your company’s staff should be regularly performed. Let’s take a look at what businesses can do to maintain their grease trap:
- Examine the trap periodically for wear or damage. Even small problems can quickly require expensive cleaning and emergency plumbing services.
- Ensure that the gasket sealing the lid to the trap is flush with no visible tears.
- If you smell a rancid or noxious odor that smells like grease, chances are that the grease trap is overflowing or is in need of a replacement.
- Train your staff and employees to properly handle grease and food waste to minimize grease buildup.
- To avoid washing the food waste into your trap, scrape all food off dishes into the trash before rinsing.
- Use drain covers in sinks and washing stations to capture debris before it could potentially clog the grease trap.
- Never pour grease and oil down the drain.
Following these guidelines and conducting regular preventive maintenance will help you avoid costly backups and overflows on a day-to-day basis. However, grease traps will inevitably require professional cleaning – or you may have expensive plumbing costs in the future. To keep your business running smoothly, have your grease trap serviced regularly by the most reliable grease trap pumping companies in Austin: Austin Grease Trap Services.
Is trap grease recyclable?
One of the great advantages of using grease trap pumping services is that the removed grease has the ability to be recycled to reduce harm to the environment. Grease trap material that is taken to a processing facility is able to be used in renewable energy production. The process involves anaerobic digestors that enable the extraction of methane gas, a clean energy solution.
Grease trap material that isn’t able to be converted to an energy source is taken to a safe disposal facility. This significantly minimizes harm to the environment and will not cause blockages in municipal systems.
Additionally, some grease and debris taken from grease traps is also a viable source of nutrients that is reused in processed animal feed. It should be noted that separate vehicles are used to ensure that this grease is taken by a separate transport vehicle and cannot be taken to the same facility where the cooking oils and meat fats are processed.
Therefore, if you use best grease trap cleaning in Austin, TX, you’ll be happy to know that harm reduction is a pivotal part of Austin Grease Trap Services’ commitment to a cleaner and more sustainable future.
What size grease trap do I need?
Considering every commercial foodservice operation has different needs, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. For instance, vegetarian restaurants that don’t use animal products produce significantly less grease, therefore requiring smaller traps and less-frequent servicing. Conversely, large-scale restaurants and facilities need larger traps and frequent servicing in order to remain operational.
Most municipalities, including the greater Austin metropolitan area, regulate the size of the grease trap and enforce strict guidelines on what is needed to satisfy local requirements. On average, the typical exterior grease trap is 1,000 gallons or larger. Similarly, cleaning requirements can vary by industry, so speaking with a qualified grease trap specialist can ensure that your business is fully compliant and matched with the proper sizing.
The technicians at Austin Grease Trap Services can recommend proper grease trap sizes and which solution best fits your usage. For businesses that have improper sizing, we can recommend a cleaning schedule that’s a better fit to prevent costly servicing. And for our regular customers, technicians are trained to identify and alert business owners to problems before they become critical and costly issues.
Where can I get a grease trap?
Austin Grease Trap Services does not sell, provide or install grease traps. Instead, most commercial plumbers are trained and licensed to securely install new grease traps according to local ordinances and regulations.
As mentioned previously, the size of a properly-fitted grease trap depends on the size of your facility, regular water usage, and the volume of grease produced. Contact a technician at Austin Grease Trap Services to ensure that your business stays in compliance and your grease trap functions properly.
How often should a grease trap be cleaned and serviced?
The frequency of necessary service and cleaning of commercial grease traps is ultimately determined by the amount of grease produced and the overall size of the trap. While there is no harm in frequent cleaning and maintenance, most grease traps are cleaned on a fixed schedule determined by a reputable company. Grease trap companies in Austin typically create a service schedule compliant with applicable regulations on a consistent basis.
If you have searched for “grease trap cleaning companies near me in Austin”, you will find Austin Grease Trap Services as the leading service provider in Austin that you can rely on.
How to clean a grease trap?
There are various methods to clean a grease trap which may be mandated by municipal regulations. While taking preventative measures to ensure grease doesn’t go down the drain or regularly rodding the build-up manually, cleaning a grease trap is a labor-intensive job. Businesses that go the DIY route and try to manage their grease in-house find that grease trap cleaning is an unpleasant experience.
That’s why it is strongly recommended that you hire a licensed service provider to handle the job that’s compliant and up-to-date on any regulations. Austin Grease Trap Services is experienced in performing the following services efficiently:
- Pump and return: FOG material (fats, oils and greases) is pumped out of a grease trap and taken away by the service provider. The separated gray water is returned to your grease trap to minimize odors.
- Dry pump: The entire contents of the grease trap are hauled away, including the FOG material along with the accumulated gray water. While this leaves your grease trap dry until it fills again, this method emits strong odors until water is added.
Is it okay to pour grease down the drain?
No, grease should never be poured down a drain. The reason is that grease will solidify while traveling through plumbing. This will exacerbate slow drain issues, eventually leading to clogging, backups, and overflows. During the winter months and colder days in Texas, flushed grease can solidify even quicker than on hotter days and lead to costly cleaning.
It’s a common misconception to believe that a grease trap’s purpose is to eliminate this blockage. Instead, a grease trap is a type of reservoir that uses an ingenious design to separate wastewater from grease, capturing it in a removable trap. Dumping large volumes of grease can only damage your pipes, but can lead to costly fines and mandatory shut-downs to address the issue.
As a business owner, I’ve heard that I am responsible for my grease from cradle-to-grave. What does that mean?
Restaurant owners and those involved in the food service industry are required to comply with municipal codes at every step of the grease management process, especially the disposal. This means that not only are grease traps must be pumped and maintained, but the material must be disposed of in compliance with environmental regulations.
While you may hire the cheapest grease removal company, it’s important to understand that if that service provider removes the grease illegally, you’re still liable for the violation. With fines in Austin costing thousands of dollars per day, business owners cannot afford to work with unethical and incompetent companies.
That’s why it is important to work with the most reputable and ethical company for grease trap cleaning Austin TX to ensure you are complying with all ordinances.
What are the fines if my grease trap overflows?
Overflowing grease traps can lead to expensive fines. According to the Austin City Code, violating grease trap maintenance requirements and documentation can subject your business to fines of up to $2,000 per violation per day. This is determined by a number of factors, but if you’ve experienced previous overflows, have been lax on regular maintenance, and exceed FOG (fat, oil and grease) limits, you may need grease trap cleaning in Austin.. Every municipality has its own requirements, so be sure to call your city’s sewage and environmental office to learn more about compliance.
To avoid these hefty fines and remain operational, call Austin Grease Trap Services to learn about FOG requirements, mandatory servicing, and proper disposal.
Can Austin Grease Trap Services help with an overflowing grease trap?
In truth, if you’re experiencing overflow issues, you may require the assistance of a plumber to clear any blockages and address any other potential issues. Technicians at Austin Grease Trap Services are able to remove the contents of the grease trap, but if it is determined that a clog is the source of the overflow, a plumber is the proper choice. Of course, a regularly scheduled maintenance schedule is the best prevention from clogs, so call us today to keep your business flowing properly.
Why does my restaurant smell after my trap was recently cleaned?
If you detect a rancid or grease-like smell in your commercial kitchen, this can be indicative of several causes:
- Backed up lines that lead to the grease trap caused by grease and food clogs.
- A worn or corroded gasket around the manhole cover, allowing unpleasant gases to escape from your grease trap and drift into your establishment.
- If the unpleasant smell occurs immediately after a grease trap servicing, the odor is most likely to be from the method used to clean your grease trap. These smells quickly dissipate and are a normal process of regular grease trap servicing.
Do I need a grease trap if I have a grease interceptor?
A grease interceptor is another name for a grease trap and both terms are referencing the same device.
Does Austin Grease Trap Services repair grease traps?
Currently, Austin Grease Trap Services does not offer grease trap repair. However, our technicians are trained to identify the condition of your grease trap, diagnose potential problems and make recommendations for qualified plumbers to quickly solve your issues.