Commercial Grease Trap Cleaning & Interceptor Pumping
A blocked grease line shuts a kitchen faster than anything else on site. We pump and clean under-sink traps and in-ground interceptors across the Bay Area, jet the kitchen waste line while we are there, and leave the service record on site. Out-of-hours work costs the same as a weekday morning — we never add overtime.
Cleaning the trap only solves half the problem when the branch line is already lined with grease — see commercial hydro jetting for scouring the pipework itself.
- In-ground and exterior grease interceptors pumped and scraped
- Under-sink hydromechanical traps stripped, cleaned and rebuilt
- Kitchen waste line jetted from the trap through to the main
- Baffles, inlet tees and outlet tees checked and cleared
- Pumping intervals set from actual grease loading, not guesswork
- Service records and hauler manifests left with the site
- Overnight, early-morning and holiday slots at no extra cost
Signs You Need Commercial Grease Trap Cleaning
Catching these early is almost always cheaper than waiting for the failure.
Sinks backing up at the end of service
The pot sink and dish pit drain fine at ten in the morning and crawl at nine at night. That pattern points at a trap or branch line that is close to full and only fails once the day's volume of hot water and grease has gone through it.
Smell at floor sinks or the trap lid
A sour, rancid smell rather than a sewage smell usually means grease and solids sitting far longer than they should. It carries into the dining room through the kitchen extract and gets noticed by customers before it gets noticed by maintenance.
Gurgling when a nearby fixture drains
Air struggling past a partial blockage makes the neighbouring floor sink or hand basin gurgle. It is an early warning that the line has narrowed, and it normally shows up weeks before the full stoppage that closes the kitchen.
Grease showing at the lid or across the yard
Standing grease around an interceptor lid, or a greasy film tracking across the car park or loading area, means the unit is over capacity or the outlet is restricted. It also creates a slip hazard and a housekeeping finding at inspection.
Pumping intervals getting shorter
If the schedule that worked last year no longer holds, something has changed — menu, covers, a new fryer, or a broken baffle letting grease straight through. Shrinking intervals are worth investigating rather than simply pumping more often.
Gaps in the service record
Missing manifests, no dated log on site, or paperwork that nobody can produce when asked. Record-keeping tends to surface as a problem only during an inspection, which is the worst possible moment to discover the file is incomplete.
Interceptors and Traps We Service
Under-sink hydromechanical traps
The compact units sitting under a pot sink or beside a dishwasher. They hold very little, so they need frequent attention in a busy kitchen. We strip the unit, remove the accumulated cap and solids, clean the baffles and flow control, then check the seals and reassemble so it does not weep onto the floor.
In-ground gravity interceptors
Concrete or moulded tanks set into the floor or yard, sized for the whole kitchen rather than one fixture. These need a vacuum truck, full removal of liquid and settled solids, and a scrape of the walls and baffle faces. Skimming the top layer alone leaves the sludge that actually causes the problem.
Exterior interceptors under traffic
Units set in loading bays, service yards and car parks take vehicle loading and often have heavy lids. We check the lid, frame and riser condition as part of the visit, since a cracked lid or a seized bolt turns a routine pump-out into an unplanned repair on a night when you can least afford it.
Automatic grease recovery units
Skimming units that draw grease off continuously into a collection tank. They still need the solids chamber cleaned out, the heater and skimmer wheel checked, and the collection container emptied on a sensible cycle. When they are neglected, they block just as readily as a passive trap.
How We Service a Grease Trap
Assess and protect the area
We look at the unit, the lid condition and the access route first, then lay protection across floors and any path the hoses cross. In a live building that matters as much as the plumbing — nothing should be tracked through a kitchen or a public area.
Pump out fully, not just the top
Liquid, floating grease cap and the settled solids at the bottom all come out. A partial pump leaves the heaviest material behind, which is exactly what shortens the next interval and eventually finds its way into the outlet.
Scrape, inspect and check the baffles
Walls and baffle faces are scraped down, and we inspect the inlet and outlet tees. Broken or missing baffles let grease pass straight through to the sewer, so this is the point where a trap that keeps failing usually explains itself.
Jet the inlet and the kitchen waste line
Pumping the trap does nothing for the pipe feeding it. We jet the branch line from the kitchen through to the trap and onward, so the bore is clear rather than merely open, and confirm flow before we finish.
Refill, reseal and hand over records
The unit is refilled where the type calls for it, lids and seals go back correctly, and we leave you the service record and hauler documentation for your file. Everything is quoted and approved before we start work.
Why Grease Lines Narrow and Block
Fats, oils and grease leave a commercial kitchen as a warm liquid and behave perfectly well for the first few metres of pipe. As soon as they cool, they separate out and cling to the pipe wall. Every service adds another film. Over months the bore narrows from the wall inwards, food solids catch on the roughened surface, and a line that once carried a full sink of water in seconds starts backing up under load.
A grease interceptor works by slowing the flow enough for grease to float and solids to settle, so only the middle layer passes to the sewer. That only holds while there is room for both layers. Once the accumulated grease and solids take up too much of the tank, incoming flow short-circuits straight across the top and out. The trap looks like it is working, the sewer line quietly loads up with grease, and the eventual blockage sits downstream where it is far more disruptive to clear.
Hot water and detergent make it worse rather than better. They emulsify grease long enough for it to pass the trap, then it separates again in the cooler line further along. This is why a kitchen that runs a lot of hot rinse water can pass a visual check on the trap and still block its lateral. Cleaning the trap and jetting the waste line together is what keeps both ends of the system clear.
The other half of the job is the paperwork. Many jurisdictions in the Bay Area expect food service premises to hold an on-site record of interceptor servicing, with dated manifests from the hauler, available when an inspector asks. Requirements vary between cities and sanitary districts, so we work to whatever your local authority asks for and leave the documentation with the site rather than filing it away where nobody can find it.
What Affects the Price
We quote every job up front, so you approve the price before anything starts. These are the things that move it:
- Interceptor size and whether it is under-sink or a full in-ground tank
- How much settled solid there is, which reflects how long since the last service
- Access — lid weight, depth, hose run from the truck and whether the yard is clear
- Whether the kitchen waste line is jetted at the same visit
- Condition of baffles, tees, lids and risers, and any repair they need
- Number of units on site and whether they can be done in one visit
- Frequency agreed, since a planned cycle is priced differently to a one-off callout
Most quotes are free and can be done from photos or video you send us. Some on-site estimates carry a fee based on distance, and we tell you that before we come out.
Setting the Right Pumping Schedule
A high-volume fryer operation and a coffee shop should not be on the same schedule. We set the interval from what actually comes out of your unit and adjust it after a couple of cycles rather than applying a default.
A dated record with hauler manifests, held where the manager can reach it, answers most inspection questions in seconds. It also shows you the trend, so a shortening interval gets noticed early.
Scraping plates and pans into the bin, and collecting fryer oil separately, does more for interval length than any equipment change. Sink strainers kept in place stop most of the solids that end up as sludge.
Trap servicing and line jetting are complementary. Building a periodic jet of the kitchen waste line into the schedule stops the slow narrowing that leads to a stoppage in the middle of service.
Because we do not charge overtime, there is no cost reason to service a trap during lunch. Overnight, early morning or a closed day works just as well and keeps the kitchen running.
Commercial Grease Trap Cleaning — Frequently Asked Questions
Straight answers, without the sales pitch.
How often should a commercial grease trap be pumped?
It depends on the size of the unit and how much grease your kitchen actually produces. A small under-sink trap in a busy kitchen may need attention every few weeks, while a large in-ground interceptor serving a modest operation goes far longer. Many jurisdictions also apply a rule based on how much of the tank depth is taken up by grease and solids. We set the interval from what we pull out of your unit and review it after a cycle or two.
Can you clean the trap outside our trading hours?
Yes, and it costs the same. We do not charge overtime at any hour, on any day, including holidays. For restaurants that usually means an overnight or early-morning slot; for food halls and shared kitchens it often means a closed day. Booking outside service is far less disruptive than pumping a trap next to a working line, and there is no price penalty for choosing it.
What is the difference between a grease trap and a grease interceptor?
In practice the terms overlap. A grease trap normally means the small hydromechanical unit fitted under or beside a fixture, sized for one or two sinks. An interceptor usually means a much larger gravity tank set in the floor or outside, sized for the whole kitchen. Both work on the same principle of holding flow long enough for grease to float and solids to settle, but they are serviced very differently.
Do you jet the kitchen waste line as well as the trap?
We recommend it, and on most commercial visits we do both. Pumping the trap empties the tank but leaves the pipe that feeds it coated. If that line has narrowed, the kitchen will still back up shortly after a clean trap has been signed off. Jetting restores the full bore of the branch line so the trap can actually do its job.
What records will we have afterwards?
You get a dated service record for the visit and the hauler documentation for the waste removed, left with the site rather than posted on later. Many local authorities expect food premises to keep this available for inspection. We will work to the format your city or sanitary district asks for if you tell us what they want to see.
Our trap was pumped recently and the sink is still slow. Why?
Usually because the problem is in the pipework, not the tank. A trap can be emptied properly and the branch line feeding it still be half closed with hardened grease. It can also mean a broken or missing baffle, so grease is passing straight through and building up downstream. A camera inspection settles which of the two you are dealing with.
Do you charge extra for nights, weekends or holidays?
No. We do not add overtime charges, ever. The rate you are quoted is the same whether we come out on a Tuesday morning or at 2am on a holiday weekend.
Are you licensed and insured?
Yes. Power Plumbing USA holds California contractor license #1082507 and carries full liability insurance. All work is performed to California Plumbing Code, and we pull permits where the job requires them.
Where We Provide This Service
We cover 15 Bay Area cities from our Union City base. See the full service area →