The Role of Grease Traps

Not known to everyone and to a lot of people but grease traps are very essential elements in a household or in a commercial business that operates with rather busy kitchens. Just imagining a world without grease traps is like envisioning a world where everything is so untidy, stinky and unruly. Every plumbing system should have a grease trap in place for sanitary purposes. The role of a grease trap whether in the house or in a restaurant can be summarized into the following:

1. Grease traps function as an internal waste segregation system within the pipes. Of course, when households and commercial kitchens operate, it involves a lot of waste water going down the pipes and into the community waste collection system. It is important that oily and fatty substances are not mixed in with the non-oil waste since it can create clogged up pipes. Grease traps take on the role of the internal waste segregation system that separates oil from ordinary waste water. Grease traps look like trays that gather all oily and fatty substances so that ordinary waste water can pass by the pipes smoothly and freely and go directly into the waste collection system. If oil and ordinary waste water are not separated, not only will it clog up the individual pipes in the household or in the commercial kitchen, but the entire waste system as a whole. Also, it renders the internal filtration and recycling of waste water useless if oily substances are mixed up with it.

2.  Grease traps combat and prevent health hazards caused by oil, fat and grease spillages. Oil, fat and grease are heavy substances compared to water, and when these are mixed up with ordinary waste water, it can clog up sewer lines and pipes and may then eventually lead to overflows and spillages. When this happens, water wastes can flow up to the streets, and this is not a pleasant experience at all for citizens who travel by foot on their way to school, to work or on their way back home. Not only is it unsightly and malodorous, it presents a health hazard since wastes carry germs and possible infections when people get into contact with it. Simply smelling wastage backflow is unpleasant, and all these can be contained and prevented by simply using grease traps. Aside from the health hazards the non-use of grease traps present, overflows and spillages can create and require costly sewage repairs. Grease traps cost significantly less than having a complete overhaul of the sewage system and pipes.

3. The use of grease taps form part of city and state ordinances.  Especially for restaurants, hotels and other commercial food establishments, the use and installation of grease traps in their plumbing systems are a basic requirement before they are granted the licensed to operate. With grease traps in their pipes, the community can expect that these commercial food establishments are not putting them at risk during the conduct of their business. Not only is it a state and city requirement, but grease traps function as a precursor for proper sanitation and proper water waste collection.