Ever wonder about the life of grease – where it comes from, and what happens after it’s passed through your grease trap? As we’re sure you’re all aware – restaurant grease comes from cooking oil and animal fats used throughout the cooking process. But which foods have the highest content, and what happens to your grease after it leaves your grease trap? Knowing each of these things can help you better understand your facility’s grease trap production and how often you should have your grease trap serviced. So, let’s dive in.
Your Foods and Grease
We all know and love the traditional greasy foods – which is why a majority of our favorite restaurants carry a plentiful amount of each of these items. FOGs (fats, oils, and grease) naturally exist in many common food products. Because of this, grease occurs as a routine consequence of the cooking process. While grease can take on many forms, it’s most commonly known in restaurants as animal fats and vegetable oils.
Depending on the items used, along with the preferred cooking method, some foods will naturally produce more grease byproducts than others. Some of those items include:
- Cooking oil
- Butter and margarine
- Meat fats
- Sauces
- Dairy products
- Lard
- Shortening
- Food scraps
- Baked goods
The Cooking Process
Whether you cook it, fry it, or prepare it in a dish, grease silently makes its way into your kitchen and eventually into your grease trap. Through the cooking process, solid grease is heated and transformed into its most common, liquid state. While this can be great for cooking, it can often lead to a misguided understanding of how to properly dispose of this grease type.
While many facilities can easily spot used cooking oils – which is why canning and selling it has become more common practice – animal grease can be much more difficult to spot once used. Because of this, facilities are required to install grease traps to help catch some of this easy to miss grease. But what exactly happens once grease passes from your kitchen, through the pipes, and into your local grease trap system?
Life in the Grease Trap
In the most basic terms, grease traps work by slowing the flow of hot/warm grease, allowing it to cool once poured down the drain. As the temperature drops, the grease and oil begin to separate from the water, forming a solid mass at the bottom of the grease trap. This allows the remaining water to safely flow through the grease trap and into the outflowing pipes – all without clogging the local system. While the concept can seem a little out of reach, grease traps actually help with more than just preventing FOGs from entering the local sewer systems – they also protect your facility from major fines.
The Cleanup
Now that you’ve got a good understanding of the grease life in your kitchen, you might find yourself wondering what happens next (well, maybe not, but you should!)
While the EPA recommends that facilities have their grease traps serviced at least every three months, some require more maintenance than others. Keeping an eye on your grease trap, and understanding the common signs of grease trap overflow, will help keep your facility clean and fine-free.
Once you decide it’s time for your upcoming grease trap cleaning, you may choose to do one of two things: schedule an appointment with your current provider (if you don’t have one scheduled already), or request a quote with a new one.
On the scheduled date, the grease trap cleaning team will arrive at your facility with all the needed equipment to empty and clean your grease trap. The grease will then either be transported to the company’s onsite waste treatment facility, or to a third-party treatment facility that will dispose of your grease as needed.
It’s crucial that you ensure your hired grease trap cleaning company practices proper grease disposal. Unfortunately, there are many companies out there that make promises to transport and dispose of waste, like grease, that they can’t actually keep — resulting in illegal dumping. As the generator of the waste, your company holds a cradle to grave liability to not only have your grease trap regularly serviced, but to also ensure that it is properly disposed of after it leaves your care.
Pick a company you can trust. At Environmental Remedies, we don’t just clean out your grease, we remove, treat, and dispose of it, too. Our state-of-the-art waste treatment facility in Atlanta enables us to process, treat, and dispose of grease trap waste to the highest environmental standards. Our superior service doesn’t stop there either! We’ll also take care of all the required paperwork, so you don’t have to bother with it.
Looking to schedule your next grease trap cleaning in the Atlanta area? Get started by requesting a quote, or contact us with any questions.