Grease trap clogs are an ugly mess to deal with. In the worst case scenarios, they can even lead to necessary and often expensive grease trap repair. Thankfully, a properly cleaned and pumped grease trap can help to ensure that this situation rarely ever happens, but it’s never a guarantee.

As a restaurant owner or manager, here’s what you should and should not do if you ever find yourself in this horrible situation.

Call a Professional

Handling a grease trap clog is not like handling a normal drain clog at your house. Grease traps are more complicated and harder to deal with than simple clogged plumbing.

If you are at all uncertain as to the inner workings of your grease trap, do not hesitate to call a professional company in to assess the damage. Trying to diagnose and fix a grease trap clog on your own can be dangerous to both you and the system, and it can lead to costly repairs if you damage the system in the process.

The First Step

If you are looking for a possible quick fix to the problem, you can check to see if there are any foreign objects that are causing the clog. If you can see any in the drain, removing them might end the situation quickly and easily.

A List of Things to Avoid Doing

If there are no foreign objects visible, then something more troublesome is causing the clog. In order to avoid damaging your grease trap, it is important that you do not:

• • Pour solvents into the trap in order to try and dissolve the fats, oils and grease. This can place hazards chemicals into city lines, which is illegal and punishable by heavy fines.

• • Insert hoses, wires or pipes into the grease trap to try and unclog it yourself.

• Heat the pipe in order to melt the hardened grease and send it down the drain.

All of these can be both dangerous to you, your staff and your system.

How to Avoid the Situation Altogether

The best way to handle a grease trap clog is to lower the chances of one ever occurring at your establishment. Regular grease trap cleaning, when performed by a professional, can drastically reduce the risks of a clog ever forming. When grease traps are pumped, it clears out all the excess fats, oils and grease from the system.

When you work with AAA Wastewater, we will even inspect the system to make sure that it is clean and running properly. Ohio law states that all restaurants must have their grease traps cleaned at least every three months. So don’t wait, contact AAA Wastewater today.

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