Restaurants, food preparation and processing facilities and different types of food handling companies may create wastewater that contains trapped grease, oil, and fats. This material cannot be disposed of through the sewer systems, as it will solidify and block the system or create diminished flow capacity with sludge and solid waste buildup in the sewer lines and mains.
To eliminate this problem, these types of businesses will be required to install a grease trap. A grease trap can be relatively small for a single restaurant, or it can be designed to process thousands or tens of thousands of gallons of wastewater containing grease or other similar types of waste products.
The Basics
A grease trap can be installed within a plumbing line, which is more common for very small amounts of oil or grease in wastewater from restaurants and kitchens. For larger amounts of water, a grease trap is a container or tank system where the water flows through, the grease and oil are trapped in media in the tank and settles to the bottom. The effluent water, free from the organic contaminants, can then be disposed of through the sewer or by another method.
With both the in-line as well as the stand-alone dewatering container, grease trap disposal will be required. It is possible to pump out grease traps as necessary, resulting in a material known as “brown grease.” This brown grease will be disposed of on land in landfill sites.
However, with new technology, this pumped brown grease from grease trap disposal services can be recycled. Not all areas or facilities offer this recycling capacity, but in some areas, these recycling facilities offer environmental benefits to consider for any business requiring grease removal.
With dewatering containers, there is no pumping required for grease trap disposal. Instead, the roll-off container is the grease trap, and it is simply removed to a disposal location when the brown grease solids reach a specific volume within the container.