Restaurant grease traps and kitchen drains

Why restaurant drains fail

Hot water carries grease out of the sink, then the grease cools a few metres down the line and sticks. Each service adds another layer. Eventually the floor drain by the dish pit starts to burp, the three-compartment sink holds water and the interceptor overflows into the kitchen.

• Grease and soap combine into a hard, waxy coating on pipe walls
• Starches from rice and pasta thicken the sludge layer
• Food solids pass a missing or loose strainer basket
• An interceptor left too long loses capacity and passes fat downstream

Signs your kitchen line is closing up

• Floor drains near the dish area smell sour on hot days
• Water rises in a floor sink when the dishwasher pumps out
• The interceptor lid shows a thick cap of fat
• Slow drainage that gets worse during service

What we do on the visit

1. Open and inspect the interceptor. We check the baffles, inlet and outlet tees and how much of the tank is fat versus water.
2. Jet the line. A jetter nozzle scours the pipe from the fixture back toward the main, cutting the grease off the walls.
3. Camera the run. Where problems repeat, a camera shows sags, broken joints or old cast iron scaling.
4. Clean up. We wipe down the work area so the kitchen can get back to prep.

Habits that keep the line flowing

• Plates scraped into the organics bin first
• Keep strainer baskets in every floor sink
• Fryer oil goes in the rendering container, never a sink
• Set a pump-out and jetting schedule that matches your volume

Toronto's sewer use rules expect food premises to keep grease out of the city system. Check the current bylaw and your interceptor maintenance requirements, and keep the records we leave you.