Grease Trap Installation Services in Houston
Most of the sanitation rules that are valid for normal home kitchens tend to extrapolate directly into rules for commercial establishments. This includes many common-sense measures, such as disinfecting, keeping everything pest-free, and ensuring all meats are properly frozen for long-term storage. While the size of the fridge or the scale of the consequences may vary, they rarely come as a surprise. We can offer you the best service for grease trap installation in your area.
Grease traps are an exclusive feature of commercial and licensed kitchens. If you are about to open, remodel, or refurbish any of the following, the City of Houston will demand you have a grease trap installed:
- A restaurant or bistro
- A casual diner
- A school cafeteria or work canteen
- A shared facility for pre-ordered or delivered food
- A caterer
- A residential care or day-only health facility (hospital, nursing homes, rehabs, etc.)
- A soup kitchen for the homeless or a church
Have you installed yours yet? Did the building you lease come with one already installed? Is it the right type of grease trap?
What is the purpose of grease traps?
Any commercial or large-scale food prep operation will require a safe way to trap and dispose of FOGS – Fats, Oils, Grease, and Solid Waste. This waste is routinely left behind on dishes, silverware, pots, and pans. In a residential home, the food and debris often just get flushed down the drain, but large amounts of
FOGS can solidify, create clogs, leak, and even contaminate the local water supply.
This is why municipalities across the country demand that commercial kitchens install grease traps or grease interceptors. Although they are often unacknowledged, they are a key part of public health and sanitation.
First-time grease trap installation: What are your options?
There are two main ways to catch FOGS produced in the kitchen: hydro-mechanical grease interceptors (commonly referred to as “grease traps”) and larger gravity-based grease interceptors (which, in turn, are often just called “grease interceptors”).
Although both grease traps and grease interceptors come in a variety of sizes, grease interceptors are generally larger and have a larger capacity.
Grease traps vs. Grease interceptors
Hydro-mechanical grease interceptors rely on a small vented pipe that allows the denser FOGS to separate from the water. They are usually installed directly beneath the sink and are attached to a relatively small tank that will temporarily hold the grease. This tank usually has a total capacity between 50 and 200 gallons. Relatively quick to install, their price usually starts at around $2,500.
On the other hand, gravity-based grease interceptors have a much larger capacity – up to 4,000 gallons. They rely on letting water flow through a much bigger space, letting FOGS settle on their own. Because of this, they are typically installed underground, outside the kitchen, usually beneath a nearby parking lot. Because they require excavating and may entail additional licenses, they usually start around $12,000.
Naturally, installing a grease trap requires a lot less space and a much smaller investment than a full-sized grease interceptor. However, a smaller trap will also fill up faster, and will, therefore, be more sensitive to clogging and require more frequent pumping.
What size of grease trap do you need installed?
The first requirement for any grease trap is to meet the minimum legal standards. The City of Houston calculated the minimum mandatory capacity based on a restaurant’s size and turnover (the number of meals expected to be served per hour).
In addition to this, the type of cooking you do, the exact neighborhood, and the characteristics of the kitchen and/or the entire building also play an important role: smaller catering sites may not be able to install an underground grease interceptor – and, especially if they work for weekly events only, they may not need such a large contraption. Conversely, large roadside diners may find that a standard grease trap requires constant pumping and simply doesn’t cut it.
All these factors need to be contemplated during the initial installation. At Houston Grease Trap and Interceptors Services, we have spent nearly a decade dealing with all sorts of traps in every possible size. Our technicians can help you choose the ideal type for your Houston, Texas, business. Additionally, we can offer a preemptive maintenance and cleaning schedule based on the trap installed.
This way, we can offer you a customized short-term and long-term outlook for all your FOGS needs! Just give us a call at 713-893-1995 or check out our contact form. We can schedule a free, customized, no-strings-attached consultation. We will be happy to place our expertise at your restaurant’s service
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