Routine cleaning and inspection of your commercial kitchen grease trap is crucial in preventing major problems with your sewer system. Everything removed from the grease traps needs to be appropriately disposed of in an ecologically friendly way.

Just as if you were home, you would not dispose of bacon grease down your kitchen sink. The oily waste collected by the grease trap interceptors is mostly fat from dishwashers, sinks and kitchen equipment, and is not safe to dispose of using basic procedures. The fat does not decompose easily, and with Maine weather it congeals quickly in cold weather causing back-up.  Because restaurants have greater capacity and quantities of grease waste than your home, cleaning is required more often.

There are numerous possible hazards that can occur if a kitchens restaurant equipment is not properly serviced.  Grease trap interceptors/traps do exactly as described, they are specifically designed to trap grease to prevent it from draining into public waste systems or septic tanks, where it can clog the lines and cause all kinds of damage in the sewer system.  Not only does grease clog your pipes but it flows down stream to the treatment plants costing tax payers thousands of dollars a year to treat and dispose of the grease properly.

Northeast Sewer & Drain Service offers monthly inspection service and cleaning to keep your grease traps in compliance and the grease out of our treatment plants.

We clean your grease trap, the grease is then transferred to holding tank where it is pumped off every 2 weeks by a local company that sells it in large quantities to be re-purposed.

For rules and regulations please visit the State of Maine page State of Maine Grease trap requirements

Frequently asked questions:

-How often does my grease trap have to be inspected?

City of Portland Maine requires your grease trap to be inspected once a month.   Check with your local municipality for regulations.

-How often does my grease trap have to be pumped?

Most restaurant kitchens have interior grease traps 25 to 50 gallons these should be pumped every 2-3 months.  Exterior grease traps up to 1000 gallons should be pumped                                           quarterly or every 4 months.

-What would happen if don’t have my grease trap pumped?

Grease is a problem because it can cause blockages in the main sewer line resulting in overflows of water from the collection system.  These overflows can potentially result in damage                         to property and/or contamination of local bodies of water, not to mention any back ups into your kitchen is a health violations.  Grease can adversely impact our waste water                                         systems encumbering waste water treatment plants ability to treat the waste water it receives, ultimately costing the taxpayers money.

-Who is responsible for inspecting my grease trap?

The business owner is responsible for having their grease trap inspected.  Call Northeast Sewer & Drain Service for information about grease trap inspection and service.

-How do I become compliant?

Call Northeast Sewer & Drain Service to set up a monthly grease trap inspection and service.  Or visit our web site:  www.northeastsewer.com

– What paper work do I need to stay in compliance?

You will need a grease trap interceptor maintenance log kept kept near or around the grease trap.  Northeast Sewer & Drain must fill out the Grease trap inspection form to be filed with the              city on a monthly basis.

This is what happens when grease traps are not kept cleaned and maintained on a regular basis.

Grease clog

Northeast Sewer & Drain Service