When would my restaurant need an outside grease tank instead of an inside grease trap?
The average restaurant has a lot of refuse it must dispose of. A great deal of organic matter ends up being washed down the drain and into the septic system. As long as the system is a well maintained one, problems with health or environmental hazards are reduced or outright eliminated. Grease traps and grease tanks can both do a fine job for addressing the elimination of organic matter. Restaurant owners might wonder about whether or not a grease trap makes a better acquisition than a grease tank. Some might even think about buying both.
So, when would a grease tank be a better acquisition than the much smaller grease trap?
A basic grease trap is known as a grease interceptor. What this trap does is it separates grease, oils, fats, and other organic solids from wastewater. The waste water can then flow into the septic system where it remains until the time comes to pump it. Emptying or cleaning the grease trap can be (and should be) done periodically to ensure waste water can flow through it smoothly. Too much grease build up in the trap leads to clogs and floods.
This brings us to our next point, which is the need for grease tanks.
A grease tank is exactly what its name suggests. It is a large tank that is placed well beneath the ground. A tank of this nature can house upwards of 2,000 gallons of waste water along with the common grease matters, fats, solids, and oils. Investing in a large grease tank can be quite an expense for a business. However, such a tank is going to be very important to install if the sheer volume of organic matter washed out with the wastewater is too much for a traditional grease interceptor to handle.
Certain restaurants are going to handle a lot more business than others. For example, a restaurant that opens at 11am, does a huge amount of business for lunch, and then experiences slow down at dinner time might be fine with a basic grease trap. If the business opens at 6am and stays open until 11pm and is busy all throughout the day, then the sheer volume of food of food orders is going to necessitate having a large sized grease tank connected to the septic system. A grease trap is not going to be adequate. Any business with grease trap that is constantly filling up quickly or suffering from backups might wish to seriously give thought to acquiring a grease tank.
Learn more about grease traps by watching our video!
Contact Wind River Environmental to discuss grease tanks or request service now.
Image via: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Restaurant_Kitchen.jpg