What Sinks and Systems Should Connect to a Grease Trap?

The short answer is all of them. When a restaurant produces waste water, it&#;s responsible for it. If there is water draining from your kitchen into your wastewater pipe, that&#;s your responsibility. Grease traps and grease interceptors should be used to collect all the FOG (Fats, oils, and grease) coming out of your kitchen, so you can stay up to code on your local ordinances. Wondering why to connect all of them? See it broken down below.

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Your Sinks (You May Have More Than You Think)

You, of course, have your standard three-compartment sinks that produce a lot of your kitchen&#;s wastewater, but there are some others to think about. Mop and floor sinks can also account for a significant amount of wastewater, especially in a heavy-use kitchen with regular cleaning. Likewise, it&#;s important to think about front-end sinks such as bar or café sinks: milk and cream from cappuccinos, white russians, and ice cream can also build up in your pipes, so it might be worth connecting them as well.

Floor Drains for Oil Spills

If you&#;ve got a fryer in your kitchen, you&#;ve probably had an oil spill either filling or emptying it. Depending on how cleanup is managed, a lot of this oil might end up going down your drains during the cleaning process. Likewise, if your regular cleaning process for the kitchen doesn&#;t use a mop but a hose, you&#;ve got a lot of FOG wastewater pouring down the drain.

Garbage Disposals for Greasy Waste

Your kitchens garbage disposal is a convenient way to handle food waste, but it is not friendly to your wastewater pipes. As we&#;ve talked about before, the garbage disposal doesn&#;t just contribute solids to your wastewater, but also the oils, fats, and grease from those solids. You should make sure to have these feed into your grease interceptor or trap, and also make sure your staff is using it properly.

A Controversial Option: Dishwashers

Even if your dishes and utensils get a good prewash, there&#;s still going to be FOG in the wastewater from your dishwasher. However, there is some debate about if the high-temperature water containing mechanically and chemically emulsified oil could be doing more harm than good if it goes to your grease trap. While some of it will depend on the amount of grease your restaurant generates (including how it handles food serving), most of the time it&#;s suggested that it is better to send it through the grease interceptor or trap then to let potential FOG go free.

Want to learn more about the right layout and maintenance for your grease trap or grease interceptor? Contact the Food Grease Trappers. We can help you find the right fit for your restaurant, help train your staff in best practices, and make sure your grease trap or interceptor is cleaned out on the right schedule. We can even provide a complimentary quote on all of our services after we talk to you about your needs.

Introduction 

Determining the right size of grease traps for your restaurant or commercial kitchen is very important. It helps to prevent unnecessary costs, backups and overflows. Unfortunately, sizing grease traps isn&#;t a simple task, especially considering that all commercial kitchens aren&#;t the same. In addition, the sizing methods used by most plumbing codes overestimate peak flow, indicating more capacity than really necessary. On the same note, these codes usually make the assumption that most kitchen fixtures experience peak flow all the time. 

So, how do you estimate the right size of grease trap design for a commercial kitchen establishment? Relax! In this guide, we&#;ve listed some essential factors and grease trap sizing tips that will keep your establishment&#;s plumbing system running smoothly. 

Sizing a commercial kitchen&#;s grease trap! 

In general, the size of commercial grease traps is estimated according to the incoming flow rate, in GPM (Gallons per Minute). The rate of incoming flow refers to the amount of water flowing down the drains. 

Note, the incoming flow rate is also associated with the grease trap&#;s capacity. That said, you need to ensure that the rated capacity of your commercial kitchen&#;s grease trap is rated twice the flow rate. As an example, if the grease trap&#;s capacity is 40 pounds, the incoming flow rate should be 20 GPM (Gallons/ Minute). 

Local Plumbing Codes 

When calculating the required size of grease trap design for a restaurant, it&#;s important to consult the local authority codes. These codes determine the installation and design criteria. More notably, they usually follow the codes already set by the Plumbing and Drainage Institute. 

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In most cases, municipal codes disallow the attachment of automatic dishwashers to grease traps. As a result, the wastewater flows directly into the sanitary sewer systems. However, some codes make it obligatory to attach all drains to the grease traps. 

Local plumbing codes can also be used to determine the installation and design criteria for commercial grease traps. More importantly, these codes may require a plumber/ MEP engineer to estimate the size of the trap by 2 options. That is; gravity flow rates and fixture capacity. Both options are guided by the UPC (Uniform Plumbing Code), which was established by the International Association of Plumbing & Mechanical Officials. 

• Gravity Flow rates 

This technique estimates the sizing of the grease trap according to the diameter of the grease waste pipe. As per the UPC, a waster diameter pipe should have a maximum flow rate of about 20 GPM (Gallons/ minute). 

So, if you select a 2-minute drainage period, you&#;ll need a grease trap with a flow rate of 10 gallons/ minute. At the same time, you have to consider the volume of the sink draining into the trap. Basically, for a grease trap that is rated 10 GPM, the capacity should not exceed 25 gallons. 

• Fixture capacity

The fixture capacity approach is most used when you know the dimension of fixtures in your establishment. But if the fixture dimension isn&#;t known, the best option would be to use the gravity flow rate method. 

As already mentioned, grease traps are usually rated according to their flow rate. Therefore, you can estimate its size by determining the volume of fixtures draining into the trap. 

To calculate the flow rate, you need to determine the capacity of your fixtures draining into the trap first. So, measure the width, depth, and length of the fixture in inches, then multiply all values to get its volume. Convert this figure into gallons, bearing in mind that 1 gallon= 231 cubic inches. 

Determine the loading (fill factor) and. The loading factor refers to the full capacity of the fixture that drains into the grease trap. For instance, if the sink usually fills to 75% of its total capacity, the loading factor is 0.75. Multiply the loading factor and the fixture capacity. 

Determine how long the fixtures/ sinks take to completely drain the wastewater into the grease trap design for the restaurant. This is known as the minute drainage period and is usually 1 &#; 2 minutes. Divide the figure you got in the previous step by 1 or 2 minutes. This will give you the flow rate, which is gallons/ minute. 

Factors that determine the grease trap size

Generally speaking, the overall grease tarp size is determined by the amount of water flowing down the drains (Incoming flow rate). However, there are other factors that will determine the ideal size for your food service establishment&#;s grease trap. Some of these factors are; 

• The number of sinks/ fixtures in your commercial kitchen
• Type of food that will be served
• Size & type of restaurant
• Local authority regulations

Conclusion 

Having the right grease trap size for your food establishment is essential. Hopefully, this article has successfully taught you everything you need to know about this topic. If not, contact Innodez Design and Engineering for more information. Our goal is to help you bring out the best in your restaurant or commercial kitchen in California! 

If you are looking for more details, kindly visit Commercial Kitchen Grease Interceptor.