Five considerations when buying a grease trap

Any restaurant or café that uses oils and fats in its recipes needs to have an appropriate grease trap in place, to prevent the ingress of fats into sewers and wastewater systems.

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Blockages caused by fat and grease have the potential to cause significant disruption to a town’s infrastructure, as shown by this article that appeared in The Guardian last year. The report covered the infamous ‘Whitechapel Fatberg, which was discovered within London’s sewers, weighing 130 tonnes and reputed to be the length of two complete football pitches.

Choosing the right grease trap requires some care and forethought to ensure that you buy the correct one for your needs.

1 Right size

In order to be effective, your grease trap needs to be the right size for the amount of grease and fat that it will collect. Stainless steel grease traps are the most popular option, and they are available in a range of sizes, as can be seen from the selection on offer at https://www.ukgreasetrapsdirect.co.uk/stainless-steel-grease-traps.

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2 Sink usage

The quantity and type of food that you produce will have an impact on the size of grease trap that you decide on. A menu that’s heavily dependent upon grease and fat will required a bigger grease trap than one that doesn’t, although the quantity of meals prepared and the amount of waste that ends up in your sinks will also have an impact on your choice.

3 Installation and maintenance

Your new grease trap will need to be fitted correctly, and you should also factor in the ongoing maintenance costs of emptying the grease trap and disposing of the grease and fat within it. If you’re fortunate enough to have a bio-diesel facility nearby, it’s possible to recycle your waste grease at a discount.

4 Availability of spare parts

It’s no good purchasing a grease trap only to find out that spare parts are prohibitively expensive or impossible to source. Make sure that you buy a reputable brand with a long-established production record, ensuring that spare parts are readily available.

5 Code of compliance

National and local regulations govern the collection and disposal of waste products, so it’s important to ensure that you are acting completely within your legal obligations, to avoid facing the risk of penalty fines or worse.