Grease Trap and Interceptor Plumbing for La Vernia and San Antonio Kitchens

How a trap pulls grease out of dishwater

Warm dishwater carries fat as a liquid. In the tank it slows and cools: grease rises, food solids sink, and baffles make the flow pass beneath the floating layer before it exits through a sanitary tee. Plumbers name them by size, and SAWS paperwork draws the line at 100 gallons:

• Grease traps (100 gallons or less): compact boxes beside or under a sink that staff can scoop out.
• Grease interceptors (over 100 gallons): tanks buried outside, often under the parking lot, emptied by a vacuum truck.

Once the grease cap grows too thick, fat slips out with the water and coats the pipe downstream.

SAWS grease rules for San Antonio food businesses

San Antonio Water System runs a fats, oils and grease (FOG) program under a 2012 city ordinance covering food service and food processing establishments in San Antonio city limits and the city's extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ). From its FOG pages and manual:

• The 25 percent line: service an interceptor at least every 90 days, and sooner once floating grease plus settled solids reach 25 percent of its wetted depth, which an inspector treats as a violation.
• Emptied, not skimmed: each service leaves the tank completely empty, and SAWS suggests someone from the business watch.
• No shortcuts: flushing with hot water, or using chemicals that dissolve or emulsify grease into the sewer, is prohibited.
• Yearly inspection: at least once each calendar year, a SAWS-approved licensed plumber or other qualified professional inspects the emptied tank and reports defects, which must be corrected within 90 days.
• Records: the SAWS manual says to keep cleaning records and receipts at least five years; inspectors can ask for them.

Installs, replacements and repairs

A remodel, a new tenant in an old storefront or a menu that adds a fryer can outgrow the unit in the ground. Installs and replacements go like this:

1. Count the load: every sink, dish machine and floor drain that will feed it.
2. Choose the spot: lids the hauler's hose can reach, and cleanouts for later jetting.
3. Permit: San Antonio's code lists grease traps as a permit item and requires a sample well for every interceptor; the plumber doing the work pulls the permit from Development Services.
4. Set and connect: open the slab or paving, set the unit, tie in the kitchen lines and building sewer, and check the flow.

Repairs cover the parts that wear out: loose sanitary tees, missing baffles, cracked lids, tired gaskets that leak odor and cracked tank walls. If your annual inspection report flags a defect, send it over and we'll plan the repairs around your 90-day deadline. Work is done under Texas plumbing license # M-27587 and priced after a site visit.

Jetting grease lines and fixing slow kitchen drains

A pump-out does nothing for the pipe feeding the tank. Grease layers up in the run from the pot sink until the dish area drains slowly. We open those lines with a drain cable or a water jetter, and when one keeps closing up, a camera looks for a belly, a broken joint or roots. Jetting sends loosened grease into the tank, so book it shortly before your hauler is due. Cracked or sagging pipe goes to drain repair or sewer line repair.

Signs a grease trap is failing

• Grease in a cleanout downstream of the trap, a SAWS cue to clean more often
• Every sink along the dish line slowing down together
• Floor sinks gurgling or rising when the dish machine drains
• A rancid smell around the covers or a small trap's lid gasket
• Water standing high right after a pump-out, pointing to a blocked outlet

Kitchen habits that keep grease out of the pipes

SAWS lists these practices for restaurants:

• Dry-wipe pots, pans and plates into the trash before they reach the sink.
• Hang "No Grease" signs over the sinks and dish machine, and train every new hire.
• Use sink strainers and go easy on the disposal; ground-up food fills a trap sooner.
• Recycle used cooking oil, and cover outdoor grease containers so rain can't wash oil into the storm drain.
• Have staff clean small traps weekly and empty them completely at least monthly, and log every cleaning.

A country kitchen on septic has more at stake: the TCEQ warns that heavy food and grease loads overload the drain field. Septic pumping belongs to TCEQ-registered transporters; we repair the kitchen drains and the line to the tank.

Grease trap questions

Schedule grease trap work in La Vernia or San Antonio

Call (830) 475-2604, tell us what the kitchen is doing and when it's closed, and we'll book the work at a time that suits you. Restaurants, cafes and food trucks with a commissary can reach us from La Vernia, Floresville, Seguin, Schertz and Cibolo and east San Antonio. See also commercial plumbing and our coupons.

Office hours 8 AM–11 PM daily · 24/7 emergency service