Kitchen Grease Trap on the Bay

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    N

    Ngrovcam

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 20, 2016
    2,895
    Florida
    Folks, my 80+ year old house is waterfront on the Bay - hence, deeply in the "critical zone".

    Built under the old Southern Building
    Code, it has a grease trap and drain
    field for the kitchen sink. Essentially,
    that is a small septic system dedicated
    to the kitchen.

    Well, the iron baffles in the old grease trap itself have all rusted away long ago, and now the outflow has clogged
    with grease. So, it is basically a small
    holding tank now.

    Any suggestions as to how to deal with this? (I could get it pumped out and
    get a Roto-Rooter kind of deal down in there and clean out the clog, I guess,
    but that is probably just a temporary fix.)
     
    Tomcat

    Tomcat

    Formerly Known As HITWTOM
    May 7, 2012
    5,576
    St.Mary's County
    They sell grease traps for commercial kitchens which might solve part of the problem once you get the septic part taken care of. There are several on the forum who can offer more about these.
     
    N

    Ngrovcam

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 20, 2016
    2,895
    Florida
    Thank you, hitwtom.
    Will check out the commercial versions,
    which I think are largely indoor
    installations.
     
    Stoveman

    Stoveman

    TV Personality
    Patriot Picket
    Sep 2, 2013
    28,429
    Cuba on the Chesapeake
    Ngrovcam said:
    Thank you, hitwtom.
    Will check out the commercial versions,
    which I think are largely indoor
    installations.
    Click to expand...


    They are, they can be both above ground, if you've got the height, or in ground where the top of the lid is at finished floor level.

    Obviously you would want to go for the above ground version but I've never seen one in a residential application before. I would check local codes before pulling the trigger.
     
    N

    Ngrovcam

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 20, 2016
    2,895
    Florida
    Thank you, Stoveman. Great
    suggestion to check with the county
    folks before I do anything. Although,
    I must admit I wonder if raising the
    issue to official attention may yield
    more additional official attention
    than I would like?

    Since my house is located in the
    "Critical zone", I wonder if having to
    do maintenance on the grease trap
    will automatically cause me to have to
    go to great lengths to upgrade to a
    more modern system? Kinda like if
    something goes bad with my main
    septic system, I would be forced to
    replace it with the new technology at
    a cost of tens of thousands of dollars.

    Or, is that just my being paranoid?
     
    Stoveman

    Stoveman

    TV Personality
    Patriot Picket
    Sep 2, 2013
    28,429
    Cuba on the Chesapeake
    Ngrovcam said:
    Thank you, Stoveman. Great
    suggestion to check with the county
    folks before I do anything. Although,
    I must admit I wonder if raising the
    issue to official attention may yield
    more additional official attention
    than I would like?

    Since my house is located in the
    "Critical zone", I wonder if having to
    do maintenance on the grease trap
    will automatically cause me to have to
    go to great lengths to upgrade to a
    more modern system? Kinda like if
    something goes bad with my main
    septic system, I would be forced to
    replace it with the new technology at
    a cost of tens of thousands of dollars.

    Or, is that just my being paranoid?
    Click to expand...



    Plenty of ways to check local codes without getting the county involved. Call a plumber.
     
    N

    Ngrovcam

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 20, 2016
    2,895
    Florida
    Jtb81100, I am guessing (from what
    I am told by the guy who owned the
    house for about 60 years before me)
    that the problem is about two feet of
    grease in the outgoing pipe from the
    trap to the drain field. Is that a bigger
    bite than Dawn can chew? Any thoughts
    on Ridex or some other such biological
    additive to the system to help it to
    work better?
     
    J

    jtb81100

    Ultimate Member
    May 28, 2012
    2,234
    Western HoCo
    Yikes. Yea, you'll most likely need it augered out, but trying dawn first won't hurt anything. Septic treatments like ridx aren't going to help. That adds good bacteria to the septic tank to break down the wastes. Letting a gallon of milk go bad and dumping it down the drain does the same thing.
     
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