grease trap? grease interceptor

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Tjbaudio

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If I am on city water would I benafit from a grease trap? I have not had any problems with clogs so far but I know the wife is hard on the sink drain. I do see greas build up at the kitchen sink. We will be adding a garbage disposal and we have a dishwasher. I am also doing a compleat remodle and re plum of the house (see other thread)

If I do put in a greas trap what do I have to do different to the pluming? How big do I go for 1 sink?
 

Cwhyu2

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Not for residentale plumbing.No need for a grease trap.Make sure your drains
are in good condition you should have no problem.
 

hj

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If you do install a grease trap and then a disposer, EVERYTHING you grind in the disposer will stay in the grease trap and you will have to empty it out periodically. You would have to empty the grease also, but ground up rotting vegetables make a particularly unpleasant job when you have to dipper them out.
 

GrumpyPlumber

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Correct on both accounts.
Grease traps are made for extreme amounts of grease, fat and food particles in commercial kitchens.
They're one of the most unpleasant fixtures to work on due to the smell and content, there's no way around the maintenance...has to opened daily in some cases and cleaned out.
They also take a considerable amount of space with the venting and drains.
 

Frenchie

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GrumpyPlumber said:
They're one of the most unpleasant fixtures to work on due to the smell and content, there's no way around the maintenance...has to opened daily in some cases and cleaned out.

I used to alternate: work in restaurants for awhile, work in the trades for awhile... so I've smelled grease traps.

The ones where they don't get it emptied, until it clogs up? Definitely make the short list of disgusting.

You do NOT want a grease trap in your home. Really, you don't.
 

hj

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Try a 500 gallon grease trap at a Chinese restaurant. The trap was full of rice, right up to the manhole covers and all the way back up the line to the sink. This was within a few weeks of opening the store.
 

GrumpyPlumber

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I think of things like that when people think we charge too much.
I can only begin to imagine what that must have smelled like.
 

GrumpyPlumber

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I'd installed one a few years back...immediately told the owner he was gonna have to put a strainer over the drain and make sure debris was thrown in the garbage not the drain.
His old restrictor was a tiny "jukebox" shaped thing that effectively wasn't any good to trap grease...I knew he'd have to adjust to the new type with useage, maintenance and cleaning, especially with the flow restrictor.
I showed him the flow restrictor and explained how to dislodge trapped particles by removing the lid.
Next day he calls to tell me my drains failed and if I didn't get there right away he would hold me responsible for lost wages/business.
I get there to find the restrictor completely blocked...potato peels sitting in the drain sump...made sure he stood there while I removed the lid and did exactly what I showed him how to do the day before...also grabbed a strainer sitting on the basins lip and put it in place in the drain sump.
He reimbursed me for my time...I wouldn't have charged but for the fact that he'd insisted on the phone he had cleared the restrictor and done everything I told him to.
I wouldn't even begin to consider one on a residence.
 

hj

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Then there are the 3" flow controls that have an opening the size of a quarter in them, and they are inline so they cannot be cleaned if something larger gets into the line and plugs the opening.

grease_trap_rough_sewer_rat.jpg
 
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GrumpyPlumber

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hj said:
Then there are the 3" flow controls that have an opening the size of a quarter in them, and they are inline so they cannot be cleaned if something larger gets into the line and plugs the opening.

Thats what I was referring to, but a 2" inlet...has a welded plate with a quarter sized restriction hole.
When I install them I put a 2" drain connecting two seperate 1-1/2" traps with a 2" eco on the end so you can access it at least from the end opposite the interceptor.
More expensive, but like you said, that thing is major trouble when something solid gets stuck there.
 
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