SEPTICAbout This Service
Keep your business in compliance and your kitchen running smoothly with reliable grease trap cleaning services for restaurants, cafes, and commercial kitchens.
Every commercial kitchen in Austin produces fats, oils and grease — FOG, in the trade — and none of it belongs in the sewer. A grease trap sits between your kitchen drains and the sewer line, slowing wastewater enough that grease floats to the top and food solids settle to the bottom, so only relatively clean water carries on. It works well right up until the trap fills, at which point grease simply passes through and begins hardening inside your lateral line and the public main beyond it. That failure mode is why food service establishments are required to maintain their traps rather than simply install them. Grease is the single largest cause of sanitary sewer blockages, and a blockage traced back to your property is your problem to pay for. The widely applied benchmark is the 25% rule: a trap should be cleaned before accumulated grease and solids reach a quarter of its total capacity. Past that point the trap's retention time drops and its effective separation falls away quickly. What that means in practice depends entirely on your kitchen. A high-volume restaurant running a fryer through both services can fill a small under-sink trap in weeks. A coffee shop or a bakery with limited hot food might go a full quarter. Trap size matters as much as volume — Austin kitchens run everything from 20-gallon interior units under the three-compartment sink to in-ground exterior interceptors of 1,000 gallons or more, and the two need completely different service intervals. Guessing at frequency is how operators end up either paying for cleanings they did not need or discovering the problem when a floor drain backs up mid-service. Our cleaning is a full pump-out, not a skim. Removing only the floating grease layer leaves the settled solids in place, and those solids are what shorten the interval next time. We empty the trap completely, scrape the walls and baffles, check that the flow control and inlet baffle are intact, and dispose of the waste through approved Texas facilities. You get documentation for every service, which is what a health inspector asks for and what most pretreatment programmes expect you to keep on file. We schedule around your kitchen rather than the other way round. Most cleanings take 30 to 60 minutes and are done before opening, after close, or during a mid-afternoon lull. For restaurants, bars, food trucks, schools, care homes and commercial kitchens across Austin and Central Texas, a standing schedule at the right interval costs a fraction of one emergency call-out and keeps your compliance paperwork current without anyone having to think about it.
Warning Signs You Need Service
Slow Kitchen Drains
When your kitchen sinks and floor drains slow down, grease accumulation is usually the culprit.
Foul Odors From Drains
Decomposing grease produces strong, unpleasant odors that can affect your dining area and staff.
Health Inspection Coming Up
Stay ahead of inspections by maintaining a regular grease trap cleaning schedule.
Grease Trap Overflowing
If grease is backing up or overflowing, you need emergency cleaning before it becomes a bigger problem.
The Septic Squad Difference
Regular Maintenance Plans
We set up automated schedules so your grease trap is always maintained without you having to remember.
Minimal Kitchen Disruption
We work around your schedule — early mornings, late nights, or between service hours.
Health Code Compliance
Our service keeps you compliant with Austin and Travis County health regulations. Documentation provided for your records.