Grease trap questions Katy restaurant owners actually ask us.

Inside Houston city limits, Sec. 47-512(b) requires full evacuation at least every 90 days, sooner if 25% or more of the wetted height fills with grease or sediment. Outside city limits, in Cinco Ranch, Fulshear, or Brookshire, your MUD or lease usually mirrors that same cadence even though the city ordinance doesn't apply directly. Full detail lives on the compliance guide.

A pump-out empties the liquid and loose solids. A full cleaning also scrapes hardened grease off the baffle and tank walls by hand, which a vacuum hose alone doesn't touch. Most kitchens need one full cleaning a year on top of quarterly pump-outs. See grease trap cleaning.

A TCEQ manifest from every pump-out, plus your Generator Registration with the Houston Health Department if you're inside city limits. Keep both together, that's what an inspector asks for first.

Sec. 47-512 is a Houston city ordinance, so it doesn't apply directly outside city limits. Richmond falls under its own city and Fort Bend County rules instead. TCEQ manifest requirements apply statewide either way. See the Richmond service page or service area for your specific location.

A standard interior trap, 500 to 1,500 gallons, runs $150 to $325 per visit under a contract rate. Larger exterior interceptors run $350 to $700. Full pricing by trap size is on the pricing page.

A quarterly contract runs 15% to 25% cheaper than calling one-off every time, since it skips the emergency dispatch premium and site-assessment fee on repeat visits. A lot of accounts start one-off so we can both see how the trap fills, then move to a contract once the real cadence is known.

Yes, honestly. Business-hours emergency dispatch runs $300 to $650. After hours or weekends runs $450 to $900. We quote the number on the phone before a truck rolls.

That depends on the terms of your current agreement, which we don't have visibility into. What we can tell you is our own contracts carry no penalty for switching to or from a one-off arrangement once you're with us.

That's usually a line problem, not a trap problem. Grease coats the pipe walls downstream of the trap over time and a pump-out doesn't touch it. That's a job for hydro-jetting, not another pump.

Yes, call immediately. That means the interceptor is full or the baffle's failing and grease has nowhere left to go but back up. See emergency backup service for what happens next.

Yes. A cracked baffle lets grease bypass straight to your outlet line regardless of pump schedule. A cracked lid lets stormwater in, which throws off wetted-height readings. Both get fixed on the interceptor repair page.

Sizing follows fixture count, seating capacity, and expected meal volume, not just square footage. Undersizing at install is the top reason new restaurants end up on emergency pump-out calls within their first six months. We coordinate sizing recommendations with your GC before the tank goes in the ground.