Grease Trap Cleaning: Equipment You Need and How Often to Clean (Canada)
A full grease trap doesn’t warn you politely.
It backs up the sink. It stinks up the line. It brings pests.
This guide is for kitchen custodians and small cleaning businesses. Short version: how often, who can do it, and which machine fits which trap.
What a grease trap is
A box on the drain line. Water flows through. Fats, oils, and grease (FOG) float to the top. Food solids sink.
Clean water leaves. The grease stays — until someone takes it out.
How often to clean (Canada)
Toronto: every 4 weeks, or before grease + solids hit 25% of the liquid. Whichever comes first.
Metro Vancouver: at least every 90 days, or at 25% of the liquid depth.
Other cities set their own rules. Check your sewer-use bylaw.
Skip it, and:
- Drains block
- Odours and pests move in
- Toronto can bill you for a sewer blockage — and fines run up to $100,000 for a business
Can you clean it yourself?
In Toronto, only if the kitchen makes little grease and has no stove or fryer.
Everyone else needs a waste carrier approved by Ontario’s Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks.
Self-service there means skimming every week and a full vacuum-out every month. Keep the logs for 7 years.
Cleaning business? Check your province’s waste-carrier rules before you haul a client’s trap waste.
The cleaning workflow
- Check you’re allowed. If you aren’t, call a carrier.
- Gear up. Gloves, eye protection, closed shoes.
- Measure. Near 25%? Clean now.
- Lid off. Skim the grease into a sealed pail.
- Vacuum out the water, grease, and solids.
- Scrape and wipe the baffles, walls, and removable parts.
- Dispose and log. Date, % full, who did it.
Toronto bans these for pushing grease through: hot water, enzymes, bacteria, bleach, solvents. The grease just hardens again further down the pipe.
Match the trap to the machine
Small under-sink trap
A wet/dry vacuum with a drain hose and auto shutoff. Drain it into a sealed container — not the floor drain.
- Kärcher NT 48/1 13-gallon wet/dry vacuum with drain hose — $825. Float shutoff.
- Kärcher NT 65/2 Tact² 65 L wet/dry vacuum — $1,892. Oil-resistant drain hose. Auto shutoff.
- Shop-Vac 16-gallon industrial wet/dry vacuum with tank drain — $938.
Larger indoor interceptor or a route
More tank, fewer trips.
- Shop-Vac 55-gallon steel wet/dry vacuum — $2,120. 95-inch water lift.
- Shop-Vac drum-top vacuum head for a 55-gallon drum — $1,169. Handles liquids and sludge.
- TOPRING air-powered 55-gallon liquid drum vacuum with skimmer tool — $1,733. No electricity. Needs 80–100 PSI shop air and a metal drum (drum not included).
In-ground gravity interceptor
That’s a vacuum-truck job for a licensed pumper. We don’t sell trucks.
Compare everything in the grease trap and liquid waste vacuum collection.
Common mistakes
- Cleaning your own trap with a fryer on site (not allowed in Toronto)
- Pouring hot water or enzymes in to “dissolve” grease
- Leaving the paper filter bag in for liquid pickup
- Emptying the vacuum into a floor drain
- Throwing liquid grease in the garbage
- No log — or tossing it before 7 years
Around the trap
Floors and equipment still get greasy. Use Zep Formula 50 heavy-duty degreaser ($165, 20 L) on surfaces — never down the trap. More in commercial cleaners and degreasers.
For the room afterward: Zep Deo-3 industrial deodorizer ($299). The real odour fix is a regular cleaning schedule.
FAQ
How often should a restaurant grease trap be cleaned?
In Toronto: every 4 weeks, or at 25% full — whichever is first. Metro Vancouver: at least every 90 days. Kitchens that make more grease fill up faster.
What is the 25% rule?
Clean before grease plus solids take up a quarter of the trap’s liquid. That’s the line Toronto and Metro Vancouver both use.
Can I use a shop vac on a grease trap?
On a small indoor trap, where you’re allowed to self-service — yes. Set it up for liquids, then drain into a sealed container. In-ground tanks need a pump truck.
Where does the grease go?
Not the garbage. Not any drain. In Toronto, small amounts of skimmed solids can go in organics; liquid waste waits for an approved carrier.
Next step
Find your trap size. Check your city’s rule. Then pick the tank.
Start with the grease trap vacuums. Need a bigger pump-out setup? Ask us — we’ll help you source it.