I am new to grease traps, and I need help

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chuckapotamus

chuckapotamus

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Jan 25, 2020
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Philippines
Hi guys,

I'm new here, and I am from the Philippines. I also kind of need help.

I kind of got an idea of how a grease trap works, but I still need some information on how to install them. In my technical college, they didn't teach us anything about grease traps since we lack equipment and materials.

A friend of mine wants me to install a grease trap for him.

This is the grease trap that he wants me to install:
ff183fdf8100f1b8ba310d1d84a52803

From my understanding, I connect those two holes (wastewater inlet) on top of the grease trap to the kitchen sinks. I suppose I connect the hole on the side (waterout outlet) to the soil pipe. I am not sure what to do with the valve (grease outlet), and I don't know what it does. I am not sure if I am correct with my guesses here.

These are the parts that came with it:
c6cfb06eee3c614653ba8622bd40b0f8.jpg


One of the things that I am wondering is if you guys would recommend keeping the P-trap underneath the sink. The other thing I am wondering is how would you suggest I install pipe connecting to the waste pipe.
 
Im from massachusetts if you look up mass state plumbing code pics of gtease trapi piping there are lots of examples the ones i hve dealt with have tappings on the sides for inlet and outlet those with no other tappings we have strict cleaning rules ours are cleaned outmontnly
by a company that can legally remove and discard the gteade
 
Geofd said:
Im from massachusetts if you look up mass state plumbing code pics of gtease trapi piping there are lots of examples the ones i hve dealt with have tappings on the sides for inlet and outlet those with no other tappings we have strict cleaning rules ours are cleaned outmontnly
by a company that can legally remove and discard the gteade
Click to expand...

Thank you for suggestion. I looked through the plumber's code of Massachusetts, but I couldn't find a grease trap similar to my friend's. I guess I might have to wing this grease trap.
 
frodo said:
contact the company that manufactures that trap and ask for the manual that comes with the trap
Click to expand...

Unforturnately, it doesn't include any kind of manual inside the box. All it has inside are some certificates, and they are written in Chinese.

Would you have any idea what is the purpose of the ball valve on the side of this grease trap?
 
My guess on the ball valve is that when you want to drain the grease out, you would set a bucket or other receptacle underneath it and open it up-- but if it is cold and hardened I'm not sure how it would be cleaned out.
The purpose of a P-trap is to prevent sewer gasses from coming back in to the house. Without it, gas can come back up-- I've never seen this type of grease trap setup before though. My house used to have an outside grease trap for the sink but that was over 30 years ago so I don't remember much about it. Putting grease down a drain is not ideal as it will clog up the plumbing over time.
I tried to look up videos on grease traps but my internet isn't working properly so I can't load videos. I wish I could help more. It's hard to tell what the manufacturer's name is since it's not in English. I have a friend that could probably translate it for me, but I can't upload pictures or use messenger because my internet is throttled until February 12.

I hope you can find a good solution. I would advise against trying to wing it though. Maybe you can find out the translation of the company's name with an app and see if you can find it online to see if the manufacturer has documentation in a language you can understand.
 
Zanne said:
My guess on the ball valve is that when you want to drain the grease out, you would set a bucket or other receptacle underneath it and open it up-- but if it is cold and hardened I'm not sure how it would be cleaned out.
The purpose of a P-trap is to prevent sewer gasses from coming back in to the house. Without it, gas can come back up-- I've never seen this type of grease trap setup before though. My house used to have an outside grease trap for the sink but that was over 30 years ago so I don't remember much about it. Putting grease down a drain is not ideal as it will clog up the plumbing over time.
I tried to look up videos on grease traps but my internet isn't working properly so I can't load videos. I wish I could help more. It's hard to tell what the manufacturer's name is since it's not in English. I have a friend that could probably translate it for me, but I can't upload pictures or use messenger because my internet is throttled until February 12.

I hope you can find a good solution. I would advise against trying to wing it though. Maybe you can find out the translation of the company's name with an app and see if you can find it online to see if the manufacturer has documentation in a language you can understand.
Click to expand...


Thanks, Zanne. Your insights have helped me out. I wasn't sure about having the P-trap attached to the sink since it is connected to a pipe that leads to the dirt without any septic tank or whatever. I am guessing the previous plumber or the owner of the place that my friend is renting out didn't care much about their plumbing. I think I will just wing it. I'm thinking of just installing the grease trap underneath the sink.

Your thoughts on the ball valve makes sense. I don't think he will have to worry about the cold since we don't have winter and it's either warm or hot here all year round.
 
Frodo, would the grease trap replace the P-trap? Or would it be upstream of the P-trap?
 
frodo said:
View attachment 23103
Click to expand...

Thank you for the diagram. This is pretty close to what I imagined. The only thing that was different was I was going to attach the vent to the pipe that would lead to the sewers. Do you think the vent from the P-trap suffice? I guess I could do it your way too.

From what I understand from you diagram, the vent is on top, and I would probably use a sanitary tee. I'm kinda wonderig why there are two holes on top. I'm not sure if those are two inlets, or if it has one inlet and one vent.
 
All grease traps need to have a flow control.
All grease traps in the USA are typically shipped with them,
Traps are sized based upon the size of the sink(s) serving them and there are formulas.
This link shows a trap and the flow control is the thing that looks like a piece of pipe with a disc that goes inside to gauge the flow, and the flow control has a vent up on top of it. https://www.supplyhouse.com/Zurn-GT...8woE9QBcejK_ADLRmz87wkmcHp-yyx4xoCDSYQAvD_BwE
The grease trap is the trap.
The vent on the flow control only needs to be higher than the top of the sink and can be open to atmosphere, NOT tied in to the plumbing vent that comes after the grease trap.
You can't properly begin to work on this stuff until you have training or educate yourself thoroughly.
It is impossible to just start putting pipes together without training in the specifics. You defeat the purpose of a grease trap if it is not designed/sized and assembled properly. https://www.jrsmith.com/uploads/fileLibrary/interceptors_tech_data.pdf
 
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