Gravity Grease Interceptor Service in Houston, TX
Houston Quality Hood Cleaning pumps and services the big in-ground grease interceptors buried outside Houston restaurants, shopping centers, hospitals and schools. These concrete or polyethylene tanks can hold more than one truckload, and Houston requires them to be fully emptied, not skimmed. We bring the tank capacity your interceptor actually needs, check the tees and baffles while it's empty, and hand you a manifest before we leave.
Houston Quality Hood Cleaning provides gravity grease interceptor service in Houston, TX and surrounding Houston, TX cities, including Katy, Sugar Land, Pearland, Pasadena, Bellaire, Humble, Spring and Cypress.
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Why Houston Kitchens Call Us About Their Traps
Gravity Grease Interceptor Services
Scheduled Pump-Outs
Full evacuation at least every 90 days inside city limits, or sooner if your kitchen fills it faster.
Photo: Greg Goebel, Wikimedia Commons
Parking-Lot Interceptors
Interceptors under drive aisles and parking spaces get serviced when the lot is quiet, with the area coned off.
Photo: 293.xx.xxx.xx, Wikimedia Commons
Shared Interceptors
Strip centers and food halls often share one interceptor among several tenants. We'll set one schedule and send a report on each visit.
Photo: Tracy Hunter, Wikimedia Commons
Tee and Baffle Inspection
An empty tank is the only time you can see the baffles, tees and walls. We note anything that's cracked, missing or corroded.
Photo: Hannah Clover, Wikimedia Commons
Line Jetting
Grease that hardens in the line between the kitchen and the interceptor causes backups even when the tank is fine. See grease line jetting.
Lids and Risers
Cracked or loose lids let in rainwater and let out odors. Lids in drive areas need to be traffic-rated.
Photo: 293.xx.xxx.xx, Wikimedia Commons
Gravity vs Hydromechanical Grease Interceptors
Where
Gravity interceptor: Usually outdoors, buried. Hydromechanical interceptor: Usually indoors, under or beside a sink.
Size
Gravity interceptor: Large, sized by volume in gallons. Hydromechanical interceptor: Compact, rated by flow in gallons per minute.
How it separates
Gravity interceptor: Time: water sits long enough for grease to rise. Hydromechanical interceptor: Flow control and baffles slow the water quickly.
Serves
Gravity interceptor: A whole kitchen, or several. Hydromechanical interceptor: One or a few fixtures.
Service
Gravity interceptor: Vacuum truck pump-out. Hydromechanical interceptor: Pump-out or hand cleaning, more often.
Neither is "better". The plumbing code, your fixtures and your volume decide which one a kitchen needs. If you have an indoor unit, see under-sink grease traps.
How a Gravity Interceptor Works
Wastewater from the kitchen flows into the first chamber and slows down. Grease rises and forms a floating cap, and food solids settle to the bottom. A baffle wall keeps the grease cap from moving forward, and the outlet tee draws water from the middle layer, below the grease and above the solids. Cleaner water leaves for the sewer.
As the grease cap and solids layer grow, the clear middle layer shrinks. Water passes through faster and carries more grease out. That's why the 25% benchmark matters: once grease and solids reach a quarter of the wetted height, the interceptor is losing its ability to do its job.
How We Pump a Gravity Interceptor
1. Plan the Truck
We confirm the interceptor's capacity from your last manifest or the plans. When a tank holds more than one truckload, we plan for it. Under Texas rules, the trap must be fully emptied within 24 hours.
2. Set Up Safely
Cones around the lids and the hose. In busy lots, we work before opening or after close.
3. Empty Everything
The grease cap, the water and the settled solids all come out. Houston doesn't allow partial pumping, or mobile dewatering that pours water back into the tank.
4. Inspect and Close
With the tank empty, we check the walls, baffles, tees and lids, then close it up and note what we found.
5. Manifest
You check the tank and sign the manifest. The return copy from the disposal facility comes back to you within 15 days.
What Goes Wrong With Outdoor Interceptors
Corrosion.
Gases from the decomposing grease attack concrete above the waterline over time.
Missing or broken tees.
Grease leaves through the outlet instead of staying in the tank.
Rainwater intrusion
through cracked lids or risers, which fills the tank faster.
Root intrusion or settling
in older tanks and lines.
Blocked inlet lines,
which back up into the kitchen even when the tank has room.
Houston Heat, Rain and Your Interceptor
Heat
Warm weather speeds up the breakdown of grease and food solids. That means stronger odors and more corrosive gases inside the tank. Kitchens that were fine on a 90-day cycle in winter can start to smell in August.
Heavy Rain
A cracked lid or riser lets stormwater in. That fills the tank with water it was never meant to handle, pushes grease out the outlet and adds gallons to every pump-out.
After a Flood
If floodwater covered your lot, have the interceptor checked and pumped before you reopen. Silt and debris can settle in the tank and block the lines.
Making Pump-Outs Easy on Your Business
Keep the lids clear.
Don't park dumpsters, pallets or cars over them.
Tell us about gates,
height limits and loading-dock hours.
Pick a window:
early morning, after close or between meal periods.
Have a manager on site
to check the empty tank and sign the manifest.
Keep the manifest binder where you can find it.
Inspectors ask for five years.
What Gravity Interceptor Service Costs
Routine pumping typically runs $200 to $500 per visit for standard traps. Large gravity interceptors are quoted by capacity: the gallons removed and the disposal fees are the biggest part of the price. Access, time of day and how long it's been since the last pump-out also count. You get an itemized quote before we start.
Gravity Grease Interceptor FAQs
At least every 90 days inside city limits, and sooner if grease and solids reach 25% of the wetted height. An approved waiver can stretch that to 180 days at most.
It's on your last manifest, as the trap's holding capacity. If you don't have one, the size may be on the plans or a plate on the lid, or we can measure it.
No. Houston requires full evacuation: the grease, the water and the solids.
Pumping and inspecting are done from the surface. Entering a buried tank is confined-space work with its own safety rules, and it isn't part of routine service.
Houston holds the business generating the waste responsible, so the lease should say who pays for pumping and who keeps the manifests. We can work with the property manager on one schedule.
The blockage is usually in the line between the kitchen and the tank. That's a jetting job, not a pumping job.
Only a transporter with a City of Houston permit and a TCEQ sludge transporter registration. Look for the city decal and the TCEQ sticker on the truck.
Get Your Interceptor on a Schedule That Works
Tell us the interceptor's size and your last pump-out date. We'll bring the right truck and keep you ahead of the 90-day rule.