Grease Trap Cleaning Melbourne, North and West

Grease traps explained

A grease trap is a tank between your kitchen drains and the sewer that catches fats, oils and food solids before they reach the pipes. Waste water slows down inside the trap. Fat floats to the top, heavier solids sink to the bottom, and the cleaner water in the middle flows on to the sewer. Industry and water authorities often call it a grease arrestor or grease interceptor.

Water authorities insist on them because fat sets hard as it cools. In a sewer main it builds up like plaque in an artery, and eventually the pipe blocks and overflows. A trap only works while there’s room in it, which is why it has to be pumped out regularly.

Do you legally have to have a grease trap?

In most cases, yes, if you run a food business. Yarra Valley Water says every food business producing trade waste must install a grease trap, and discharging to sewer without a trade waste agreement is an offence under the Water Act 1989. Greater Western Water says food businesses need a trade waste consent and may need a grease trap before they start trading. The water authority decides the type and size.

Can you clean a grease trap yourself?

No. Yarra Valley Water says you must not empty a grease trap yourself, and only EPA approved waste transporters can do it. EPA Victoria classes grease trap waste as reportable priority waste. That means it has to be carried by a transporter with EPA permission and tracked in EPA’s Waste Tracker system.

Do plumbers clean grease traps?

Plumbers install them, but they don’t usually pump them out. Greater Western Water says only a licensed plumber may install a grease trap. The pump out itself is a job for an EPA licensed liquid waste collector with a vacuum truck, which is what we do.

What happens if you don’t clean a grease trap?

Once a trap is full, fat and food solids pass straight through into the sewer. You’ll usually notice smells and slow sinks first. Greater Western Water’s terms let it recover the cost of a sewer blockage from a business that hasn’t done the maintenance its trade waste consent requires.

What is the Australian Standard for grease traps?

Grease traps are plumbing, so their installation falls under the Australian plumbing standard. Coliban Water’s grease trap fact sheet, for example, says interceptors must be connected in accordance with AS 3500.2. In Melbourne, your water authority sets the size and the pump-out frequency through your agreement.

What gets rid of a grease trap smell?

A regular pump out. A strong smell from the trap or the floor waste usually means the fat layer is thick and the trap is overdue, so emptying it is the real fix.

Grease trap rules in Melbourne’s north and west

Greater Western Water sets the rules for most of the west and north-west, and Yarra Valley Water covers the north around Broadmeadows and Craigieburn. Tullamarine is split between the two, so check your water bill. Your council registers the food business, but the water authority decides whether you need a trap, how big it is and how often it’s pumped.

Greater Western Water

Greater Western Water covers Sunbury, Melton, Caroline Springs, Taylors Lakes, Airport West, Niddrie, Essendon, Moonee Ponds and Sunshine. It was formed in 2021 from City West Water and Western Water, so older council documents may still use those names.

• Frequency. Pump the trap at the frequency in your trade waste agreement. GWW says that’s typically every three months.
• Records. GWW wants a record of every pump out so it can be entered in its database. Its food business terms ask for the record within two weeks of the work. We notify GWW of each pump out for you, so there’s nothing for you to send.
• Access. You must keep the trap accessible at all times.
• Sizing. Trap size is based mainly on how much waste water goes down the drain each hour, and GWW’s trade waste team confirms it.

Yarra Valley Water

Yarra Valley Water covers Broadmeadows, Craigieburn, Greenvale and Mickleham.

• Who needs one. All food businesses producing trade waste must have a grease trap, and paying a fee instead isn’t an option.
• Frequency. It’s set in your trade waste agreement and reviewed at renewal. A busier kitchen or new menu can mean a larger trap or more frequent pump outs.
• Records. Keep your cleaning receipts and certificates. Inspectors can ask to see them.
• Transporter. Only EPA approved waste transporters may pump out the trap.

EPA Victoria and Waste Tracker

EPA rules sit on top of both authorities. Grease trap waste is reportable priority waste, so every load has to be tracked from your premises to an authorised facility. The business producing the waste has to choose a transporter who is allowed to carry it. Sims is EPA licensed to carry grease trap waste, and we look after the tracking for you.

Who we service

We clean grease traps for any business that generally needs one. In Melbourne’s north and west that’s mostly these.

• Restaurants, cafes and takeaways on shopping strips and in food courts
• Bakeries and pubs, where butter, batter and fryer oil load a trap quickly
• Clubs and function venues that cook for big crowds on set days
• Hotels and accommodation with kitchens running seven days
• Childcare centres, aged care homes, schools and hospitals with commercial kitchens
• Food manufacturers and catering kitchens in the industrial estates

We clean residential grease traps too. Some homes, especially with large kitchens or home businesses, have a small under-sink or in-ground trap.

Scheduled servicing and records

The easiest way to stay compliant is a fixed schedule that matches your trade waste agreement. Tell us the trap size and the frequency in your agreement, and we’ll put you on a repeating booking. If your trap fills faster than the agreement assumes, we’ll tell you, because an earlier pump out is cheaper than a blocked sewer.

After each visit you get an EPA waste certificate for your file. If you’re with Greater Western Water, we notify GWW of the pump out on your behalf, which takes one job off your list. If you’re with Yarra Valley Water, keep our certificates with your agreement, because its inspectors can ask to see your receipts.

What affects the cost of a grease trap pump out

Trap size and how often it’s emptied make the biggest difference. We don’t publish prices, because two kitchens of the same size can have very different traps. These are the main factors.

• Trap size in litres. A 600 litre under-floor trap is a smaller job than a large in-ground interceptor. We can empty traps of up to 12,000 litres in one visit.
• Service frequency. A trap on a regular schedule is quicker to empty than one with a thick, hardened fat cap.
• Access. Traps under floors, behind kitchens or down narrow lanes take longer to reach with the hose.
• Time of day. After-hours and emergency work costs more than a booked visit.
• Number of traps. Several traps at one site, or several sites on one run, can be done together.

Signs a grease trap is overdue

Bad smells, slow sinks and floor wastes that gurgle or bubble are the common signs. You might also see fat around the trap lid, water backing up into the kitchen, or a note from a water authority inspector. Any of these means the trap needs pumping now, not at the next scheduled visit.

We also clean triple interceptors, the three-chamber pits used at workshops and wash bays to separate oil and silt from waste water. EPA classes triple interceptor waste as reportable priority waste too, and Sims is EPA licensed to carry it.

Where we service

We cover twelve suburbs in Melbourne’s north and west, each with its own page.

• Grease trap cleaning in Sunbury. Evans Street takeaways, the town centre laneways and the winery and function venues around town.
• Grease trap cleaning in Melton. The High Street shops being upgraded by council and the Woodgrove food court in Melton West.
• Grease trap cleaning in Caroline Springs. CS Square and the hotel and function kitchens near Lake Caroline.
• Grease trap cleaning in Taylors Lakes. Watergardens and its two dining precincts, plus nearby Sydenham and Hillside.
• Grease trap cleaning in Tullamarine. Industrial estates, food manufacturers and 24/7 sites west of the freeway.
• Grease trap cleaning in Airport West. Food tenants at Westfield Airport West and the McNamara Avenue shops.
• Grease trap cleaning in Niddrie. The Keilor Road restaurant strip and its rear laneways.
• Grease trap cleaning in Essendon. North Essendon, Essendon Junction, Napier Street and Buckley Street.
• Grease trap cleaning in Moonee Ponds. The Puckle Street mall, Moonee Ponds Central and race day catering.
• Grease trap cleaning in Sunshine. Sunshine Marketplace, Hampshire Road and a busy multicultural food scene.
• Grease trap cleaning in Broadmeadows. Broadmeadows Central and the grill and charcoal chicken kitchens nearby.
• Grease trap cleaning in Craigieburn. Craigieburn Central, Highlands and new logistics estates.

Further out, we also look after Kyneton, Gisborne, Woodend, Daylesford, Castlemaine and Bacchus Marsh. See grease trap cleaning in the Macedon Ranges.