Tier 3 Certified in SC & GA Licensed, Bonded & Insured Serving the CSRA since 2009
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Restaurants · Commercial kitchens · Scheduled service

Grease trap pumping for restaurants and commercial kitchens

Scheduled service, proper disposal, and the paperwork you need when the health inspector asks. We work around your service hours, not ours.

What the regulation requires

Unlike residential septic tanks, grease traps carry an explicit cleaning obligation. South Carolina's regulation requires the owner or manager to ensure the trap is cleaned by a licensed septage pumper at frequent intervals to prevent carryover. There's no single mandated frequency, so the practical standard is whatever keeps grease out of the downstream system. In practice most kitchens are on a monthly to quarterly schedule.

Why this matters more than it looks

A grease trap that isn't cleaned on schedule doesn't just smell. Grease carries over into the downstream lines and, if you're on septic, into the system itself. What starts as a $200 service call becomes a jetting job, then a line replacement, then a drainfield problem. Meanwhile the health inspector wants to know when it was last serviced and by whom.

South Carolina's regulation puts the obligation on the owner or manager to make sure it's cleaned by a licensed septage pumper frequently enough to prevent carryover. That's a performance standard rather than a fixed calendar, which means the burden of judgement sits with you unless you're on a schedule with someone who knows what they're doing.

What we do

  1. 1

    Full pump-out

    Not a skim. Grease, solids and liquid removed completely so the trap actually has capacity again.

  2. 2

    Clean the interior

    Walls, baffles and inlet and outlet tees scraped down. A trap that's been skimmed for a year has hardened buildup that has to be physically removed.

  3. 3

    Inspect

    Baffle condition, lid and gasket, structural condition, and any sign the trap is undersized for the volume the kitchen is putting through it.

  4. 4

    Documentation

    Dated service record showing what was removed and where it went. This is the document your health inspector wants, and it's the reason to use a properly licensed pumper rather than whoever's cheapest.

  5. 5

    Approved disposal

    Grease and septage go to approved disposal facilities. Both states regulate this and the manifest trail matters.

We work around your hours

Nobody wants a vacuum truck outside the door at seven on a Friday evening. Tell us your service windows and we'll build the schedule around them, including early mornings, closed days and after hours. This is the single most common complaint restaurants have about their previous pumper, and it's easy to solve if someone bothers to ask.

Getting the frequency right

Too infrequent and you're risking carryover, odors and a failed inspection. Too frequent and you're paying for capacity you didn't use. The right interval depends on:

  • Trap size against the volume of your kitchen
  • Menu. A fryer-heavy kitchen loads a trap far faster than a salad-forward one
  • Covers per day and how that swings seasonally
  • Whether you're on sewer or septic. On septic the consequences of carryover are more expensive, so we'd err tighter

We'll start you on a sensible interval, then adjust after the first couple of services based on what we actually pull out. That's a better method than guessing from a table.

Service contracts

Scheduled service on a fixed interval at an agreed rate, with documentation filed every visit and priority response if something goes wrong between visits. You stop thinking about it, and you always have the paperwork when someone asks for it. Multi-location operators, talk to us about covering all your sites on one schedule.

On septic rather than sewer? If your restaurant is on a septic system, the grease trap and the septic system need to be managed together. We do both, which means one contractor, one schedule and one point of contact. Commercial septic services →

What it costs

ServiceTypical range
Grease trap pump and cleanQuoted by trap size
Scheduled contract rateLower than one-off
Emergency or after-hoursPremium applies
Line jetting after carryoverSee jetting
Grease Trap Pumping FAQs

Questions we get about this

How often does a restaurant grease trap need to be cleaned?
South Carolina's regulation requires the owner or manager to ensure the trap is cleaned by a licensed septage pumper at frequent intervals to prevent carryover, rather than setting a fixed calendar. In practice most commercial kitchens run monthly to quarterly, depending on trap size, menu and covers per day.
What documentation do I get for the health inspector?
A dated service record for every visit showing what was removed and where it was disposed of. Using a properly licensed septage pumper is what makes that documentation meaningful.
Do you offer scheduled service contracts?
Yes. Fixed interval, agreed rate, documentation filed every visit, and priority response between scheduled services. Multi-location operators can have all sites covered on one schedule.
What size grease trap does my kitchen need?
It depends on your flow rate and the type of cooking you do, and in a new build it's part of the plumbing design. If your current trap is filling far faster than your service interval, that's usually a sign it's undersized for the volume going through it, and we'll tell you.
Can you service us outside business hours?
Yes. Tell us your service windows and we'll build the schedule around them, including early mornings, closed days and after hours.
Who can legally pump a grease trap in South Carolina?
A licensed septage pumper. South Carolina requires a separate pumper licence from SCDES to clean onsite wastewater systems and holding systems, and the regulation specifically requires grease traps to be cleaned by a licensed septage pumper.
What happens if a grease trap isn't cleaned often enough?
Grease carries over into the downstream lines and, on a septic system, into the system itself. It progresses from odors and slow drains to line blockages requiring jetting, and on septic it can eventually damage the drainfield. It's also a health inspection issue.
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Where we work

Serving the CSRA, both sides of the river

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Get a real estimate, not a guess

Tell us about the property and what it's doing. We'll come look, tell you straight what it needs, and give you a number you can plan around.

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    Call or text
    (803) 2-PUMP-IT803-278-6748
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    Office hours
    Mon-Fri, 8am-5pmEmergency service available outside these hours
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    Based in
    North Augusta, SCServing the CSRA, both sides of the river

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