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Sizing Your Grease Interceptor: Pipe Almost Completely Blocked With FOG

A grease interceptor must be properly sized to efficiently capture and contain fats, oils, and grease from a business's kitchen wastewater before disposal. An undersized interceptor cannot properly separate this waste and can cause plumbing issues. A plumber can help determine the appropriate size by calculating the peak flow rate through the interceptor based on fixture sizes and drainage time. Sizing is important for compliance with regulations to prevent harms to private and municipal wastewater systems.

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78 views

Sizing Your Grease Interceptor: Pipe Almost Completely Blocked With FOG

A grease interceptor must be properly sized to efficiently capture and contain fats, oils, and grease from a business's kitchen wastewater before disposal. An undersized interceptor cannot properly separate this waste and can cause plumbing issues. A plumber can help determine the appropriate size by calculating the peak flow rate through the interceptor based on fixture sizes and drainage time. Sizing is important for compliance with regulations to prevent harms to private and municipal wastewater systems.

Uploaded by

lonam
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Sizing your grease interceptor

If fats, oil and grease (also known as FOG) go down the drain and into the
wastewater system, they can lead to blocked pipes, reduced plumbing flow,
odours and sewer backups. A grease interceptor is designed to prevent this.
A grease interceptor must be properly installed, maintained and cleaned on
a regular schedule. As well, it must be the appropriate size for the business to
capture and contain FOG efficiently until it can be properly disposed of.
Grease interceptors come in a variety of sizes and are rated by the
manufacturer for different flow rates. Your grease interceptor is considered
undersized if it cannot manage the volume of water that runs through it or
if is not able to separate FOG from kitchen wastewater properly. Undersized
grease interceptors get overwhelmed and release excessive amounts of FOG,
which can cause issues for both private and municipal wastewater systems.
Having an appropriately sized grease interceptor is also a compliance
requirement per Wastewater Bylaw 14M2012, in accordance with
CAN/CSA B481 and the National Plumbing Code of Canada. Failure to
Pipe almost completely blocked with FOG follow these requirements can result in fines or prosecution under any or
all of these regulations.
A certified plumber is the best person to help determine if your interceptor is properly sized for the volume of water
and fixtures running through it. Grease interceptor sizing calculators are also available on the internet.
On the following page is an example of how to calculate the correct grease interceptor size for your business.
Depending on your set up, the formula can be complicated and there are additional factors that are not considered
in the calculation such as
• The amount of equipment washed
• The type of activity at each fixture (prep sink, rinse sink, mop sink etc.)
• Average number of customers served
• Type of cuisine
• Quality of water to be discharged through the interceptor
• Cleaning frequency (smaller interceptors need to be cleaned more often)
Grease interceptor sizing calculation
1. Determine all of the fixtures that connect to each interceptor in your
facility. For this example, we have two sinks connected to one interceptor.
Note: if a dishwasher is used at the facility it may be required to be connected

to its own dedicated grease interceptor.
2. Next, calculate the peak flow rates for each fixture by measuring the size.
Sink One is 0.4 metres deep x 0.4 metres high x 0.4 metres wide and Sink
Two is 0.3 meters deep x 0.3 meters high x 0.3 metres wide.
3. Convert cubic meters to litres by multiplying by 1,000.
4. Once you have the volume of both sinks, calculate 75 per cent of those
volumes by multiplying by 0.75.
Note: see chart below for steps 2-4
Plastic grease interceptor

Example Sink One Sink Two


Calculating 2. 0.4 m x 0.4 m x 0.4 m 2. 0.3 m x 0.3 m x 0.3 m
sink volume 3. = 0.064 cubic metres (m3) x 1,000 = 64 litres (L) 3. = 0.027 cubic metres (m3) x 1,000 = 27 litres (L)
4. 64 x 0.75 = 48 L 4. 27 x 0.75 = 20.25 L
Combined
48 litres + 20.25 litres = 68.25 litres.
volume

5. Assuming a drain down time of one minute, (meaning it takes the sink one minute to completely drain from full),
the peak flow rate for the two sinks is 68.25 litres/minute. Therefore, an interceptor rated above 68.25 litres/minute
should be adequate for this kitchen’s needs if proper best management practices are consistently followed and
cleaning and maintenance are completed regularly.
If the baseline interceptor sizing requirements are met and the business is still having problems controlling FOG,
you can also investigate the following solutions to attain compliance:
• Change best management practices to reduce the amount of FOG entering the interceptor, such as wiping and
scraping dishes and equipment before soaking or washing.
• Increase the interceptor cleaning frequency.
• Install a hydro-mechanical grease interceptor.
• Make changes to the interceptor (e.g. fix, increase size, install an additional one).

For more information on grease interceptors and best management practices


visit calgary.ca/FOG or contact 311

20-0010414 | ADV-7094

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