The smell hits around 10:30, right before the lunch rush. It's faint and sour, near the floor drain by the fryer. Water still drains, just slower than it should. You go looking for the last service invoice, and it's from three months ago, or maybe four.
Inside Houston city limits, a grease trap must be cleaned at least once every 90 days. That is the minimum, not the goal. A second rule can force service much sooner. Many kitchen operators learn about that rule during an inspection.
Below you'll find how often a grease trap must be cleaned in Houston and what moves that date up. You'll see how to check your trap yourself, what an inspector asks for, and how long you must keep your records. We also walk through the warning signs that grease has already passed the trap and hardened inside your drain lines. When it's time to bring in a professional, commercial grease trap services can pump the trap, scrape the walls, and get your lines flowing clean again.
Inside Houston city limits, a grease trap must be fully pumped out at least once every 90 days. That minimum comes from the city's plumbing and wastewater code, enforced by Houston Public Works.
You may need drain and sewer service sooner. If grease, oils, and solids fill 25% or more of the trap's working depth, it must be cleaned right away. That holds true even if you pumped it recently. Kitchens with heavy frying often reach that point in 30 to 60 days.
Low-volume businesses can apply to Houston Public Works for a written waiver. Every cleaning needs a signed manifest, and you must keep copies on site for five years.
The City of Houston Code of Ordinances sets the schedule. Any grease trap inside city limits must be fully pumped at least once every 90 days. Houston Public Works enforces that rule through its special waste program.
The word "fully" carries weight here. A quick skim of the top grease layer does not count as a cleaning. The trap has to be emptied end to end.
A cleaning meets the rule when all three of these happen:
The rule reaches any business that prepares or serves food and sends grease toward the sewer. That covers restaurants, cafés, bakeries, food trucks, school and hospital kitchens, and grocery prep areas. Size does not exempt you.
Treat 90 days as the last acceptable date, not the target date. Booking service on day 88 leaves you no room if a hauler reschedules. Most kitchens we work with are better served by a standing schedule with a few weeks of cushion.
The calendar is only half the rule. If floating grease, oils, and settled solids reach 25% or more of your trap's working depth, service is required right then. Day 40 or day 88, it does not matter. Once you cross that line, you are out of compliance until the trap is pumped.
Working depth means how deep the water sits inside the trap, measured from the bottom up to the outlet pipe. Grease floats on top. Solids settle below. Both count toward the 25%.
You do not need special equipment to check it. A clean measuring rod or dipstick works. Lower it straight down, pull it out, and read the layers against the total depth. Do this once a month and write the number down.
Some kitchens fill far faster than others:
Kitchens in these categories often hit 25% somewhere between 30 and 60 days. If your monthly readings keep landing there, quarterly service is not enough for your operation. Move the schedule up rather than waiting for a citation or a backup.
The 90-day rule comes from the City of Houston Code of Ordinances. It applies to grease traps located inside incorporated city limits. If your address sits outside those limits, a different authority sets your schedule.
That trips up more operators than you would expect. A Houston mailing address does not always mean you are inside the city. Plenty of kitchens across the metro fall under a county, a municipal utility district, or a neighboring city with its own rules.
We serve food service businesses across a wide stretch of the Houston area, including:
Several of those communities sit outside Houston proper. Their cleaning intervals, permit rules, and record requirements may not match the city's.
To confirm which authority regulates your address, start with the entity that bills you for wastewater. Your sewer bill points to the system your trap discharges into. From there, ask that provider directly for its grease trap requirements in writing.
This matters most if you run several locations. One schedule applied across all of them will fit some sites and leave others exposed. Check each address on its own.
An invoice and a manifest are not the same document. An invoice proves you paid someone. A manifest proves where your grease actually went after it left your property. Inspectors want the second one.
Sign the manifest only after you look inside the empty trap. Your signature says the trap was fully evacuated. If the hauler skimmed the top and you signed anyway, that is your name on the document.
Houston requires you to keep manifest copies on site for five years. Not in a truck, not at a corporate office. On site, where an inspector can see them.
Inspections happen on a routine basis or after a complaint. You generally get no advance notice. Keep this ready:
Enforcement moves in stages. It starts with a notice of violation. From there it can escalate to an administrative order, then fines, and in serious cases termination of your water or wastewater service. A shutdown order means no revenue while your fixed costs keep running.
Permits apply on both ends. Your business needs one to generate this waste. The company hauling it needs one too. Ask to see the hauler's registration before you sign a service agreement.
Your staff can do plenty between services. Skimming, wiping, and monthly depth checks all help. What your staff cannot legally do is the full evacuation and disposal. That work goes through a permitted hauler who signs a manifest.
Liability does not transfer with the truck. Your business is the generator of that waste. If it ends up dumped somewhere it should not be, the city looks at you, not the driver.
Enzymes and chemical additives are sold hard, and they do something. They liquefy grease. Liquefied grease flows past your trap instead of being captured by it. Then it cools inside your drain line and hardens there. You have moved the problem downstream, not removed it, and you still owe the city a pumping.
Build a short in-house inspection into your monthly routine:
None of this replaces professional service. It tells you when professional service is due.
Start at quarterly and let your own numbers correct it. The 90-day rule tells you the latest you can wait. It says nothing about what your kitchen actually produces.
Here is how to find your real interval:
Keep every manifest in one place, filed by date. A binder works. When an inspector arrives unannounced, the paperwork becomes a five-minute conversation instead of a search through the office.
Remember that your trap and your lines are two separate jobs. Pumping handles what the trap caught. It does nothing about what got past it and hardened downstream. Kitchens that pair a steady pumping schedule with periodic line cleaning are the ones that stop having surprise backups.
We have handled drain and sewer work for Houston businesses since 2003. Our team answers around the clock, because a blocked line at 5:00 on a Friday is not a Monday problem.
At least once every 90 days inside Houston city limits. That is the minimum set by city ordinance. You must clean it sooner if grease and solids reach 25% of the trap's working depth. Busy kitchens often reach that point in 30 to 60 days.
The 25% rule requires immediate service when grease, oils, and solids fill a quarter of your trap's working depth. It overrides the calendar. Even if you pumped the trap three weeks ago, hitting 25% means you are due again. Check your depth monthly with a measuring rod so the number never surprises you.
Five years, kept on site. A manifest is the document showing where your grease went after it left your property. An invoice will not satisfy an inspector. File your manifests by date so you can produce them during an unannounced visit.
Your lease decides that, so read it before you assume. Most commercial leases place trap maintenance on the tenant operating the kitchen. The city treats the business generating the waste as the responsible party. If you share an interceptor with other food tenants, get the cost and schedule agreement in writing.
Your staff can skim, wipe, and check the depth, but not perform the required cleaning. Full evacuation and disposal must go through a permitted hauler who signs a manifest. In-house work between services helps, and it tells you when professional service is due.
Abacus Plumbing, Air Conditioning & Electrical serves: The Woodlands, Katy Pearland, Spring, Cypress, Sugar Land, Humble, Kingwood, Friendswood, Missouri City, Pasadena and more. View All Service Areas » (please call to confirm service in your area)
Open Including Holidays
ALAN O’NEILL M-20628 | TACLA135747C | TECL 30557
© 2026 Abacus Plumbing, Air Conditioning & Electrical. All Rights Reserved