How often should a restaurant grease trap be pumped in Torrance?

Torrance sets no fixed schedule, though its 2025 sewer plan recommends adopting one. Many Southern California programs use a 25% test: pump when floating grease plus settled solids pass a quarter of the liquid depth. One hauler suggests every 60 to 90 days for light cooking and 30 to 60 for moderate frying.

Does a plumber or a grease hauler clean the trap?

Usually both, for different parts. A registered hauler pumps the trap or interceptor and takes the waste away with a receipt. A plumber handles the plumbing: clogged inlet and outlet lines, broken baffles or tees, and new installations. Ask the plumber whether they also service small under-sink units.

What records does Torrance expect after a grease trap cleaning?

For each cleaning, keep when it was done, who did it, how much grease was removed and where it was disposed of, and keep those records for three years. The hauler's waste removal receipt should show the service date, the unit's working capacity and the volume taken out, which covers most of it.

Do I need a grease trap if my cafe serves fewer than 100 meals a day?

Torrance's grease rule, as the city's sewer plan describes it, applies from 100 meals a day. Below that, check with Community Development before skipping one, because grease devices must be city-approved and designed to the plumbing code, and a remodel or new permit can bring the question up anyway.

Grease Trap Cleaning in Torrance, CA

Pump-out cost: a regional grease hauler's price guide puts most indoor traps at $175 to $325 a visit and buried interceptors at $350 to $1,500
Time on site: 30 to 60 minutes for most pump-outs
Who needs a trap in Torrance: food service businesses serving 100 or more meals a day
Paperwork: cleaning records kept on file for three years

Kitchen managers use Torrance Hydro Jet as a single number for reaching a plumber about grease traps and interceptors: jetting the lines on either side, replacing a cracked unit or setting a new one sized to the city's rule. Pumping and hauling the grease is a registered hauler's job; ask the plumber if you're unsure which one a problem needs.

Grease Trap and Interceptor Work in Torrance Kitchens

Small gray metal grease trap under a stainless three-compartment sink in a commercial kitchen, its lid lifted off to show the baffles and a layer of grease

Under-Sink Hydromechanical Grease Traps

The indoor trap is a small baffled box, usually under a three-compartment sink or beside the dish machine. A county definition puts it at 25 to 75 gallons, single compartment, with a minimum rating of 25 gallons a minute. Because it is small, it fills fast. One hauler notes a 40-gallon trap can fill in a few weeks, which is why these units go on short service cycles.

Two round steel manhole lids open in the asphalt behind a strip center restaurant, showing the concrete chambers of a buried grease interceptor

In-Ground Gravity Grease Interceptors

An interceptor is the big version: a precast concrete tank of 750 gallons or more with two or more compartments, buried outside the kitchen. Grease floats, food solids settle and cleaner water leaves through the outlet. A 1,500-gallon unit may go a full quarter between pump-outs, but cleaning one takes a vacuum truck and two open manholes. The hauler guide above puts routine service at $350 to $1,500 a visit, with very large systems at $2,000 or more.

Gray vacuum hose running from an alley across the asphalt into an open grease interceptor manhole behind a commercial kitchen's back door

Pumping and Hauling

A proper pump-out empties every compartment, wastewater included, then scrapes the walls, baffles and inlet and outlet tees, because hardened grease clings to concrete. Two shortcuts to watch for: pumping only the grease cap and leaving the sludge, and pouring wastewater back in to cut the hauled volume. The City of Torrance runs no grease disposal site, so the load goes with a hauler registered with the state agriculture department, who should hand over a receipt with the date, unit size and volume removed.

Gray jetter hose fed into a cleanout on the pipe leading out of a grease interceptor in a paved service yard, a rotating nozzle on a rag nearby

Jetting the Inlet and Outlet Lines

The trap only catches what reaches it. Grease that cools in the line from the sinks clogs the inlet side, and anything that slips past a worn baffle coats the outlet line toward the sewer. Rotating nozzles are the usual pick for grease-heavy commercial lines. While the lids are off, ask the plumber to check the outlet tee: a cracked or missing one lets grease flow straight into the lateral. Kitchens with recurring line clogs should read restaurant drain cleaning too.

New gray grease trap set in place under a prep sink in a commercial kitchen under construction, fresh plumbing connections and a level resting on the lid

Grease Trap Installation and Sizing

Torrance sizes traps by meals served and rates them in pounds of grease. A kitchen serving 100 to 300 meals a day needs a trap rated for 20 pounds of grease for each sink or outlet. Above 300 meals, or with a wash rack, the rating goes to 60 pounds. Devices must be designed to Chapter 10 of the California Plumbing Code and approved by the city, so get the plan checked before a unit goes in. A plumber should also confirm the code edition in force when the permit is pulled.

Gloved hands feeding a high-pressure jetting hose with a steel nozzle into a sewer cleanout in a concrete walkway

Why Torrance homeowners and businesses call Torrance Hydro Jet

One independent plumber gets your request, never a call list
The referral itself costs you nothing
Ask for the camera video and a written price before repairs
Check the plumber's C-36 license on CSLB in a minute

Torrance FOG Rules for Food Service Businesses

Torrance handles grease control itself. LACSD, the regional sanitation agency that treats the city's sewage, exempts restaurants from its industrial wastewater permit, so the local requirements come from Torrance Municipal Code 72.2.17 and the city's sewer plan.

Who is covered
Food service businesses serving 100 or more meals a day.
Equipment
A grease trap or interceptor sized by the 20-pound and 60-pound rule above, operated and maintained by the business.
Records
For every cleaning: the date, who cleaned it, the volume of grease removed and where it went. Keep them current and on file for three years.
Inspections
The Fire Department's Community Risk Reduction Division inspects grease-generating businesses.
Schedule
The city's grease rules set no pumping frequency, and the 2025 sewer plan recommends the city adopt a minimum one.

The 25% test you will hear from haulers comes from vendor guidance and other agencies' programs, not from a Torrance document. Use it as a yardstick and treat it as guidance.

What Raises a Grease Trap Service Bill

Size and type
Indoor traps cost least; buried interceptors need a vacuum truck and more time.
How overdue it is
Heavy solids and hardened grease add labor, and a first-time or one-off cleaning often costs more than a scheduled one.
Access
A trap that is hard to reach, or lids buried under a stack of pallets, adds time on site.
Timing
An emergency call during service, or a night appointment, adds charges. Clear the lids before anyone arrives.

Hauler and plumber visits may be booked separately. When you call this line, say whether the problem is a full trap, a slow line or a new install, and that detail reaches the plumber before they phone you back.

See restaurant drain cleaning for jetting the floor sinks and lines that feed the trap.