Backed Up Drains

[MVM]

I work at a local grocery store and we have constantly had our floor drains back up. When this happens our sales floor gets soaked and we call our local plumbers. They snake the drains and it goes down.

I need help with daily maintenance in order to keep the back ups from being so frequent. We use enzymes twice a week but I fear it does not break down somethings such as the chicken greas from the kitchen.

Is there anything else I can do to help maintain healthy clean drain pipes?

 

[Zanne]

Well, first off, people need to stop dumping chicken grease down the sink. There is a reason that some plumbing used to have specific grease traps. It may be liquid when it is warm, but it turns to solid when it cools. You will need to have a designated trash receptacle with instructions to pour the grease / fat in to it and NOT in to the sink.

Enzymes won't really do much if grease is clogging stuff up. Get some shop towels and instruct the employees to dump the greasy stuff in to the appropriate receptacle and wipe it with shop towels to minimize the amount of grease going in to the sink (it will be less expensive than having to call the plumber all the time).

Don't use Draino or any of those harsh drain cleaners-- they just end up being a hazard for plumbers later on and they are not effective at cleaning the drains.

Run cold/room temperature water down the pipes after the hot water has gone down to rinse stuff out.

If you are still getting backups, then perhaps there are issues with improper venting or improper slope to the pipes. It's entirely possible that some grease may have gotten in to the vent somehow if it backed up enough.

The P-trap to the sink should be able to be dismantled. Get a bucket or deep pan to put under it and remove the P-trap to see if it is clogged (it is supposed to have water in it, but there could be debris getting stuck as well).

 

[Matt30]

The kitchen should have a grease trap. Has this been cleaned?