Domestic Grease trap

[Arfer]

We moved to our current house 6 years ago. The builders had installed a centre kitchen sink. Unfortunately the waste from sink etc runs horizontally across the old floor, no slope at all under a 3 inch screed AND electric underfloor cables.

Our 3rd drain cleaning experience today indicates the presence of a mini fatberg in the 1 1/2 inch pvc pipe, and that a grease trap "might" stop this.

Has anyone experience of any product that might assist us in our difficulty?

[genou]

We moved to our current house 6 years ago. The builders had installed a centre kitchen sink. Unfortunately the waste from sink etc runs horizontally across the old floor, no slope at all under a 3 inch screed AND electric underfloor cables.

Our 3rd drain cleaning experience today indicates the presence of a mini fatberg in the 1 1/2 inch pvc pipe, and that a grease trap "might" stop this.

Has anyone experience of any product that might assist us in our difficulty?

A compost bin. Put fat there rather than in the sink / dishwasher.

[Imbiber]

Horizontal is bad news. I think regs are about 20mm/m fall.

[Maroochydore]

and that a grease trap "might" stop this.
Has anyone experience of any product that might assist us in our difficulty?

Envii Grease Eater Turbo is very good at dissolving grease build up in pipes, it is enzymatic rather that chemical and consequently not that cheap, about £25 for a 5 litre container.

As for grease traps, I think they start at around £150 and you need to clean them out every so often. They don't stop the grease, just collects it in a tank for disposal later.

If you've not got an ongoing problem then I would suggest using the Grease Eater for the occasional maintenance of pipework.

[bungeejumper]

I imagine you've tried bleach and lots (and lots) of boiling water?

Not much more than an analogy really, but every six months or so I run our dishwasher empty on a hottest-possible wash, using a hefty dose of Flash floor cleaner instead of the usual detergent. It keeps the hoses beautifully free of grease build-ups which used to be a problem. (It also generates a scary amount of foam, which is OK if you keep the d/w door firmly shut. ) I think you're going to need the Evil Grease Eater Turbo on this occasion, but in future a regular dosing with hot washing soda (or Flash) will keep it sweet.

Usual safety warning about reading the label on the bottle. Do not mix some drain treatments with bleach, because they can react together to release some seriously poisonous gases.

BJ

[kempiejon]

I imagine you've tried bleach and lots (and lots) of boiling water?

Not much more than an analogy really, but every six months or so I run our dishwasher empty on a hottest-possible wash, using a hefty dose of Flash floor cleaner instead of the usual detergent. It keeps the hoses beautifully free of grease build-ups which used to be a problem. (It also generates a scary amount of foam, which is OK if you keep the d/w door firmly shut. ) I think you're going to need the Evil Grease Eater Turbo on this occasion, but in future a regular dosing with hot washing soda (or Flash) will keep it sweet.

Usual safety warning about reading the label on the bottle. Do not mix some drain treatments with bleach, because they can react together to release some seriously poisonous gases.

BJ

I'm not sure I agree with genou about saving the fat for the compost heap, I scrape mine into newspaper and add to the council organic waste collection though.
When we moved to the new house, within a few months we had to plunger and then rod the shower. It's a ground floor shower and turns out has a very shallow fall to the outside - it does clog with hair, body detritus and soap scum; every six months or so I run a pint of caustic soda solution through and leave to sit for an hour or so before a good dose of boiling water, no more plunging.

The washing machine has a handful of washing soda added to most washes to soften the water and an occasional boil wash with either distilled vinegar or citric acid crystals to really knock the limescale. I do not have a dishwasher.

[88V8]

I'm not sure I agree with genou about saving the fat for the compost heap.

I agree with your disagreement. Only green stuff on the compost, otherwise it will smell, and attract rats. Mind you, rats are edible.

...I run a pint of caustic soda solution through and leave to sit for an hour or so ...

With the caveat that caustic can dissolve plastic pipes.

V8

[Arfer]

Thanks to those who have gone before. I shall try dishwasher/Flash first (whatever happened to the canny wee Scots lady?).

[fisher]

I'm not sure I agree with genou about saving the fat for the compost heap.

I agree with your disagreement. Only green stuff on the compost, otherwise it will smell, and attract rats. Mind you, rats are edible.

V8

I disagree with your disagreement. We compost left over meat, fish, bone, grease, fat, dead birds as well as green stuff. No smells and no rats but we do use rodent proof compost bins. We have 3 green johanna compost bins and we've been composting like this for 8 years. I wouldn't recommend trying this with a basic compost bin but with a rodent proof unit it works fine. No bad smells. We do ensure we mix the food waste with green waste and brown waste (i.e. leaves or shreddings) on a regular basis. Most of the year (sometimes all year) our green johannas are 'hot' composting.

[kempiejon]

I think it was Bob Flowerdew on Gardeners Question Time that I heard talking about composting a deer and burying a feather mattress in the veg plot. http://news.cornell.edu/stories/2012/06 ... -carcasses
I do not have a Johanna, have only had the basic bins or a re-purposed water tank In my previous house where I was less fussy about the contents of my composter and we had rats move in. Once I'd dispatched them, improved the integrity of the composter base to prevent rodent entry and was careful about only raw vegetable and garden waste the rats stayed away.

Hot composting might be what our local council do as they collect all the food scraps for compost making, bones, fat, cooked etc.

[gbjbaanb]

I'm not sure I agree with genou about saving the fat for the compost heap, I scrape mine into newspaper and add to the council organic waste collection though.

I scrape (or more often pour it while its still warm) into an old butter tub, put it in the fridge and it solidifes Then you can easily dispose of the lump when it gets full - or mix with some other food scraps or other dry food like oats, seeds or breadcrumbs and it becomes a bird fatball.

https://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/d ... for-birds/