Grease Trap Cleaning San Mateo, CA
For grease trap cleaning San Mateo CA kitchens can schedule around service hours, our Peninsula crew starts before dawn. Downtown San Mateo has one of the densest concentrations of Japanese, Chinese, Korean and Peruvian restaurants on the Peninsula, and most of them share old laterals under B Street, 3rd and 4th Avenues that do not forgive a neglected grease trap. We clean and pump traps downtown, in the Hillsdale and Bay Meadows developments, along 25th Avenue and El Camino Real, and at the corporate cafeterias in the Bay Meadows and Mariners Island office parks.
San Mateo is a regular stop on our Peninsula route. Call (628) 221-4893 to schedule a cleaning or for emergency help with an overflowing trap.
Grease trap cleaning in San Mateo: call now(628) 221-4893
San Mateo's grease control program and inspections
The City of San Mateo runs its own wastewater treatment plant and enforces a grease control ordinance through its environmental compliance staff. Food service establishments are expected to have a grease removal device sized for their kitchen, to keep grease and solids below 25 percent of the device's capacity, and to keep cleaning records available for inspection for at least three years.
The city's staff do inspect, and they tend to prioritize the downtown blocks where blockages have occurred. If a sewer main along 3rd Avenue or Baldwin Avenue backs up, the city looks at the nearest kitchens and asks for records. Restaurants that cannot produce them are the ones that get a notice.
Every service we perform is written up with the date, trap size, grease depth before pumping, volume removed and the manifest number, in a form the city's inspectors are used to seeing. If you have already received a notice, call us and we will get you cleaned and documented ahead of the deadline.
Downtown's shared basements and the newer interceptors at Bay Meadows
Many downtown San Mateo restaurants occupy older buildings where the grease trap is in a shared basement or a rear utility room, sometimes serving two tenants. We identify which fixtures drain to which trap, service the correct unit and issue records to each tenant so nobody is carrying the other's paperwork.
The newer construction at Bay Meadows, Hillsdale Shopping Center and along the Delaware Street corridor was built with modern in-ground interceptors, often 1,000 gallons or more, with sample boxes and multi-compartment baffles. Those are serviced with a full pump-out of every compartment, a baffle scrape and an outlet check, on a quarterly or bi-monthly rotation that we coordinate with property management.
San Mateo's many sushi and ramen kitchens produce a different kind of grease load, heavier in pork fat and fish oils that can turn rancid quickly in a warm trap. A shorter interval keeps odors down as well as keeping you compliant.
- Correct tenant-by-tenant records for shared downtown traps
- Full multi-compartment interceptor service at Bay Meadows and Hillsdale
- Odor control through shorter intervals for ramen and tonkotsu kitchens
Grease Trap Pumping in San Mateo
From a 40-gallon trap under a B Street sushi bar to a parking-lot interceptor at Hillsdale, we pump the full contents, refill with clean water and hand you a record with the manifest number before we leave.
Grease Interceptor Cleaning in San Mateo
Interceptors at Bay Meadows, the Mariners Island office campuses and the hotels near Highway 92 are opened compartment by compartment, with baffles cleaned, outlet tees cleared and the sample box wiped down and inspected.
Grease Interceptor Pumping in San Mateo
Large interceptors at corporate cafeterias, Hillsdale Shopping Center restaurants and the San Mateo Medical Center kitchen are pumped on a fixed rotation with a single facilities contact and predictable invoicing.
Where we work in San Mateo
We serve all of San Mateo including Downtown, North Central, Hayward Park, Bay Meadows, Hillsdale, Fiesta Gardens, Mariners Island, the 25th Avenue district, Shoreview, Sugarloaf and the El Camino Real corridor, as well as neighboring Foster City, Belmont and Burlingame.
Call for same-week service in San Mateo(628) 221-4893Nearby cities we also serve from the Peninsula route
The truck that covers San Mateo runs the same route through the cities below, so multi-location operators can put every kitchen on one schedule. Full details for each city, and the complete service areas list, are one click away. Not sure which service you need? Read our short guides to grease trap cleaning and grease interceptor cleaning.
- Daly City
- South San Francisco
- San Bruno
- Millbrae
- Redwood City
- San Carlos
- Mountain View
- Sunnyvale
- San Francisco
San Mateo grease trap questions
Does the City of San Mateo inspect restaurant grease traps?
Yes. The city's environmental compliance staff inspect food service establishments, particularly downtown, and ask to see the trap and the cleaning records. We supply a record for every visit.
How often do downtown San Mateo restaurants need grease trap service?
Most need a cleaning every four to eight weeks. Ramen, tonkotsu and Korean barbecue kitchens are at the shorter end; cafés and sandwich shops can often go longer. We set the interval from measured grease depth.
Our trap is in a shared basement with the restaurant next door. Can you still service it?
Yes. We trace which fixtures drain to the trap, clean it, and provide each tenant with a record so both businesses have documentation.
Do you service the interceptors at Bay Meadows and Hillsdale?
Yes. Those developments have modern in-ground interceptors that we service on a rotation coordinated with property management, with a full pump-out of every compartment.
Why does my grease trap smell so bad between cleanings?
Fats and food solids decompose in the warm water of the trap and produce sulfur compounds. Fish oil and pork fat break down especially fast. A shorter cleaning interval is the most effective fix.
What records does the city expect me to keep?
Dated service records showing the volume removed, the condition of the trap and the disposal manifest number, kept on site for at least three years. Our record format covers all of that.
Can you clean my trap before we open for lunch?
Yes. Early morning service before opening is routine on our Peninsula route and there is no surcharge for scheduled off-hours work.
What is the cost of grease trap cleaning in San Mateo?
It depends on the trap size and the amount of waste removed. Small under-sink traps cost less than large interceptors. Call (628) 221-4893 with your trap size for a firm quote.
Do you provide emergency grease trap pumping in San Mateo?
Yes. Emergency pump-outs are dispatched seven days a week, and San Mateo is close enough to our Peninsula base that we can usually arrive within a few hours.
Can you also service our location in Foster City or Burlingame?
Yes. Foster City, Belmont, Burlingame and Hillsborough are all on the same route and can be scheduled together with your San Mateo location.
Do I need a bigger grease trap?
If your trap fills to 25 percent within two or three weeks, it is probably undersized for your fixtures and menu. We measure the unit and the fixture flow during a cleaning and give you a straight answer.
Where does the waste from my trap end up?
It is hauled to a permitted grease receiving facility where the water is treated and the grease is processed. The facility is listed on the manifest we give you.