Residential Grease Trap - Abandon in Place?

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Alex Schieber

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Hey All,

I recently bought an old (nearly 100 years) home in Denver, and have recently had some water leakage near my back patio when the dishwasher runs or when the sink runs for longer than 30 seconds. After having some folks out to look at it, we have diagnosed the problem as an overflowing grease trap.

I had one company come out for an estimate and they said we would be looking at around $15,000 to dig up the trap, remove it, and add new piping where the trap was. Seems very excessive to me, considering where the water is coming form is a gravel area near the patio, so no cutting of concrete should be involved. I have talked to a few other companies in the area and am getting estimates of about $1,000 to $1,500 to simply bypass around the grease trap and leave it in place.

My question is, are there any long term problems that I could run into by not removing the trap? It is buried below grade, so it is out of sight; and (for now at least) there are no odors coming from it, so it would be out of mind as well. Just wanting to make sure that I am not setting myself up for a catastrophe down the road.

Thanks!
 

Terry

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Or you could throw some Bio-Clean down it and see it it clears up. Then your're only into it for $50

If you choose to abandon it, fill it in with sand after the main line has been rerouted.
 

WJcandee

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Or you could throw some Bio-Clean down it and see it it clears up. Then your're only into it for $50

If you choose to abandon it, fill it in with sand after the main line has been rerouted.

Our jurisdiction wouldn't let you abandon it without pumping it dry and filling it in (or preferably caving it in).

Are you sure that it's only receiving greywater and that it's really a grease trap and not an original septic tank? (I don't know how long you have had sewers in your area.) We have a 100+ year old house, too, and I was surprised to find an ancient brick cesspool (not septic tank, cesspool) on our property that nobody had realized was there; it never caused a problem because it was only connected to a rarely-used toilet/shower and bath sink. We ended up having to cave it in, fill the area, and run a zillion feet of pipe to tie those fixtures into our septic system ($$) when we replaced the septic system.

I would take Terry's suggestion and see if you can't free up what's in there (assuming that it's grease).
 

Alex Schieber

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Thanks for the responses, all.
I am going to have someone come pump it after it is bypassed, then I will fill it with sand before I re-bury it. We just moved in about 3 months ago, and the house was flipped over an 8 month period prior to us moving in. Before that an elderly gentleman lived in the house for at least 20 years, and I believe he kind of stop taking care of things. So I am assuming whatever is in the trap now has been there for a while.

I am 99% sure it is a grease trap, as it only takes the water from our kitchen sink and dishwasher; and a few of my neighbors have indicated that a majority of the houses on the block had grease traps installed. Also, the remainder of the plumbing items in the house drain to a clay line out the back that connects to the city sewer in the alley.
 

Reach4

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I would consider getting as much clay as practical changed out to PVC while you are doing the sewer work. At least add a new outside cleanout or two.
 
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