Public Utilities - Water Pollution Control

Grease Program

The grease program is governed under the City of Clearwater ordinance No. 7090-03. The purpose of the program is to regulate grease traps and interceptors at Food Service facilities throughout the city. Under the ordinance, any facility deemed to be a Food Service Facility is required to install and maintain either a grease trap or interceptor. The need is determined by the city representative of the program, and the size needed is to be determined by a plumbing official.

The program was established to provide universal maintenance and monitoring requirements for controlling the discharge of grease from Food Service Facility discharging into the city's wastewater collection system. This will help in aiding to curb SSOs (Sanitary Sewer Overflows) and grease from backing up the sewer lines and drains, causing blockages and disruption in services.

The Grease program is a continuous monitoring program that requires the Food Service Facility to maintain their grease waste interceptors and provide monitoring information to the City of Clearwater.

Regulation is enforced through paperwork correspondence and periodic inspections. Food Service Facilities must fill out/submit:

• Registration
• Grease Waste Interceptor Maintenance Report
• Pumping Log

The City of Clearwater representative, who performs inspections, determines interceptor need, sets pumping schedules and cleaning frequencies, issues warnings, and Notice of Violations, carries out enforcement of compliance to the program. Further compliance is enforced through the City of Clearwater Code Enforcement Department and/or Pinellas County Court System.

The grease management program uses grease judges to determine the grease content of the Grease Waster Interceptors. Food Service Facilities are required to keep interceptor levels below 6" on the top and/or 8" on the bottom. This picture indicates a violation of both criteria that would result in immediate pump out.

Contact Information:
Address: 1605 Harbor Dr., Clearwater, FL 33755
Phone: (727) 462-6660
Fax: (727) 462-6349