Howdy!
We have a little house on a busy Texas highway outside of any city or municipal limits. The house is on a septic system.
While the septic system has never given us any trouble it is nevertheless, a modest system. It has two tanks that I estimate to be
400 gallons each. It has a single field line.The kitchen drain is plumbed into the field line. We aspire to convert the house into a drive thru only beverage service.
The main reason for "drive-thru only" is that we deem the septic system too modest for public use.
Among the many health department requirements, are: mop sink(s), hand-wash sink(s), three compartment sink(s); floor drains (for wash water); floor drains for equipment (espresso machines, ice machines), etc.
Another requirement, and perhaps the biggest one, is a grease trap.
Actually, some of the "requirements" I list above are really just "strong recommendations" for my particular location, since it is not within a local jurisdiction. Therefore, authority falls to the State and the State's requirements are, in many cases, much less demanding than those of certain municipalities.
Up to now, even though I've made inquiries with several local plumbers, I have not gotten anybody to even come out and take a look at my project.
Therefore, I wish to post an inquiry to the experienced contributors to this group.
First: I am wondering if it might be a viable plan to install a grease trap and plumb it into the existing field line, perhaps right next to the current kitchen sink drain pipe.
Then, after we've opened and have even a modest income stream, we would install a larger commercial system BEHIND the old system. After it's in we would then "pull the plug" on the old system and plumb the pre-existing grease trap into the new system.
Admittedly, I'm clueless as to whether a grease trap is supposed to feed into a septic tank or field line.
Can anybody tell me if I'm delirious? The local county-wide authorities have given me the nod to open with the existing system. They RECOMMEND a grease trap but do not REQUIRE it.
A secondary question regards the floor drains. Can all floor drains be fed into a common "manifold" drain? Do they require pea traps? I've seen some diagrams of floor drains that make me think they do not have pea traps. I've always understood that the lack of pea traps makes you vulnerable to odors and even radon gas.
Can somebody help me understand the structure of a commercial food service drainage system that is plumbed into a septic field?
Thanks for any and all comments.
Vernon