Restaurant Plumbing in Phoenix

An interceptor citation traces back to baffles, lids, or pumping.

We inspect the interceptor and repair broken baffles, cracked lids, and failed fittings. If it only needs pumping, that is your licensed pumper's job and not a service we offer, but we work alongside your pumper, so a repair can happen while the lids are already off.

Chapter 28 paperwork: three years, kept on site.

Phoenix requires records of every cleaning, the volume of waste removed, the device's capacity, disposal, repairs and replacement, kept at the restaurant for three years. Our invoice for an interceptor repair belongs in that same file.

Indirect waste: the one-inch gap at the drain.

Maricopa County's plan review rules require the three-compartment sink's drain to be indirectly plumbed with at least a 1-inch air gap where the layout allows. The fix is re-piping the sink's waste so it drops through that gap into the existing floor sink or receptor, and that re-piping is work we do.

Phoenix's sewer code names carwashes, auto repair shops and service stations among the businesses that must run interceptors when the city decides they need one. The 25 percent limit includes sand, sludge, and solids, along with grease, and a gravity interceptor outside food service still requires a full pump-out at least every 12 months.

A heater that runs out mid-service, a dish machine flagging its rinse temperature or a hand sink that won't warm up is a hot-water question. Our commercial water heater page covers how the County sizes kitchen heaters and what each sink has to deliver.

Phoenix City Code Chapter 28 sets the pumping schedule. A gravity interceptor at a food service establishment must be fully pumped and cleaned at least every three months unless the city grants a variance, and before settled grease and solids reach 25 percent of its liquid capacity. Smaller mechanical units, the kind that sit in the kitchen, need it every 30 days and can go no more than 90.

Phoenix's plumbing code requires a grease interceptor or an automatic grease removal device on drains from grease-laden fixtures in food prep areas, including pot sinks, pre-rinse sinks, wok stations, kettle drains, and automatic hood wash units.

Chapter 28 requires interceptors to be built of impervious, watertight material, with covers that come off easily; where bolted covers are required, they must be gastight and watertight. A cracked or warped lid can fail that rule even when the tank below is fine.

The same chapter requires interceptors to sit free of obstructions and be easy to reach for cleaning and inspection. A shelf, a keg cooler or a stack of pallets over the lids is a problem before anyone opens them, so clearing that space is the simplest fix on the list.

This is the one that catches owners by surprise. Phoenix's sewer code says food truck wastewater has to be discharged at an approved commissary, and only an establishment with a City-approved pretreatment device can be approved as one unless the city grants a variance. Your interceptor is therefore part of that approval, and its condition and its records decide whether the side business is open to you at all. If renting the kitchen is on your mind, get the interceptor and the Chapter 28 file straight first.