# Restaurant Grease Trap Compliance: FOG Rules Explained > How grease trap sizing and pump-out intervals are actually set, what the 25 percent rule means in practice, and how restaurant operators pass FOG inspections. [Home](https://greatheronplumbing.com/)[Blog](https://greatheronplumbing.com/blog/) Grease trap compliance Commercial plumbing # Grease Trap Compliance for Restaurant Operators: Sizing, Pump-Outs, and FOG Rules Restaurant grease trap compliance runs on three layers of rules that most operators have never seen separated: a Florida statute that governs who may pump your trap and what paperwork proves it, a local pretreatment program that sets what you are actually inspected against, and a family of industry benchmarks on timing and trap depth that everyone quotes and few attribute. This guide walks all three layers for a Collier County kitchen, and ends with the one habit that decides most inspections: the records. Jamie Kloncz Published August 24, 2026 FOG stands for fats, oils, and grease, and a grease trap or interceptor is the tank that separates them from kitchen wastewater before it reaches the sewer. Collier County is blunt about why: FOG poured down drains "sticks to the inside of sewer pipes," and the buildup "restricts wastewater flow, eventually causing blockages" that back sewage up into buildings ([Collier County, 2026](https://www.collier.gov/Resident-Resources/Water-Services/Wastewater/FOG-Fat-Oil-and-Grease)). Compliance is the system of sizing, pump-outs, and paperwork that keeps your trap from becoming the county's problem. ON THIS PAGE - [Three layers of rules, and which one binds you](#three-layers-of-rules-and-which-one-binds-you) - [How grease trap sizing is actually set](#how-grease-trap-sizing-is-actually-set) - [Pump-out intervals and the twenty-five percent rule](#pump-out-intervals-and-the-twenty-five-percent-rule) - [The hauler rules that changed, and the scam they outlaw](#the-hauler-rules-that-changed-and-the-scam-they-outlaw) - [The records that save you](#the-records-that-save-you) ## Three layers of rules, and which one binds you Florida sets the floor by statute: grease waste handling and disposal are governed by Section 403.0741, administered with Chapter 62-705 of the Florida Administrative Code ([FDEP, 2026](https://floridadep.gov/waste/permitting-compliance-assistance/content/grease-waste)). The binding local layer in Collier County is the Industrial Pretreatment Program, whose stated goal is "to reduce the amount of FOG entering the sewer collection system" ([Collier County, 2026](https://www.collier.gov/Resident-Resources/Water-Services/Wastewater/FOG-Fat-Oil-and-Grease)). The layering matters because each layer answers a different question. The statute answers who may pump your trap, where the waste may go, and what documents must exist. The local program answers what your specific kitchen is inspected against. Industry benchmarks answer neither; they are planning guidance until your local authority adopts them. Collier County's FOG page publishes practices and a phone number rather than intervals, and that is the honest structure of the system: the binding local answer for your kitchen comes from the Pretreatment Program office itself, at 239-252-8607 or PreTreatment@collier.gov ([Collier County, 2026](https://www.collier.gov/Resident-Resources/Water-Services/Wastewater/FOG-Fat-Oil-and-Grease)). Call with your trap size in hand; the sections below explain what they will be talking about. ## How grease trap sizing is actually set Sizing is a permit-time engineering decision, not an operator choice: Florida's plumbing code sizes interceptors from the fixtures and flow that drain to them, and the calculation is run when the kitchen is permitted or remodeled. Operators inherit the number. What an operator controls is whether the trap installed decades ago still matches the menu running today. That drift is the practical sizing problem. A trap sized for a sandwich shop does not fit the fryer line that moved in later, and an undersized trap fills to its working limit faster than any schedule assumes. The symptoms are familiar: odors, slow floor drains, a trap that is visibly full weeks after a pump-out. The honest fixes run in order: pump more often, confirm the trap's actual size and condition against what the kitchen now sends it, and only then talk about replacement. A sizing conversation that starts from measurements, your interceptor's capacity and your service records, is short. One that starts from a backup is expensive. The interceptor access lid in a service yard. The service interval is set by the local authority having jurisdiction, not by a national rule of thumb. ## Pump-out intervals and the twenty-five percent rule The industry benchmark family: pump at least every 90 days, or sooner when grease and solids reach 25 percent of the trap's depth, whichever comes first ([Grease Connections, 2026](https://greaseconnections.com/resources/compliance/fl/)). That guide presents the benchmark as statewide plumbing-code practice; another is explicit that the binding backstop and inspection frequency are set by the local FOG ordinance, not state law ([Grease Trap Locator FOG, 2026](https://greasetraplocator.com/regulations/florida/)). Both sources agree on the operative point: the local authority's number is the one you are inspected against, and in Collier County that answer comes from the Industrial Pretreatment Program ([Collier County, 2026](https://www.collier.gov/Resident-Resources/Water-Services/Wastewater/FOG-Fat-Oil-and-Grease)). Treat the benchmarks as the planning defaults they are, and your program's answer as the rule. The depth trigger, pumping when grease and solids reach 25 percent of trap depth ([Grease Connections, 2026](https://greaseconnections.com/resources/compliance/fl/)), is the one worth internalizing, because it scales with your kitchen while the calendar does not. A high-volume fry operation can hit that depth in weeks. Measuring is simple: your hauler records grease and solids depth at each service, which is one more reason the manifest section below is the heart of this article. ## The hauler rules that changed, and the scam they outlaw Under Section 403.0741, a hauler "must dispose of the grease waste at a disposal facility" and may not return grease waste or graywater to your trap ([Florida Legislature, 2026](http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0400-0499/0403/Sections/0403.0741.html)). Grease haulers are licensed under the state program, and food service establishments are expected to use licensed haulers for interceptor cleanings ([FDEP, 2026](https://floridadep.gov/waste/permitting-compliance-assistance/content/grease-waste)). The return ban outlaws a specific cheap-service scam: pumping the trap, skimming the sellable grease, and quietly discharging the graywater back in. The trap reads as serviced, the invoice is real, and the interceptor is still mostly full. If a quote is dramatically below every other quote in town, this is often where the discount comes from. The statute also puts inspection teeth behind the paperwork: the department "shall periodically inspect the service manifests retained by a hauler" ([Florida Legislature, 2026](http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0400-0499/0403/Sections/0403.0741.html)). Verifying that your hauler is licensed and that a manifest follows every service is not bureaucracy; it is the cheapest insurance in your compliance stack. ## The records that save you Every pump-out must generate a service manifest documenting removal and disposal, and "a copy of the signed completed service manifest must be retained onsite by the originator and the hauler for 1 year" ([Florida Legislature, 2026](http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0400-0499/0403/Sections/0403.0741.html)). The originator is you: the statute names food service establishments, from restaurants and commercial kitchens to hotels and school kitchens, as the responsible party. Build the file an inspector hopes to see: manifests in date order, grease depth readings per service, the hauler's license information, and a one-page log of staff scraping and dry-wiping practices. An operator who can produce that binder in ninety seconds has answered most inspection questions before they are asked. The habit also protects you commercially. Manifests prove service frequency when a sewer blockage near your lateral raises questions, and depth readings are the data that justify a longer interval if your kitchen genuinely runs clean. Records are how a compliance cost becomes a negotiating position. FREQUENTLY ASKED ## This article, answered The questions readers ask about this topic, answered the way an answer engine would. **No forms, no sales pitch.** JAMIE KLONCZ · GREAT HERON PLUMBING ************** ONLINE Pick a question on the left, or search above. You will get the direct answer, the way an answer engine would give it. ← PREV NEXT → [Get a plumbing quote](#contact) SOURCES - [Section 403.0741, Florida Statutes: Grease Waste Removal and Disposal — Florida Legislature](http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0400-0499/0403/Sections/0403.0741.html) - [Grease Waste — Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP)](https://floridadep.gov/waste/permitting-compliance-assistance/content/grease-waste) - [FOG - Fat, Oil and Grease Program — Collier County Public Utilities](https://www.collier.gov/Resident-Resources/Water-Services/Wastewater/FOG-Fat-Oil-and-Grease) - [Florida Grease Compliance: 90-Day Rule & County Fees — Grease Connections](https://greaseconnections.com/resources/compliance/fl/) - [Florida Grease Trap Regulations 2026: FOG Rules & City Fines — Grease Trap Locator](https://greasetraplocator.com/regulations/florida/) PUBLISHED August 24, 2026 · WRITTEN BY JAMIE KLONCZ, FOUNDER · GREAT HERON PLUMBING KEEP READING [Grease trap services →](https://greatheronplumbing.com/grease-trap-services/)[Restaurant plumbing →](https://greatheronplumbing.com/restaurant-plumbing/)[Commercial drain cleaning →](https://greatheronplumbing.com/commercial-drain-cleaning/)[Hydro jetting →](https://greatheronplumbing.com/hydro-jetting/) Naples and Collier County ## Where we work All areas Communities Beach & Coast × ### The interactive map is not loading right now. The areas it covers: - **Naples** (Core market) — The center of the service area. Every service page is written for Naples first. - **North Naples** (Condo and HOA) — Planned communities and stacked buildings, where a pipe may belong to the association rather than the unit. - **Golden Gate** (Septic and sewer) — Sold in 1960 with no public utilities. Some properties are on county sewer, some still on their own tank. - **Pine Ridge** (Acreage lots) — One to three acre lots from the 1960s, which puts a long private lateral between the house and the main. - **Lely Resort** (Post-2000) — Built out after 2000, past both the cast iron and the polybutylene eras. - **Naples Park** (Pre-1972) — Streets paved in the late 1950s, squarely inside the window when cast iron was standard. - **Marco Island** (Coastal, 1965 on) — Opened in 1965 and built across the material boundary, so the build phase decides the pipe. - **Bonita Springs** (Lee County) — Grown in the 1980s and 90s. Young enough that pipe age is rarely the fault. Contact ## Tell us what is happening The more you can say about the property — the neighborhood, roughly when it was built, and what it is connected to — the more useful the first answer will be. [Call (239) 404-8590](tel:+12394048590) Know what you need? [Pick a time online](https://greatheronplumbing.com/book/) and see what we actually have free. What kind of property? Residential A house, condo or townhome you live in or own Commercial A restaurant, retail unit, office or other business premises Property management or HOA A managed portfolio, association or rental New construction or remodel Work on a build, addition or renovation What do you need? General repairs — tap, toilet, disposal, something not working Drain cleaning or a blockage A leak, slab leak, or water I cannot find the source of Water heater — repair, replacement or tankless Repiping or polybutylene replacement Sewer line repair or camera inspection Hard water, treatment or filtration Shower, tub, remodel or new construction Commercial drains, grease trap or interceptor Restaurant or food service plumbing Booster pump or lift station Commercial water heater Something else, or I am not sure what it is How urgent is it? Emergency Water is running, or there is no water at all Soon It is a problem, but it can wait a day or two Planning Quoting work, buying a property, or budgeting Your name Phone Email (optional) Neighborhood or address What is happening? Company website Send this to Great Heron What you send goes to Great Heron Plumbing so somebody can answer it. It is not used for anything else. See the [privacy notice](https://greatheronplumbing.com/privacy/).