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GREASE TRAP SEWER LINES · RESTAURANTS · METRO ATLANTA
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or call (678) 863-5620The short answer
Grease trap sewer line repair fixes the pipes that carry kitchen wastewater into and out of a restaurant's grease interceptor, where fats, oils and grease cool, harden and choke the lateral. In metro Atlanta, local FOG ordinances set interceptor size and pumping. Atlanta Water & Sewage Solutions, based in Oxford, GA, excavates and replaces those lines.
Reviewed by Atlanta Water & Sewage Solutions · Last updated
Who does the work
One crew, the whole line
Key facts
Each row links to the agency, code or publisher it comes from. Tap a source to check it yourself.
| Topic | What it says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Newton (NCWSA) interceptor size | 15 gallons per seat, minimum 750 and maximum 3,000 gallons, for all commercial food-preparation users (Sewer Use Rules § 3.5). | NCWSA Rules and Regulations for Sewer Use and Industrial Pretreatment Program (adopted July 18, 2018; rev. April 10, 2019), § 3.5, 2019 |
| Newton (NCWSA) pumping | Quarterly or when food and FOG exceed 25% of volume, whichever is sooner, by an NCWSA-registered grease hauler; manifests kept three years. | NCWSA — F.O.G. commercial brochure |
| Rockdale interceptor size and pumping | 15 gallons per seat (750 minimum, 3,000 maximum); full pump-out at least every 90 days, and outdoor units whenever FOG plus solids reach 25% of liquid depth (Sec. 98-168). | Rockdale County Code, Ch. 98, Art. III, Div. 5 — Sec. 98-168 Sand and oil/grease interceptors (Municode) |
| Monroe interceptor design | Minimum 24-minute retention plus a 20% sludge allowance, two compartments, followed by a sampling manhole; inspected before backfill with 48 hours' notice. | City of Monroe Code of Ordinances, Ch. 98, Art. V — Sanitary Sewer Grease Control (Secs. 98-200–98-208) |
| DeKalb separator trigger | Grease, oil and sand separators are required when wastes carry more than 100 mg/l of fat, oil, grease or sand (Sec. 25-257). | DeKalb County Code Ch. 25, Art. IV, Div. 5 — Sec. 25-257 Separators and interceptors (Municode) |
| Covington cleaning rule | Traps and interceptors must be cleaned by a licensed sewage handler, with the manifest sent to the city's FOG program. | City of Covington — Fats, Oils and Grease Program (FOG) |
| On septic (Georgia DPH) | Grease trap required when grease may exceed 50 mg/l; effluent goes to a septic tank, never straight to the drain field; 125-gallon minimum size. | Georgia DPH Manual for On-Site Sewage Management Systems (March 2026), Section D(18) Grease Traps, 2026 |
Plain definitions
Warning signs
Seeing two or more? Call (678) 863-5620
The whole story
Grease goes down the drain as a liquid. Covington's FOG program puts it plainly: FOG in a liquid form may turn viscous or solid as it cools in the underground sewer, ultimately causing a blockage. A three-compartment sink full of hot dishwater carries grease past the first few feet of pipe with ease. By the time that water reaches a buried lateral in a Georgia winter, it has cooled, and the grease starts to cling to the pipe wall — first as a film, then as a ring, then as a plug that catches food solids and paper.
The interceptor exists to stop that, and the DPH manual explains why placement matters: set close to the kitchen, where the wastewater is still hot, grease flows into the trap before it congeals, then separates as it cools inside. When the interceptor is too small for the flow, gets overdue for pumping or takes a surge, grease escapes through the outlet. The manual notes that surges can agitate the trap and push grease out, and that failing to clean it can lead to grease discharging into the system downstream.
Downstream is where we come in. Grease that gets past the interceptor settles wherever the line is weakest: a belly where the pipe has sagged, an offset joint, a root-cracked section of old clay pipe, a tee that was never set right. Madison's utility warns that grease hardens in sewer pipes and causes sanitary sewer overflows; that is exactly what a partly collapsed or sagging lateral makes worse. A plug can be cleared, but if the pipe itself holds grease because of its shape, the plug comes back.
On a restaurant lot, the fix is usually under asphalt: the building sewer out of the kitchen, the inlet and outlet runs at the interceptor, the sampling manhole and the lateral to the utility's connection. Having one crew find the bad section, dig it, replace the pipe and fittings, call the inspection and backfill under the paving means the kitchen isn't waiting on four different trades to line up.
Your options
OPTION 01
When it fits: The pipe is intact and correctly graded; the problem is grease buildup from an overdue or undersized interceptor.
Line cleaning (including jetting) is usually handled by a drain-cleaning or grease-service contractor; we'll tell you honestly when that is all you need.
OPTION 02
When it fits: One section is broken, offset or bellied — often right at the interceptor inlet or outlet, or where the lateral crosses a drive lane.
OPTION 03
When it fits: Old clay or cast iron with several defects, or a line that was graded wrong from the start.
Trenchless methods exist for some lines; if one fits your site we'll talk it through, but on these pages what we describe is dig-and-replace.
OPTION 04
When it fits: Cracked tees, missing baffles at the pipe connection, or an interceptor being upsized to meet the current ordinance.
Permits & the Georgia rules
Find out which utility's ordinance applies — the city (Covington, Monroe) or the county authority (NCWSA, Rockdale, DeKalb, Gwinnett) that owns the sewer your lateral connects to.↗
Size the interceptor to that ordinance: 15 gallons per seat (750–3,000) under NCWSA and Rockdale rules; 24-minute retention plus 20% sludge allowance, two compartments and a sampling manhole in Monroe.↗
Get the unit approved before it goes in; Covington and DeKalb both require approved interceptors located for easy inspection.↗
Schedule the utility's inspection before backfill — Monroe asks for 48 hours' notice and withholds the certificate of occupancy until the final inspection.↗
Keep pumping records: NCWSA wants manifests kept three years; Rockdale wants them within 14 days of pumping plus a 12-month log on site.↗
On septic, submit grease trap plans to the county board of health for approval and route the trap's effluent to the septic tank.↗
Georgia rule 511-3-1-.12(1)
“Grease traps shall be required for commercial or industrial establishments with on-site sewage management systems”
Georgia rule 511-3-1-.12(2)
“Effluent from grease traps shall be disposed of in a septic tank and not directly discharged to the absorption field.”
Georgia rule Covington FOG Program
“FOG in a liquid form may turn viscous or solid as it cools in the underground sewer, ultimately causing a blockage.”
Georgia rule Gwinnett DWR FOG
“The FOG ordinance outlines steps restaurants and food service establishments must take to keep FOG out of the County's system.”
Sewer Use Rules § 3.5 set interceptor maintenance monthly, quarterly or semiannually depending on customers served, or before solids plus grease exceed 20% of volume; NCWSA's FOG brochure says quarterly or at 25%, whichever is sooner. Drain screens, waste-grease bins and sink signage are also required.↗
Code § 13.24.030(B)(4) requires interceptors where the superintendent deems them necessary for excessive grease, oil or sand; the user inspects, cleans and repairs them at their own expense.↗
Monroe's grease control article requires every permitted food service establishment on city sewer to have an approved interceptor, allows only full pump-outs (no skimming), and brings existing sites into compliance when plumbing work reaches $20,000 or more.↗
Sec. 98-168 says enzyme or bacteria additives cannot substitute for pumping. In October 2025 Rockdale Water Resources launched a FOG compliance application for haulers to report pump-outs.↗
Food service establishments on DeKalb sewer must take part in the county's FOG program, and compliance inspectors routinely inspect grease interceptors and related equipment.↗
Gwinnett's FOG ordinance reaches beyond restaurants to daycares, assisted living facilities, schools, hotels and hospitals with commercial kitchens, and county inspectors check compliance.↗
Worth knowing
Rural restaurants, church kitchens and school cafeterias on septic answer to the county board of health, not a sewer utility. Rule 511-3-1-.12 requires a grease trap when the county expects grease above 50 mg/l, and the DPH manual says that mostly means kitchen wastewater from cafeterias, restaurants, hospitals, schools and other institutions. The trap is an outside tank, built much like a septic tank, that sits between the kitchen and the septic tank.
The manual gives the sizing formula: seats × 25 gallons per seat × (hours open ÷ 12) × a loading factor based on location. Its own example — a 75-seat restaurant open 12 hours on a main highway — comes to 1,875 gallons. For hospitals, nursing homes and other kitchens with varied seating it uses meals per day × 5 gallons per meal × a dishwashing factor. The minimum is 125 gallons.
Two plumbing details matter for the lines we dig. Restroom waste should not go through the grease trap, and garbage-grinder waste should not either, because the extra solids upset it. So a septic-served kitchen usually has two building sewers: kitchen to grease trap to septic tank, and restrooms straight to the septic tank. The manual also says inlet and outlet fittings are tees reaching 12 inches from the tank floor and well above the water line, with access brought to grade.
Grease that escapes to the tank does not stop there. The manual warns that commercial effluent such as a restaurant's can clog the drain field faster than household effluent, and Rule .03(1)(c) requires pretreatment when BOD5 and TSS exceed 200 mg/L. As a DPH-certified septic installer, we can take the line, the tank connection and the drain field as one job; the pumping itself stays with your hauler.
Rural restaurants, church kitchens and school cafeterias on septic answer to the county board of health, not a sewer utility.
How the job runs
We locate the interceptor, cleanouts, sampling manhole and the route to the street, and ask for your last few pump-out manifests. The dates tell us whether the grease is a maintenance problem or a pipe problem.
Before anyone cuts into a line tied to the interceptor, your grease hauler or pumping contractor empties it. We'll schedule the dig for right after the pump-out.
Once the line is cleared, a camera inspection shows breaks, bellies and offset joints and where they are, so the trench goes in the right place.
New or replaced interceptors and connections need the utility's approval under the local ordinance; on septic, grease trap plans go to the county board of health. We handle the permit paperwork.
City of Monroe Code of Ordinances, Ch. 98, Art. IV — Sewer Use
Saw-cut the paving, dig to the pipe, and replace the damaged section, the inlet or outlet tees, or the full building sewer at proper grade — including excavation for a new or upsized interceptor.
The utility or county inspects the open work. Monroe, for one, requires 48 hours' notice; on septic, Rule .03(4) bars backfill until the county's final inspection.
511-3-1-.03(4)Georgia DPH Rules Chapter 511-3-1, On-Site Sewage Management Systems (Jan 2016)
Compacted backfill under the drive lane, paving restored, and cleanouts left where your hauler and plumber can reach them.
Who owns what
NCWSA (unincorporated Newton)
Since March 1, 2021, customers pay to clear blockages in the building sewer from the building through the tap at the main.↗
Where the line sits: Tap at the main sewer
City of Covington
Customers maintain and keep clean the sewer pipes from their plumbing to the city street line or the city sewer main, whichever is nearer.↗
Where the line sits: Street line or main, whichever is nearer
Rockdale County
The customer owns the line from the right-of-way to the building, plus the cleanout at the right-of-way limit.↗
Where the line sits: Street right-of-way
Gwinnett County DWR
The owner owns the entire private lateral to the connection with the county system in the right-of-way, including that connection.↗
Where the line sits: Right-of-way connection
Homes & businesses
Residential
Grease ordinances exempt private homes — DeKalb's separator rule excludes private living quarters, and Covington's interceptor rule does not apply to residential users. Household grease still clogs laterals, which is why utilities tell you to can it and trash it.
Commercial
Food service establishments must install, size, pump and document an interceptor to the local ordinance, and the utility inspects it. The lines on either side of it are the owner's to keep working.
What it costs
Grease interceptor installation, 750–1,500 gallons
$4,000–$8,500
per installation
Examples from a Tampa, FL utility FAQ as compiled by Grease Trap Locator; the source says no single total covers every property.
Typical market range — Grease Trap Locator — Grease Trap Installation Cost (updated August 8, 2026), 2026
Small grease trap installation
$250–$1,500
per installation
Typical market range — Grease Trap Locator — Grease Trap Installation Cost (updated August 8, 2026), 2026
Sewer line repair
$150–$3,800
per repair, depending on method
Typical market range — HomeGuide — How Much Does Sewer Line Replacement Cost? (2026), 2026
Sewer line replacement, 40 linear feet
$2,000–$10,000
per job ($50–$250 per linear foot)
Typical market range — HomeGuide — How Much Does Sewer Line Replacement Cost? (2026), 2026
Sewer line replacement, Atlanta
$672–$2,308
per job (average $1,432)
Typical market range — Angi — How Much Does Sewer Line Replacement Cost in Atlanta, GA?, 2026
These are published third-party market ranges, not our prices. We give free on-site estimates.
Free estimate: (678) 863-5620FAQ
Straight answers, with the rule or record behind them. Still unsure? Call and ask the crew that digs.
(678) 863-5620If backups return soon after a pump-out, the problem is usually the pipe, not the trap: a belly, offset joint or broken section downstream of the interceptor that catches the grease that gets past it. Clearing the line and running a camera through it shows where. A pipe that holds grease because of its shape needs repair, not more pumping.
NCWSA and Rockdale County both size interceptors for commercial food-preparation users at 15 gallons per seat, with a 750-gallon minimum and a 3,000-gallon maximum. A 60-seat dining room works out to 900 gallons. Under-the-counter units are allowed only in limited cases under NCWSA's rules.
It depends on the utility. NCWSA's FOG brochure says quarterly or when food and FOG exceed 25% of volume, whichever is sooner. Rockdale requires a full pump-out at least every 90 days. Monroe allows only full pump-outs, not skimming. Your registered grease hauler handles the pumping and the manifest.
No — this page covers the lines, not the pumping. Your grease hauler or pumping contractor empties the interceptor and files the manifest. We excavate, repair and replace the building sewer, the interceptor's inlet and outlet connections and the lateral to the street, and we coordinate the dig with your hauler's pump-out.
Not in Rockdale County: Sec. 98-168 says enzyme or bacteria additives cannot substitute for pumping. On septic, Georgia DPH's separate advisory on septic additives discourages relying on them too. Pumping on the ordinance's schedule is what keeps grease out of the lateral.
Yes, when the county board of health determines grease may exceed 50 mg/l, which Rule 511-3-1-.12 ties to commercial and industrial establishments. The trap's effluent must go to the septic tank, not the drain field. The DPH manual sets a 125-gallon minimum and sizes restaurants at 25 gallons per seat.
Source: Georgia DPH Rules Chapter 511-3-1, On-Site Sewage Management Systems (Jan 2016)
In Monroe it can: the grease control article brings existing food service sites into compliance when plumbing work reaches $20,000 or more. Other utilities apply their own triggers when a building changes use or adds seats, so check with the sewer utility before you finalize the kitchen plans.
The property owner, in every metro utility we cover here. NCWSA puts the owner's responsibility all the way to the tap at the main, Covington to the street line or main, and Rockdale and Gwinnett to the right-of-way. Between a landlord and a restaurant tenant, the lease decides.
Source: NCWSA — Notice of Policy Change: Maintenance of Sewer Service Laterals (July 14, 2021)
Keep going
Sources
Rules, costs and local facts on this page link to the agency, code or publisher that states them. Cost figures are third-party market ranges, not our prices — estimates are free.
Reviewed by Atlanta Water & Sewage Solutions · Last updated
Ready when you are
Grease that leaves the kitchen hot turns to paste in a cold lateral, and local ordinances decide how your interceptor is sized, pumped and inspected. We excavate, repair and replace the lines into and out of it — the building sewer, the tees, the connection to the street.
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