615 Septic Tank Pumping

Grease Trap Cleaning in Nashville, TN

Scheduled grease trap and interceptor service on the frequency Metro Water Services actually requires, with the manifests your file needs.

Call (615) 234-9048 Estimate the cost

from $225

$175–$450 for under-sink and small traps; larger in-ground interceptors quoted by capacity

Grease Trap Cleaning in Nashville, TN
  • Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0400-48-01-.20 governs septic pumping contractors
  • Davidson County administers its own septic program as a TDEC contract county
  • Tennessee guidance: pump every 3–5 years
  • Grease traps serviced every 30 days · interceptors every 90
  • Sludge and scum depth recorded on every visit

Last updated: August 31, 2026

615 Septic Tank Pumping is a septic tank pumping company serving Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee, and grease trap cleaning is one of the services it provides across the county. Scheduled grease trap and interceptor service on the frequency Metro Water Services actually requires, with the manifests your file needs.

When people call us about this

These are the situations that bring most grease trap cleaning calls in:

  • Approaching or past the 30-day trap or 90-day interceptor interval
  • FOG and solids near 25% of unit capacity
  • Slow kitchen drains or odour in the kitchen
  • An inspection due with gaps in your service records
  • Under-sink trap more than half full at weekly check

What is included

Every grease trap cleaning job includes all of the following. Nothing on this list is an upsell presented once we are on site.

  • Service on the interval Metro Water Services requires for your unit type
  • Full pump-out of FOG, water and settled solids
  • Baffle and flow-control fitting checked and cleared
  • FOG and solids measured against the 25% rule threshold
  • Certified hauler manifest issued for every service
  • Records kept in a form that satisfies three-year retention
  • Frequency reviewed against your actual FOG production, not the minimum
  • Advice on kitchen practice where a unit is filling faster than it should

What it costs, and what moves the price

Priced by unit capacity and service frequency. Kitchens producing heavy FOG need service more often than the regulatory minimum to stay under the 25% threshold.

The published range for this service is $175–$450 for under-sink and small traps; larger in-ground interceptors quoted by capacity. We give you a band before we come out and a firm number before we do anything that changes it. If you want a figure right now without talking to anyone, the cost estimator takes three questions.

How grease trap cleaning runs, start to finish

  1. 01

    Identify the unit and the rule that applies

    A small under-sink grease trap and a large in-ground interceptor carry different minimum intervals — 30 days and 90 days respectively. Getting that wrong is the most common compliance failure we see.

  2. 02

    Service on schedule

    The unit is fully pumped, not skimmed. Skimming the floating layer and leaving settled solids is what turns a compliant trap into a failed inspection.

  3. 03

    Measure against the 25% rule

    The binding requirement is not just the calendar: a unit must be cleaned when FOG plus settled solids reach 25% of capacity. We measure, so you find out before an inspector does.

  4. 04

    Manifest and file

    Every service produces a certified hauler manifest. Metro requires manifest use and three-year retention, so the paperwork is the deliverable as much as the clean trap.

Doing it yourself, hiring cheap, and doing it properly

The difference between a cheap pump-out and a proper one is not the truck. It is whether anybody looked inside the tank while it was empty.

  Doing it yourself Cheapest quote Done properly
Solids actually removed Surface liquid only — no way to remove settled sludge Liquid draw-down; tank looks emptied, sludge stays Liquid, scum and sludge pumped, then backflushed
Baffles inspected Not visible without emptying the tank Rarely — the tank is not pumped down far enough to see them Both baffles inspected while the tank is empty, and reported
Effluent filter Usually not known to exist Left alone Removed, rinsed back into the tank, inspected, replaced if split
Interval set by Guesswork or a number off the internet A flat three years for every customer Measured sludge and scum depth against your tank capacity
Disposal of septage No lawful route for a homeowner Varies — ask where it goes Licensed disposal under Tennessee pumping contractor rules
What it costs Nothing up front Slightly less than proper $300–$525 typical
What it risks Solids reach the drain field. Field replacement $7,000–$15,000+ Same failure, delayed. The field pays for the saving The field is what you are protecting

Worth reading before you book

Rules & Permits

How often must a grease trap be cleaned in Nashville?

The minimums, the rule that overrides them, and the paperwork an inspector will ask for.

Rules & Permits

What is the 25% rule for grease traps?

The requirement that decides compliance, and the one most kitchens are measuring against incorrectly.

Need grease trap cleaning in Nashville?

Call for a price, or use the estimator if you would rather not talk to anyone yet.

Call (615) 234-9048 Get a price

Grease Trap Cleaning — questions people ask

How often must a grease trap be cleaned in Nashville?

Metro Water Services requires grease traps — typically smaller under-sink units — to be serviced at least every 30 days, and grease interceptors, the larger often-underground units, at least every 90 days. Those are minimums, not targets: the binding rule is the 25% threshold below.

What is the 25% rule?

You are required to have the unit cleaned when the combined volume of FOG and settled solids reaches 25% of the unit's capacity, whichever comes first against the calendar minimum. High-volume kitchens — fried chicken, fish, large quantities of rice or pasta — routinely hit 25% well before the 30 or 90 day mark and need more frequent service.

How long do I have to keep grease service records?

Three years. Metro Water Services enforces certified hauler manifest use and three-year record retention as part of its FOG program, alongside interceptor installation and routine maintenance requirements. We issue a manifest on every visit so the file builds itself.

How often should an under-sink trap be checked?

Weekly. Under-sink units should be cleaned weekly, and if yours is more than half full at the weekly check, the cleaning frequency needs to increase. Waiting for the 30-day minimum on a unit that fills in ten days is how kitchens end up with a blocked line mid-service.

How do you price the work, and will the price change once you are here?

You get a range before we come out, based on your tank size and how buried the lids are. Tennessee pumping runs $275–$525 and Davidson County figures span $199–$796, so the honest answer is that access and capacity move it. If we open the tank and find something that changes the job — compacted sludge needing a clean, a corroded baffle, a split effluent filter — we tell you what it costs and let you decide before we do it. We do not do the work and present the bill afterwards.

Related services

Commercial Septic Pumping

Scheduled pumping for businesses on septic — offices, churches, daycares, campgrounds and rural commercial premises — routed outside your operating hours.

Septic Tank Inspection

A documented assessment of tank, baffles, filter and field condition — for owners who want to know where they stand rather than wait for a symptom.

Residential Septic Tank Pumping

Scheduled pumping for Davidson County homes, with the tank opened, both baffles checked and the sludge and scum depths recorded before we leave.

Call (615) 234-9048 — a person answers