My residential building has a catch basin where all of the kitchen sinks drain into (outside of the building). This is where all of the grease accumulates so that it doesn't go into the sewer line. I've been cleaning this out periodically with a bucket attached to a broomstick. I drilled a bunch of holes to let the water drain out of the bucket and I'm able to lift the grease chunks out little by little. It never fullly cleans it out, but this method has worked very well for the past few years as long as I stay on top of it (once every 3 months or so) but I'd prefer to give the catch basin a very thorough cleaning once every 6 months, or even longer if possible. If I can spend 10-15 more minutes doing this and not have to do it as often, that would be amazing. I could then do it at the end of the summer and not have to do it again until the spring.My plan is to fully drain all of the water out of the catch basin and get as much grease out as possible. I've thought about buying a sump pump, but if I can manage to do this with a cheaper alternative such as some sort of transfer pump, that would be preferred. Any ideas? Is there a chemical I can add that would be safe for my drain? I'm in Chicago and the building (multi-family) is 100+ years old. I have no idea what the sewer is made out of, but if I had to guess it is either clay or iron so would want something that is safe for that too.Thanks! via /r/DIY https://ift.tt/2sGoPsE
