West Sussex · Grease trap cleaning
Grease trap cleaning in Colgate, West Sussex
Professional grease trap cleaning in and around Colgate, timed so the site keeps working and finished with a written report and photos.
- An overdue grease trap
- Drains that gurgle and bubble
- Washing-up water that will not drain away
How we handle grease trap cleaning in Colgate
A grease trap catches fats, oils and grease from the kitchen sinks before they reach the drain. As the waste water cools, the grease floats and stays in the trap, and clean water flows on. Eventually it fills and needs emptying and cleaning. Typical jobs include a bad smell from the sinks or drains and a small trap that fills too quickly, on kitchen waste pipes, restaurants and takeaways and pot wash sinks.
Rural kitchens may drain to a septic tank or a private drain rather than straight into a public sewer, so keeping fat out with a working grease trap matters even more.
The sign-off is always in writing: a written report, dated and illustrated with photos, and for TR19® Grease cleans, a certificate issued through the BESCA VHE portal. Any parts we couldn’t reach are recorded on it too.
- Location
- Colgate (RH13, RH12)
- Region
- West Sussex
- Records
- Written report with pictures
- Price
- Fixed quote, usually within a working day
- Working hours
- Nights, weekends or holidays to suit you
- Call
- 0345 646 2711
- Reviewed
- 30 October 2026
For landlords and multi-site operators
If you look after several sites, we can plan visits across the whole estate and price them together. Each site gets its own report and pictures, so records stay tidy.
Running several sites is easier with one contractor. We cover South East England and London, so visits at different addresses can be planned together and kept on a regular cycle.
What a clean won’t put right
Before you book, it helps to know what’s not included:
- Sewer problems outside the premises
- A grease trap that’s too small for the kitchen
- Grease set hard in the drain run
Not sure which it is? You can give us a ring on 0345 646 2711 or email us and we will tell you honestly before you book.
Parts of the system we cover
- Under-sink grease traps
- Restaurants and takeaways
- School and care home kitchens
- Inline grease traps
- Kitchen waste pipes
- Pot wash sinks
Why it’s worth doing now in Colgate
Wherever the kitchen is in Colgate, backed-up drains stop it working. Sinks won’t empty and waste water can come back up. Keeping the trap clean reduces the risk. Rural sites cannot always move to another kitchen or room when something fails.
No two sites are the same, so each one gets its own fixed quote. The size of the job, how we reach it, its condition and the working hours all make a difference.
Why choose Duct Doctor in Colgate
- Survey first, then a fixed quote
- Fully insured
- Ventilation hygiene specialists since 2009
- A written report with pictures after every visit
Take a look at how cleaning jobs are priced or how to check a contractor.
What grease trap cleaning looks like in Colgate
Environmental health officers from Horsham council inspect food businesses in Colgate. An inspection covers the structure of the kitchen as well as the food. A cleaning log that includes deep cleans and grease trap visits shows the work is planned. At about 30 miles from central London, Colgate sits well inside the area we cover. Evening, overnight and weekend visits are all possible.
Tyes Place, about 4.5 miles south-east, is one of the historic houses around Colgate; event kitchens at places like that work in bursts, so a deep clean after a busy season helps. Hall kitchens near St. Saviour's Church or elsewhere in Colgate may have older sinks and drains, so a grease trap check is worth adding to a deep clean.
Colgate is about 3 miles south-west of Crawley, in West Sussex. Sites in Colgate get the same service as everywhere we cover: diagnosis first, a fixed price, out-of-hours working where necessary and a written report with photos. Colgate is one of 371 towns, villages and districts in West Sussex we cover for grease trap cleaning. Our Brighton page covers sites nearby (18 miles or so).
Here we cover the RH13 and RH12 postcode area for grease trap cleaning. If you need grease trap cleaning at premises on Forest Road, Vicarage Close and Blackhouse Road or a nearby road, we can help. If your site is just outside Colgate, we cover Kilnwood Vale (1 mile north), Faygate (1 mile north-west), Broadfield (2 miles north-east), Roffey (2 miles west) and Handcross (3 miles south-east). Within a short drive, we also cover Crawley (3 miles north-east), Horsham (4 miles west), Haywards Heath (9 miles south-east), Burgess Hill (10 miles south-east), East Grinstead (11 miles east) and Storrington (14 miles south-west).
Near you in Colgate
We work in commercial kitchens and buildings around The Dragon pub, Target Hill Park and Cottesmore School and the streets around them. The nearest railway station is Faygate station, about 1.3 miles north-west of the centre. Other landmarks nearby include Crawley Museum (3.4 miles north-east) and County Mall (3.4 miles north-east). Open spaces near Colgate include Tilgate Lake and Warnham LNR.
Looking after it afterwards
How long the results last depends on use and care. Here’s what we suggest:
- Keep waste oil out of the drains
- Report slow or smelly sinks early
- Don’t store things on top of the trap
- Keep strainers in every sink
Keep used oil out of the drains and the trap won’t fill as quickly. It’s the single easiest way to help.
If the kitchen has got busier, the trap fills faster. Shortening the cleaning interval now stops it overflowing.
Questions from Colgate
Is Colgate within the area you cover?
Yes, smaller places are covered as well as towns. Photos of the system and directions to the site help us plan the visit.
Which environmental health team covers Colgate?
In Colgate, it’s Horsham council that carries out food hygiene inspections. How often a business is inspected depends on the council’s risk rating for it, so the kitchen needs to be ready at any time.
Do you recommend a next date?
Yes. The report recommends when the next visit should be, based on what we found and how the system is used.
How do you protect the area?
We cover floors and nearby surfaces with sheeting before any work starts, and anything we remove is contained. At the end, the area is cleaned down.
Do you deal with blocked drains beyond the grease trap?
It depends where the blockage is. If the trap is full, cleaning it often helps, but blockages further along need a drainage contractor.
How often should a grease trap be cleaned?
There’s no single answer. The interval depends on how quickly your trap fills and we’ll advise on timing.
Will the grease trap clean disrupt the kitchen?
The sinks that drain into the trap cannot be used while it’s open. We book the visit around your service to keep disruption down.
Are you fully insured?
Yes, we’re fully insured. We also hold CHAS and SafeContractor for clients who vet their contractors.
The process
There’s very little for your team to do on the day. Someone lets us in at the agreed time and shows us where everything is, and the rest is down to us. Before we leave, the area is tidied and the paperwork follows. For a village or hamlet like Colgate, tell us about narrow lanes, gates and parking when you book.
- First, we find the trap and look at its connections.
- Sinks feeding the trap are taken out of use.
- We empty out the fat, oil, grease and solids.
- We clean every part of the inside.
- We refit it, run water through and remove the waste.
Before we arrive
- Tell us where we can park and unload
- Agree a time when the area can be out of use
- Clear the space around the work
How to get a quote
For a fixed quote, ring 0345 646 2711 or drop us a line and tell us the type of site, your opening hours and roughly what the system looks like. A few pictures and your last certificate or report help a lot. You will normally have a quote within one working day.
Read more
When to call us in Colgate
If a trap isn’t emptied, grease passes straight through. It then builds up in the drains and the sewer beyond, where it can form blockages.
It’s time to book a visit if you see:
- A full, neglected grease trap
- Gurgling drains in the kitchen
- An under-sink unit that needs regular emptying
- A regular cleaning plan for the grease trap
Healthcare kitchens, like those at hospitals such as Crawley Hospital (about 3.1 miles north-east), cook for long hours, so deep cleans and grease trap work are planned around patients’ meals.
Comparing quotes
- If the quote is a fixed price or an estimate
- What happens if part of the system can’t be accessed
- Whether the whole system is included, or only the parts that are easy to reach
- What hours they’ll be on site
How the job changes from site to site
Baffles and outlets
We check the inlet, outlet and baffles at each clean so the trap works as it should.
Inline grease traps
An inline trap sits in the pipework between the kitchen and the drain. They’re larger than under-sink traps but still need regular emptying.