Kent · Grease trap cleaning
Grease trap cleaning in River, Kent
Emptying and cleaning of under-sink and inline grease traps in commercial kitchens for commercial sites in River and across Kent. BESCA Vent Hygiene Elite member, cleaning to BESA TR19® Grease.
- A larger grease trap that needs emptying
- A routine grease trap service
- A bad smell from the sinks or drains
What happens on the day
The visit has three parts: set-up, the treatment itself and the sign-off. Set-up means sheeting and making equipment safe, while signing off means the written report and pictures. The middle part takes longest, which takes anything from under an hour to a few hours, depending on the trap. Tell us when your site near River is quiet and the visit will be booked for then.
- First, we find the trap and look at its connections.
- We make sure nothing drains into the trap.
- We empty out the fat, oil, grease and solids.
- The chambers and baffles are cleaned.
- We refit it, run water through and remove the waste.
Preparing for the visit
- Make sure someone can let us in and lock up afterwards
- Tell us about site rules, permits or sign-in
- Let us know about parking and loading
Ask for a quote
We do not publish a price list, because every site is different. Instead, we look at your site first, from photos or a survey, then send a fixed quote. To start, phone us on 0345 646 2711 or send us an email.
Related advice
Grease trap cleaning in River
Grease trap cleaning keeps the drains running and the smells away. The fat, oil, grease and solids are taken out, clean the inside and the baffles and the trap checked before we leave. If you are dealing with a routine grease trap service and gurgling drains in the kitchen, we can put it right.
In a place like River, kitchens often sit in older buildings with older drains. Smells and slow drains are the usual warning signs.
For insurers and inspectors, the record counts. That’s why every job is written up in a report with pictures, and grease extract cleans come with a TR19® certificate issued through the BESCA Vent Hygiene Elite portal.
- Location
- River (CT17, CT16)
- Region
- Kent
- Reporting
- Photo report after every visit
- Quotes
- A fixed quote up front
- Working hours
- Overnight and weekend work, 24/7 emergency callout
- Telephone
- 0345 646 2711
- Updated
- 30 October 2026
Different parts, different methods
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.
School, care home and staff kitchens
Care home and hospital kitchens need their drains working all the time. Visits are planned between meals.
River questions
Do you work overnight in River?
Yes, nights and weekends are routine for us. Your customers, staff or residents in River needn’t be disturbed. Your opening times are the first thing we ask for.
Do you cover smaller places like River?
Yes, smaller places are covered as well as towns. Photos of the system and directions to the site help us plan the visit.
How do you keep the site clean during the work?
We cover floors and nearby surfaces with sheeting before any work starts, and waste is contained as we go. Before we leave, we tidy up and clean down.
What does a grease trap clean cost?
The price depends on the trap and the schedule. Get in touch and we will send you a fixed quote before any work starts.
Can you set up regular visits?
Yes. Scheduled maintenance plans are part of what we do, set at the interval the system needs. The report from each visit recommends the next date.
What’s TR19?
It’s BESA’s specification and the benchmark insurers, fire officers and EHOs look to. It sets out inspection, cleaning and record keeping, and it takes a risk-based approach.
Is TR19 a legal requirement?
No. TR19® itself isn’t law; it’s a BESA specification. The law is the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, which makes the responsible person assess and reduce fire risk, and TR19® is the benchmark for showing that grease in the extract is under control.
Why does a grease trap need regular cleaning?
An overfull trap stops separating grease. Slow drains, bad smells and blockages follow.
Multi-site and managed buildings
From a single site to a large estate, the standard is the same: a survey first, a fixed quote, the work timed around the site and a report with pictures.
If you look after several sites, we can schedule visits across all of them on one quote. Every building has its own written report, so records stay tidy.
Staff cleaning versus specialist work
Some jobs should never be done in-house: opening up ductwork, cleaning fans, drop testing fire dampers and measuring grease call for the right kit, training and safe access. Leave those to us.
In-house cleaning and specialist cleaning do different jobs. Wiping filters daily and washing them weekly keeps the visible parts in order, but they do not reach the grease that builds up further in. Reaching it takes a specialist with the right equipment.
Why it’s worth doing now in River
Pouring hot water or chemicals down a slow drain is a common quick fix. That only moves the grease further down the pipe to set somewhere harder to reach. Emptying and cleaning the trap deals with the source. In a smaller place like River, a site that has to close is felt quickly.
The price reflects the work, not guesswork. That’s why we survey first, from photos or on site, and why the quote is fixed before we start.
Why River businesses choose us
- Every visit written up, with pictures
- Out-of-hours work and a 24/7 emergency line
- A single point of contact for sites across the South East and London
- Accredited under CHAS and SafeContractor, with ISO 9001
Take a look at what affects the cost and our accreditations and certificates.
River kitchens: local notes
The Food Standards Agency lists about 22 pubs and bars and about 3 hotels and guest houses as registered food businesses across River and its immediate surroundings (about a mile and a half). Wherever food is prepared there, a periodic deep clean and a clear grease trap keep things in order. It’s Dover council that sends environmental health officers to food businesses in River. An inspection covers the structure of the kitchen as well as the food. Photos and dates from each deep clean make a useful record.
Half-term is a good time for school kitchens, at schools like River Primary School for instance, to have the grease trap emptied and the kitchen deep cleaned. If you run a kitchen near Kearsney station with long trading hours, grease builds up faster behind equipment and in the trap. Healthcare kitchens, like those at hospitals such as Buckland Hospital (about 1 mile south-east), cook for long hours, so deep cleans and grease trap work are planned around patients’ meals.
River is about 1 mile north-west of Dover, in Kent. Sites in River get the same service as everywhere we cover: diagnosis first, a fixed price, out-of-hours working where needed and a written report with photos. We cover 922 places across Kent, from busy centres to quieter spots. For sites nearby, see our Maidstone page, about 34 miles away.
Grease trap cleaning in CT17 and CT16 follows the same survey, fixed quote and written report as everywhere else we cover. Grease trap cleaning is available to premises on Lower Road, Minnis Lane and London Road and the roads around them. Other places close to River include Kearsney (1 mile north-west), Temple Ewell (1 mile north-west), Dover (1 mile south-east), Whitfield (1 mile north-east) and Maxton (2 miles south). Further out, we also cover Canterbury (13 miles north-west), Folkestone (6 miles south-west), Ramsgate (15 miles north-east), Deal (7 miles north-east), Hythe (10 miles south-west) and Walmer (7 miles north-east).
Near you in River
Typical jobs here are in premises near St Edmund's Catholic School, Old Park Hill and Royal Oak Cottage The Royal Oak Public House and the streets around them. The nearest railway station is Kearsney station, about 0.5 miles north-west of the centre. Nearby you will also find Crabble Corn Mill (within half a mile south-east) and Dover Castle (2.2 miles south-east). Open spaces near River include Dover Western Heights.
Also in River
Honest limits
Before booking, it helps to know what’s not included:
- Grease set hard in the drain run
- Sewer problems outside the premises
- A grease trap that is too small for the kitchen
Not sure which it is? You can give us a ring on 0345 646 2711 or send us an email and we’ll tell you honestly.
Parts of the system we cover
- Kitchen waste pipes
- School and care home kitchens
- Pot wash sinks
- Inline grease traps
- Restaurants and takeaways
- Under-sink grease traps
What affects the quote in River
You will get a fixed price before work begins. It’s based on:
- Site rules, permits and inductions
- Whether we need access equipment or extra panels
- Whether it’s a one-off visit or part of a schedule
- The scale of the work
A single site or a whole portfolio, the quote is built the same way: what needs doing, how we get to it and when. The price is fixed before work begins.
What we need to know
When you contact us, it’s useful to have:
- The roof, plant room or outside wall the system runs to
- Wide pictures of the system and the area around it
- Any access panels or hatches you can see
- Any symptoms, from odd noises to smells or leaks
Photos are the quickest way to a quote: wide shots of the system, close-ups of anything that worries you and how we’d get to it. Tell us what kind of site it is and when it’s open, and many jobs can be priced from that alone.