Editorial process & methodology
Maintained by Stew Israil, GreaseTrapRules · Updated Oct 18, 2026
Who's behind the site
GreaseTrapRules is run by Stew Israil. The site has one job: give restaurant owners and pumping companies each city's grease trap rules in plain English, with the official wording one click away.
Where the rules come from
- Official sources only: city and county websites, sanitary districts and water utilities, FOG program manuals, and published municipal codes (American Legal, Municode, eCode360 and similar).
- Word-for-word quotes: every rule on a city page shows the source's exact wording ("Source says") next to our plain-English summary.
- Dated: each page shows when the source was last checked.
- No guesses: if a source doesn't state a rule, we say so and point you to the program contact. We never fill a blank with a "typical" value.
How a page is verified
- Software finds candidate official pages and copies sentences that mention pumping, sizing, permits, fees, haulers, records, inspections and fines.
- Each quote is checked against field rules (for example, a "pumping" quote must give an interval or the 25% rule).
- A person reviews key cities and marks fields checked against source.
- Pages with too little sourced information stay published for visitors but are kept out of search results (noindex) until they're verified.
Pumping companies
A company is listed for a city only when its own website (or an official hauler list) says it serves that city and does grease trap or interceptor work. Featured listings are paid, clearly labeled, capped at 3 per city, and never change any rule text.
Pumper details
Hours, 24/7 emergency service and the trap types a company mentions are shown only when the company publishes them on its own website, with a link to that page. We never fill them in from other sources.
Corrections
Found an error or a rule change? Use the "Report an error" link on any city page or the contact page. We re-check the source and update the date.
GreaseTrapRules isn't legal or engineering advice. Rules change; verify with your city.