The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) developed standards in the 1990s to govern passive hydromechanical grease interceptors. The standard was developed in collaboration with the Plumbing & Drainage Institute, and is referenced by the Uniform Plumbing Code, the International Plumbing Code and the National Standard Plumbing Code.
The standard — ASME A112.14.3 — is the measure by which passive grease interceptors (including many of Thermaco’s products) are measured. If it meets the standard, then the interceptor can be used in many installations. If it doesn’t, then it’s a non-starter.
So how, exactly, does one test a grease interceptor to see if it meets the ASME standard?
A commercial kitchen wouldn’t repeatedly send 200 gallons of burning water and 20 pounds of hot lard through its grease interceptor even on the busiest night. And a blizzard would make it even less likely.
But this past February, that’s what we subjected our newest grease interceptor, the Trapzilla TZ-1826, to — during a storm.
The TZ-1826 is the third-generation Trapzilla, with a tank design optimized to retain more grease in as small a footprint as possible. We tested the TZ-1826 to the ASME standard to determine its efficiency and capacity.
To understand the new TZ-1826 Trapzilla Grease Interceptor, consider two numbers: 1,826 and 11,000.
The first is how many pounds of grease the TZ-1826 can hold. The second is how much a 1,000-gallon concrete trap weighs — a concrete trap that would hold a similar amount of grease, but would require heavy machinery to install and take up three times as much space as the TZ-1826.
How is that possible? That’s what happens when you apply a quarter century of grease interceptor innovation and oil-water separation expertise to a problem that a growing number of commercial food service establishments face: Lots of grease, but not much space for a high-capacity grease trap.
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) developed standards in the 1990s to govern passive hydromechanical grease interceptors. The standard was developed in collaboration with the Plumbing & Drainage Institute, and is referenced by the Uniform Plumbing Code, the International Plumbing Code and the National Standard Plumbing Code.
A commercial kitchen wouldn’t repeatedly send 200 gallons of burning water and 20 pounds of hot lard through its grease interceptor even on the busiest night. And a blizzard would make it even less likely. 
To understand the new TZ-1826 Trapzilla Grease Interceptor, consider two numbers: 1,826 and 11,000. 