So why does a SuperYacht need a grease trap?

Well the most straight forward answer is that we cant keep polluting the oceans. That should really be obvious even to the billionaires among us. But why specifically a grease trap?

Well, maritime law has become much stricter in recent years. There would have been a point when after a few klicks out to sea you could dump your waste and sail on to bluer waters. Now vessels that are likely to spend a considerable amount of time at sea must treat their wastewater.

“Marpol 73/78 ANNEX IV and V: 5.4.4 Galley wastes
All galley wastes that may contain grease should flow through grease traps to a
retaining box prior to discharge overboard with a distance of 3 N.M. from the
closets line of land (territorial sea – 12 N.M.) or to treatment aboard ship”

Ships are installing treatment plants on board. These mini plants usually use membrane technology to treat wastewater. While such technology can be successful and reach targets set in international marine law, membrane plants can be seriously impacted by grease. Grease can clog the membrane and cause the treatment plant to fail therefore allowing polluted water into the sea. If caught such activity will risk licenses being revoked and may come with hefty fines.

A grease trap can hold back the fat and keep it trapped in a tank upstream from the treatment plant. However, this presents other problems. The grease trap will quickly fill up with grease and as it does the efficiency in the trap drops as the available space for grease and water to separate is reduced. The trap must be emptied before this happens. This is easier said than done when far out at sea resulting in grease traps either failing quickly or being designed large enough to store the trapped grease until the ship arrives at port. As space is a premium no one wants big grease traps. Small grease traps sometimes get installed in galleys, but these need to be emptied weekly if not daily and the fat transferred manually (usually by some poor deck hand) to a storage tank elsewhere on board. No doubt the worse job on board any ship.

Step in the Grease Guardian. The Grease Guardian is a grease removal device that acts first as a grease trap but has the feature of removing grease automatically into a sealed easy to carry container. These units are far more compact than standard grease traps and because they are filtering the grease rather than storing it they maintain a high efficiency during any voyage. The Grease Guardians are also designed with the tilt and pitch of the vessel in mind. No other grease removal device manufacturer offers a marine version of their equipment. The Grease Guardian through the use of solenoid valves seals off any openings which in passive mode.

Grease Guardians are particularly popular on Super and Mega Yachts where traditional traps are simply too big and smelly to be considered and anything smaller too hard to maintain. Grease Guardians are also very successful in Naval applications where space is also critical and returning to port often not much of an option. In Cruise ships where there is space for larger grease traps, the use of the Grease Guardian at source in the galleys ensures that the drainage network to the central grease trap is protected.

Grease Guardian provides both passive and manual options for at source or centrally located applications. For more contact sales@greaseguardian.com