Running a restaurant is a busy job! Hungry customers look to you to provide delicious food and service with a smile. On a busy night you can be on your feet for hours at a time without a break in order to make sure your customers are well-fed and happy. But there's one thing that can make things grind to a halt fast at your restaurant – plumbing issues.
Let's look at two of the most common plumbing issues you might encounter in your restaurant, and how to prevent them.
Clogged Kitchen Drains
It can get busy in the kitchen, and your staff is often trying to do three things at once. This can often lead to your staff taking shortcuts. One frequent victim of time-saving maneuvers is your kitchen sink.
Your dish washers may be simply dumping food into the sink to save time. If that's the case, food will start to collect in the pipes. But what's even worse is if they pour things like grease, oil or salad dressing in the sink. Grease is the number one enemy of your sink because it can quickly lead to clogged kitchen drains as oils solidify in the pipes, trapping food particles until the entire sink is clogged. Even commercial dishwashers can contribute to this problem if they are frequently being filled with greasy plates and pans.
The solution? Train dish washers to scrape plates into the trash first to prevent these types of build ups from occurring. You should also train staff to frequently clean your restaurant's grease traps and flush the drains every few weeks to help dissolve biofilm deposits.
Backed-up Restaurant Toilets
OK, restaurant toilets are not the most pleasant thing to think about, but this is a common problem for many restaurant owners. Customers aren't always on their best behavior when using a public bathroom, which can sometimes result in plumbing issues.
Bathrooms with broken or overflowing toilets can give customers a bad impression of your entire restaurant. You can prevent that from happening by taking these steps to stop plumbing problems before they happen:
- Skip the paper towels and install hand dryers. Not only are they better for the environment, you avoid the possibility of customers flushing paper towels down the toilet, or stuffing them down the sink or floor drain.
- Provide sanitary disposal receptacles for feminine hygiene products. If flushed, these can wreak havoc on pipes, sometimes causing the entire sewer line to back up.
- Provide regular maintenance on your restaurant's bathrooms. If toilets are flushing more slowly, or a handle seems to be wearing out, replace it before it becomes a problem.
- Have employees check the state of the bathroom once every hour. This way any issues, like a clogged toilet can be caught early and remedied before it becomes a major issue.
The last thing you want on a busy Saturday night is malfunctioning restaurant toilet. By taking proactive steps in advance to maintain your restaurant's bathrooms, you can prevent minor issues from becoming a major headache.
Another way to keep your plumbing issues under control is by scheduling regular cleanings with EcoClean. We can help check for grease buildup and clogs, and make sure your pipes are kept clean.
