Commercial wastewater systems, handled.
Lift stations · Oil-water separators · Sand interceptors · Dry wells · High-capacity pumping · Contract maintenance · Grease interceptors
35+ years in the field · Maricopa County permitted liquid waste hauler · Phoenix based, serving the metro area
Request a free system inspectionOn a shared interceptor, the code says it's yours
Most property managers assume interceptor maintenance is the tenant's problem. For a single-tenant building, that's usually right. For a shared system, Phoenix City Code is explicit.
"Maintenance of grease interceptors is the sole responsibility of the user, or in the case of multiple user interceptors, the property owner."
If three restaurants in your center share one gravity interceptor, that device is ownership's responsibility — not divided among the tenants, and not deferred to whichever one generates the most grease. A lease clause assigning maintenance to a tenant may give you a claim against them afterward. It does not stop the city from citing the owner.
What the code actually requires
These are minimums, not recommendations.
| Device | Required frequency |
|---|---|
| Hydromechanical interceptor (grease trap) | Every 30 days. Never more than 90. |
| Gravity interceptor | At least every 3 months |
| Any interceptor | Full cleaning once FOG and solids pass 25% of capacity |
The three-year record rule
Maintenance records, including your contractor's invoices, must be kept on site for three years and produced on request. Inspections are unannounced.
Enzymes and additives are prohibited. They don't remove grease — they liquefy it so it hardens further down the line, where the blockage is still your liability.
The tank must be left completely empty. A pumper returning water or material to the interceptor means the service didn't meet code, even though you paid for it.
Requirements shown are City of Phoenix. Mesa, Tempe, Chandler, Scottsdale and Glendale run their own FOG ordinances with different specifics.
The failure you don't see coming
A lift station is the only system on a commercial property with no backup. Every fixture in every unit depends on it, and when it stops, nothing drains — not one suite, the whole complex.
It almost always fails after hours, because that's when nobody is watching. By morning you're paying emergency rates, moving tenants, and dealing with whatever the overflow reached.
The part that fails is usually cheap. A stuck float is a small repair — but a stuck float runs the pump dry until the pump burns out, and that's a different invoice entirely. Almost every one of these shows itself weeks early in pump run time, cycle behavior, or wet well condition. Somebody just has to look.
Free inspection. No obligation.
We come out, open it up, and give you a documented picture of what you own. You decide what happens next.
Lift stations — sewer and rainwater collection
We check pump run and cycle behavior, floats and controls, the high-level alarm, check valves, wet well condition, and solids buildup, then tell you what's failing and what's fine.
Oil-water separators
We check oil layer thickness, sludge depth, coalescing media condition, and the outlet for sheen or carryover, so a discharge problem gets caught before an inspector catches it.
Sand interceptors
We sound the sediment depth, inspect the inlet and outlet, and look for bypass or backing up in the wash bay or shop drain line before it reaches the main.
Dry wells
We check for standing water, sediment and debris load, inlet condition, and whether the well is still draining at the rate it was built for.
High-capacity pumping
Large-volume pump-outs for commercial tanks, wet wells, and interceptors that a standard truck can't handle in one trip.
Contract maintenance
Scheduled service on a set interval, with the condition of every system documented each visit so you have a record when you need one.
Grease interceptors
We measure grease and solids depth against capacity, inspect baffles and tees, look for outlet carryover, and confirm your pump-out interval actually matches your kitchen's load.
Who's doing the inspection
Bobby Lanham. He's spent 35+ years on Arizona systems — pumping them, repairing them, installing them, and inspecting them. He does the walk himself, and he tells you plainly what he found.
- 35+ years in the field
- Maricopa County permitted liquid waste hauler
- Phoenix based, serving the metro area
Where Bobby has worked
Thirty-five years in the Valley, including:
Town of Paradise Valley
Bobby maintained and serviced the town's lift stations, injection lines, and manholes.
Scottsdale Promenade
Bobby serviced commercial shopping center systems.
HOA communities across the Valley
Bobby performed ongoing lift station and wastewater maintenance.
This is Bobby's own work history across three and a half decades in Arizona. Steel Septic is his company.
Who this is for
Restaurants · Property managers · HOAs and multifamily · Shopping centers · Car washes and shops · Warehouses and manufacturing · Schools · Municipalities