Watch What You Throw down the Kitchen Drain

Garbage disposals are a staple of most kitchens here in Atlanta, GA, and because they’re so good at getting rid of foodstuffs for us, we tend to take them for granted. The purpose of a garbage disposal is to grind the food up into sufficiently small particles to let is all slip down the drain easily. But not every kind of food can be disposed of in such a manner, and if you throw the wrong foods down the drain, they’re apt to either damage the disposal of clog up the pipes. Neither outcome is particularly welcome and requires the services of a trained plumber to fix.

You can avoid that outcome simply by taking care which foods you throw down the kitchen drain. Some of them are likely known to you, but others my surprise you.

The list includes, but is not limited to, the following:

  • Fats, Oils and Grease, collectively known as FOG, can get poured down the drain in hot liquid form, but become solid in your cool pipes and create a clogs.
  • Bones and Fruit Seeds, especially big ones like peach pits and cherry pits, can stop up a garbage disposal quickly. These materials were never meant to be ground up and should be thrown in your garbage instead.
  • Coffee Grounds act like sand when they get into the gears of the garbage disposal. They also swell when they get wet, increasing the chances of a clog.
  • Fibrous Vegetables, like carrot peelings and celery, can wrap around the gears of the garbage disposal, as well as clogging the pipes.
  • Rice and Pasta can prove surprisingly strong, and like coffee grounds, they will also swell when they get wet.

If you run into trouble with your garbage disposal, call the pros at Quick Action Plumbers to get it resolved!

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