Holidays and Plumbing Problems

Here come the holidays, with lots of great food and making merry with family and friends. Inevitably, however, some parts of your superb meals are destined for the garbage disposal, and turkey bones or potato peels or even a stray fork can end up creating a huge mess. The disposal clogs, and water backs up into the sink just as you’re trying to clean up the kitchen.

This year, don’t worry about hearing that fateful gurgle that signals trouble.
Every holiday season at Mr. Mike’s Plumbing, we receive numerous calls from frantic customers who have just plugged up their kitchen drains. It couldn’t happen at a worse time, they always say. We know!

We send out service technicians to take apart kitchen p-traps and garbage disposals and clean up the problems. And we often find that customers mistakenly believe that they can put the turkey carcass, ham residue, and other bulky leftovers down the garbage disposer along with potatoes, yams, and salads, etc.

Most of us in the plumbing business feel that garbage disposals are one of the worst inventions ever. They offer convenience, yes, but are too susceptible to problems and breakdowns. That noisy electric grinder does not guarantee that your garbage and troubles are all washed away. Most kitchen drain lines are only two inches in diameter, and older drains are only an inch and a half in diameter an incredibly small space to handle solid waste.
ﾠ
There’s another problem, too. Canadian architecture often positions the kitchen in the back of the house, farthest away from the main sewer line. The waste that has been ground up in the garbage disposer has an extra long way to go before channeling into the main sewer pipe.

Mr. Mike’s Plumbing recommends that you allow only small food scraps into the garbage disposal. All large food waste, such as bones, tough rinds, and woody produce like carrot or potato peels, should be scraped directly into the garbage. There’s an extra benefit to this, as well: in the ever green Calgary area we can put food scraps and bones into our yard waste containers for ecologically-friendly disposal.

By following these measures, you will most likely avoid the frantic emergency service call during the coveted holiday season.