If there’s one thing that makes the holidays festive, it’s the food. Sure, it’s nice to meet family and talk about the year’s events, but let there be no confusion; everyone’s waiting on dinner. So whether you celebrate the holidays with a roasted turkey, glazed ham, or other treats, you can be sure that your ravenous family members will make short work of these culinary delights.
Your plumbing, on the other hand, may not be quite so eager to handle the leftovers. While it might not be the first thing on your mind during the holiday season, your pipes are under near-constant attack during these festivities. Between the fats washing down the drain, food scraps lodging themselves in your lines, and other issues, you’re practically guaranteed to have plumbing issues. Thankfully, we at Diamondback Plumbing are here to help you with a few tips to keep your plumbing flowing free and clear this holiday.
Separate Your Trash
Your sink drains can only handle so much waste, which helps separate your food waste before washing dishes. Start by cleaning compostables off of your plates and into a proper container. Next, you should place any other scraps in the trash to minimize the amount of work your disposal system needs to perform. While this goes without saying, don’t let plastic or other inorganic waste wash down your sink, or else you’re sure to have a clogged form in your lines.
Feed Your Disposal System Slowly and Carefully
When it comes time to run your garbage disposal system, avoid overloading the feed. No matter how robust your disposal is, it’ll never be able to cope with an entire sink’s worth of waste. Avoid jamming your disposal by feeding scraps with warm water flowing through them. This method will allow your system to perform more efficiently.
Avoid Certain Waste Entirely
Certain foods produce waste that is never fit for your garbage disposal. These include but are not limited to:
- Eggs: Eggs contain membranes that wrap around some of your disposal’s components, potentially rendering them useless. Once ground down, the shells are difficult to get rid of and often result in serious clogs.
- Fats: Fats and greases coat your system’s blades, thereby reducing their effectiveness. This same grease can also cause clogs to form in your lines, and you should avoid it at all costs.
- Vegetable or Fruit Skins: While they may seem harmless, vegetable and fruit skins tend to get caught underneath your disposal system’s blades, reducing their effectiveness.
- Bones, Shells, Pits, and Seeds: These tough byproducts can dull your system’s blades, slow operation, and even result in a burnt-out motor! Avoid byproducts at all costs.
- Stringy Vegetables: Stringy vegetables, such as celery, often congest your system similarly to fruit and vegetable skins.
- Rice, Pasta, or Tea Leaves: These soft foods can gum up your blades and even eventually form serious clogs.
Have A Plumber Service Your Home Plumbing
The best way to ensure the integrity of your plumbing during the holiday season is to call a plumber to do a regular inspection. This examination will give you an overview of your system’s health and alert you to any existing issues that may worsen during the holidays. That means you won’t have to worry about your disposal system shutting down on you in the middle of your celebration. Better yet, you’ll avoid any potential back-ups and the embarrassment that comes with them.
Let Diamondback Plumbing Tackle Your Projects
Hopefully, these few tips are enough to help you avoid the most common plumbing issues people encounter during the holiday season. Unfortunately, however, accidents happen. Thankfully, you have us to help you whenever you run into problems. When you need help preparing for the holiday season, let Diamondback Plumbing help you with our drain cleaning and garbage disposal services. We’ll help ensure that your plumbing system is in top form so that you can tackle this holiday season with confidence.