Reporting Stoppages in Drain Lines & Garbage Disposal Care
In case you were not aware of what happens when a blockage/overflow is discovered or reported to staff, this is the standard protocol and it has proven to work to minimize down time, damages and further problems from the same blockage. One backup/overflow in a unit affects the entire stack.
1) We need cooperation from all units in the stack, above the blockage to stop using the drain/water in the area where the blockage occurred until notified by staff that all is clear. This will stop any additional water from building up and overflowing into the unit affected by the blockage. Staff contacts each unit and gives the notification.
2) The plumber needs access to all units in the stack below the blockage – to be sure the line clears through to the main and doesn’t stop at another unit causing additional problems. Staff contacts each unit requesting access.
We understand there is resistance to allow strangers into your units due to COVID-19 however plumbers and staff are required to follow safe practices for social distancing. This cooperation from residents is absolutely necessary to ensure the plumbing lines remain clear and potentially costly water damage is kept to a minimum.
Please read the information below and help keep your plumbing lines clear.
You’d never dump a pile of rocks down your kitchen drain. Or pour a classroom’s supply of glue down it. Crazy, right? But some of us put items into our kitchen drains that can have virtually the same effect as putting rocks and glue into them.
To help you avoid committing a sink-damaging error, here are 17 things you should never put down your kitchen drain. We’ve arranged them in groups that help identify their dangers.
The Clogs
You’ve heard the saying that “oil and water don’t mix,” right? Sometimes it’s used figuratively. Other times, it’s used literally. This group definitely fits in the latter category.
Each of the following items should never be put down your kitchen drain. If it happens, you can expect a clog sooner or later — and always at the most inopportune time.
- Cooking oil
- Grease
- Produce stickers
- Raw meat
The Clumps
Once introduced to the wet and confined environment of your drain, these items can grow into massive clumps the interfere with drainage and the spinning blades of a garbage disposal.
It makes sense, though: pasta, rice, and oatmeal expand when we cook them. In a pot, that’s just fine. In a kitchen pipe, it’s a recipe for harmful clumps. Grind up nuts in a blender and you have peanut butter; grind them up in a garbage disposal and you have peanut butter clumping up around your blades.
- Pasta
- Rice
- Fibrous vegetables
- Coffee grounds
- Flour
- Nuts
- Oatmeal
The Catchers
Regardless of what you may have heard, it is NOT a good idea to put eggshells down your kitchen sink. Blame the thin membrane within the shell. That membrane, just like the potato peels and onion skins listed here, creates a perfect “net” that will help gather up other foodstuffs and create a blockage.
- Eggshells
- Potato peels
- Onion skins
The Clangers
Your garbage disposal is probably pretty strong. But any chicken bones, fruit pits (from peaches, for example), and shells from crabs and other sea creatures probably are stronger. Just as you wouldn’t pour pebbles into your kitchen sink, avoid the following clangers.
- Bones
- Pits
- Shells
Think Before You Sink
The better you treat your plumbing, the nicer it will be to you. Be careful with the items you expect your kitchen sink and garbage disposal to handle and you’ll both enjoy a wonderful, long-term relationship.