Garbage disposals serve to grind up food before flushing it down your sink, helping to conveniently get rid of food in a safe and hygienic manner. Most homes in Olympia, WA have garbage disposals in their kitchen sink, and we’ve become so accustomed to them that we rarely take notice unless they suffer some kind of breakdown. A qualified plumber can usually fix a faulty garbage disposal, but you can take a few simple steps to keep yours running at its best, and ensuring that it never requires a repair session.
Keep the Water Running
Garbage disposals grind up food, but if they’re still in largely solid chunks, you run the risk of them clogging up your pipe system: requiring a service call from a plumber to fix. Running the water before, during and after running your garbage disposal helps soften the food and allow it to slip through your pipes and into the civic sewer system more readily.
Watch What Your Pour
Most people know not to put bones, cherry stones or similar hard foods down the garbage disposal. They can gum up the blades and create an overload in the engine, or simply freeze the disposal in its tracks. But you should also never put fibrous materials like celery or potato peelings down the garbage disposal for the same reason. Pasta and noodles can expand when wet and create a clog, while hot grease and oil can solidify in your pipes and do much the same thing. Do yourself a favor and refrain from putting anything it your garbage disposal that might gum up the works.
For help with these issues, or to schedule a maintenance session to keep your garbage disposal running as intended, call on Brooks Plumbing to do the job right!
