Now that we are well into the winter months, many people are planning visits with friends and family to celebrate the holiday season.
Most of the time, these visits come with sharing meals and enjoying each other’s company around the dinner table.
But, with those meals comes meal preparation and cleanup, and that means extra work for your plumbing system. The most vulnerable part of your plumbing system during this time of the year is your garbage disposal.
While it might surprise you, a clogged garbage disposal is the number one reason that plumber get called for emergency service during the month of December.
This is partly because the garbage disposal is used a lot more during the winter months with all of the holiday hosting and more people in the home but, it is also true because the foods that are cooked this time of year are usually very starchy and thick.
Some people think that the garbage disposal has blades that cut the food down into smaller pieces. This is a common misconception but not true at all. In fact, your garbage disposal only works to mash food particles into pulp and cannot cut food into smaller pieces.
With that in mind, here are a few ways that you can protect your garbage disposal this winter:
- Always run the water when using your garbage disposal. Running it dry could lead to clogs because the water helps to push all of the pulp and materials down the drain.
- Keep in mind that your disposal, kitchen sink, and dishwasher all use the same drain. Be mindful of what you are putting into each of these sections of your plumbing system as the single drain could become overwhelmed easily
- Make sure to always put vegetable peelings, meat bones and scraps, and oil or grease into the garbage can. Putting these items into the garbage disposal could quickly lead to a serious problem.
- Pour a pot of boiling water into your garbage disposal drain at least one time per month as a preventative maintenance measure.
- Use small pieces of citrus peels and ice cubes to keep your disposal clean and fresh
- Consider starting a composting bucket for your home to get rid of the biodegradable items that are not able to go into your disposal drain
Keep your disposal in top shape this winter season by following these tips!