It's dangerous to adopt an "out of sight, out of mind" attitude towards your household drains. Some things that go down your drain can come back to haunt you in the form of clogs, flooding and other costly plumbing problems. To help you maintain a healthy plumbing system, here's a list of items that shouldn't go down your drains.
Grease – Kitchen grease solidifies when it cools. It coats the inner walls of sewer pipes. With time, it can build up and even block an entire pipe. To get rid of it in an environmentally-friendly way, pour it into an old can or sealed container and put it in the trash.
Eggshells – Although they seem fragile, they don't break down easily once they're inside your drains. They can mix with other items and form clogs.
Stringy or starchy vegetables – Vegetables such as artichokes, asparagus, celery, kale, rhubarb, lettuce and potato peels are too starchy, stringy or fibrous to be put in your garbage disposal. They can easily get tangled around the blade and clog drains.
Coffee grounds – To you they may be fine and harmless but to your drains, they are a recipe for disaster. When they mix with water, they get heavier. They can compact in the disposal trap and cause a blockage. Why not put them to work by using them in your garden as fertilizer or a deterrent to ants, snails and slugs?
Large wipes – Paper towels, baby wipes and other large wipes may be biodegradable, but can cause problems for your septic system. Their absorbent nature can make them clog up drain lines.
Pasta and rice – Pasta and rice expand when they mix with water. They'll expand every time water goes down your drains. Eventually, they'll fill up the trap and clog your drains.
When you avoid putting the wrong things down the drain, you also save the environment by creating a healthier habitat for marine life. For more information on how to take care of your drain, contact us at Air Assurance. We serve the Broken Arrow area.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). Credit/Copyright Attribution: “nattul/Shutterstock”