The holidays are a joyous time, but they’re also stressful. Holidays stress just about every system in your house, including your plumbing. It’s stressed if you just have guests over for an evening and stressed even more if you have out-of-town guests who are staying for a few days. But there are ways that you can make sure your plumbing survives.
Don’t Throw Everything in the Garbage Disposal
The garbage disposal is wonderful for disposing of some food scraps, but not everything should go into this device. Indeed, some things can lead to your garbage disposal’s destruction, which is something you don’t need at the height of a hectic holiday season. Don’t put in eggshells, grease or fat, plastic, metal, paper, stringy foods such as celery, or bones.
Flush Only Appropriate Things Down the Toilet
Nothing should be flushed down the toilet besides bodily waste and toilet paper. Bodily waste is obvious, but the reason toilet paper is acceptable is that it’s made to disintegrate once it enters the sewer system. Other types of paper products, including facial tissue and paper towels, are not. Definitely don’t flush feminine hygiene products. These things need to be put in the trash can.
Be Careful Not to Scrape Leftovers Down the Drain
After meals it’s easy to just scrape off whatever’s left on a plate into the drain in your kitchen sink. This is a bad idea because it leads to clogs that you don’t want in the middle of your celebrations. The solution is simple. Fit the drain with a sink strainer, and when the sink strainer is full shake it out into the garbage can.
Wait to Use Your Fixtures
Plumbers recommend that you wait 10 to 15 minutes between showers. Spacing your showers ensures that everyone who uses the shower doesn’t get blasted with icy cold water, and it also lets the drains clear out. A strainer over the drain also catches hairs that may end up in a clog.
Wait until you have a full load to use your dishwasher, and don’t use the dishwasher and the garbage disposal at the same time. Waiting till the dishwasher is full saves energy and water. The garbage disposal and the dishwasher often share a drain, and if the drain is clogged, refuse can back up into your dishwasher during its cleaning cycle. If the clog is bad enough, you can have a flood in your kitchen.
Call for More Holiday Tips
These are just a few of the plumbing tips that can go a long way to make sure your holidays are safe and healthy as well as lots of fun. Also remember that when the holidays are over, you can use these tips all year round to take care of your plumbing system. Whether you need anything from plumbing advice to leak repair in Mesquite, Texas, contact us at Metroplex Leak & Line today.
