You’ll want these two items on hand as you’re making your holiday feast.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — We are just days away from the big feast with the family. As you get ready to cook for Christmas dinner, you might want to have a plastic bowl lined with parchment paper around. This is to pour your used hot grease in. When it dries, you plop out the paper and throw it in the trash.
That’s because the City of Winston-Salem is asking you not to put used grease down the drain. It can do serious damage to the sewer line. The City says fats, oil, and grease cause more than 20% of blockages and overflows. And that’s not the only plumbing problem to watch out for this holiday season.
The experts at the Johns Plumbing and Air company say the best way to make sure your drain doesn’t get clogged is to keep the hot water running. Another tip is to use the strainer that comes in the sink…to catch debris before it gets down the drain. If your sink does get clogged plumbers suggest using a plunger but not the one in your bathroom! You need one specifically for sinks. Then when everything seems clear, crush up some ice in the disposal. It helps clean the blades and won’t clog the pipes.
For some other advice, David Murphy, from Johns Plumbing Heating and Air, joined “2 Wants to Know” ahead of Thanksgiving to help prevent incidents from happening during the upcoming holidays. What not to put down your garbage disposal?
DO’s
Always run cold water through the disposal and turn the disposal on before slowly inserting food waste. Keep sink stopper near opening to minimize possible ejection of material while grinding. Once grinding is complete, turn off the disposal and run cold water to flush the drain line. Citrus peels can be used to freshen up drain smells.
DON’Ts
Don’t turn the disposal off until grinding is complete. Don’t put non-food items inside your disposal. Fats, Oils, and Grease should not go down the disposal. It will clog the drain lines. Large quantities of starchy foods, like rice, pasta, and potatoes can gum up the disposal and clog your drain line. Large quantities of fibrous vegetables and peels like celery, corn husks, and asparagus may go through the disposal without much issue but tend to get balled up further down the drain line and cause issues. Coffee grounds, shellfish, or eggshells take a long time to decompose and large amounts can accumulate in the drain line and cause problems.
www.wfmynews2.com
https://www.wfmynews2.com/article/news/local/good-morning-show/christmas-plumbing-grease-disposal-unclog-drain-winston-salem-north-carolina/83-371c3e43-4544-4f03-b18c-6f1d6eb8cef9
