Ten easy tips to avoid major plumbing hassles
If you put any of these items down the drains in your house, you may as well be pouring money after them. These will lead to big problems in the future even if in the moment they seem to vanish without incident. Many of these will accumulate further down your pipes slowly until one day you have a mysterious blockage no plunger can solve. Worse still, some of these can result from products that are being marketed to as “biodegradable” or “flushable”. Better safe than sorry!
The top ten “don’t s”:
In the kitchen sink and garbage disposal:
1. Grease and fat. The worst offender in the kitchen, grease cools and hardens where it cannot be reached.
2. Coffee grounds. Clump easily into a large mass.
3. Beans, legumes, pasta, or other starchy, sticky foods. Forms hard balls that are difficult to dislodge.
4. Vegetable and fruit peelings. Tend to clump further down the drain.
In the bathroom:
5. Paper towels. They do not break apart the same way toilet tissue does.
6. “Flushable” baby and personal wipes. Not always as flushable as is claimed.
7. Feminine hygiene products. Never flush these.
8. “Flushable” cat litter. It isn’t.
9. Cotton balls and cotton ear swabs. Can easily clump up and stick in odd places.
10. Unused medications. These can poison your local water supply.
When in doubt, compost items or throw them in the trash bin – DON’T flush them or pour them down your drain!
