reactor
Well-known member
Old Wives' Tales
It is difficult to believe, in the 21st centaury they "old wives' tales that still exist in the use of a residential garbage disposer (disposal.)
Egg shells are composed of calcium carbonate and so are bones. Both grind up to fine particles that easily flow through your plumbing system. Egg shells are NOT "famous" for creating clogs, neither are potato peels, fruit pits, celery, ad infinitum.......
You ask ten people on the street what you can't put in a garbage disposal, you will get ten different answers--each person with their favorite forbidden food wastes that you "absolutely positively, cannot" put in your disposal. I will guarantee that virtually none are correct.
The biggest problem I see with disposals clogging is improper installation. The trend for the last few decades is to install a disposal the easiest and quickest and cheapest way possible. That is by using a disposal tailpipe installation kit that you see at Lowe's and Home Depot.
The tell tell sign is the disposal has been installed by turning it to its side (so the front manufacture's label does not show) and discharging it directly into the adjacent sinks drain pipe. This saves the plumber a few cents worth of PVC by not having to use a separate trap, and the uneducated (in plumbing at least) homeowner the two or three minutes worth of mental task of how to install a separate trap and line for the disposer.
People and lazy plumbers use a "disposal installation tailpipe" to do this. The pipe has a baffle in it that forces the disposal's waste downward into the drain pipe and also allows the sink above it to drain through.
So a disposal's waste output is being forced to make an instant 90 degree turn in only half the diameter of the pipe. If you are going to get a clog, this is where it's going to be.
A disposal should be mounted the way its designed by the manufacturer. The front of the machine is facing out so you see it read the Brand Name label you open the cabinet. The discharge goes directly out the rear, into its own trap and line, and into the main drain line. No constrictions, no sharp 90 degree angles and free water flow.
As a credit to the good grinding ability of today's disposers. often they will function with this poor-excuse-for-a-plumbing job. However, stringy wastes or bulky waste will one day create a clog at this vulnerable junction, especially after the disposal gets older and the grinding ring gets dull.
So, of course, the disposal gets the blame for human stupidity.
Not running enough water, is probably the second most common cause of drain clogging. Full flow while grinding with the water left running for about ten seconds after the disposal is the best defense against clogs.
If the water is turned off prematurely when the water velocity slows, it drops its food load and leaves it at the bottom of the pipe or junction. It's important to allow the water to run long enough to allow the food waste laden water to reach the septic tank or street line before water flow is stopped.
Sadly, most homeowners do not maintain their plumbing and allow pipe buildup. When a clog occurs never would they be willing to accept the responsibility as theirs. Instead the disposal, of course, gets the blame. And whatever they were grinding at the time of clogging, of course, now becomes the culprit.
If Aunt Edna was grinding turnip peelings when her sink stops up, then she tells sister Sue that you can "never, ever put turnip peels down a disposal" as it clogged up her sink tight. Sister Sue tells neighbor Agnes, then that you absolutely cannot put turnips down a disposal. Neighbor Agnes tell Mrs. Goodly at the PTA meeting, that turnips can never, ever be put into a disposal. Neighbor Agnes tells husband John that turnips put down a disposal will cause you to have to install a new plumbing system. John tells Mr. Vickers at the water cooler the next day at work, Mr. Vickers goes home and tells his wife, who tells her hairdresser...and so on and so on ...Ad Infinium.
So is the birth of a new Wives Tale.
Substitute egg shells for turnips, or potato peels, or plum peelings or virtually any food wastes. They have all had a turn at being THE verboten food waste item that you can "absolutely positively can never ever" put into your machine.
The only food wastes that I have seen consistently appear in manufacturer's literature are artichoke leaves. Some manufacture's warn about too LARGE of a quantity of a given waste at a time (such as corn husks) but other than that there are few forbidden items.
The residential food waste disposer is one of the most near perfect of home appliances. It can handle virtually any food wastes and helps to keeps our solid waste stream free of organic materials. Materials that can produce methane in land fills and provide breeding grounds for the growth of vermin such as rodents, flies and maggots which in turn lead to the spreading of communicable diseases.
Sadly, old wives tales and human ignorance prevent the disposal from truly doing its job and being the ecologically responsible tool that it was designed to be.
It is difficult to believe, in the 21st centaury they "old wives' tales that still exist in the use of a residential garbage disposer (disposal.)
Egg shells are composed of calcium carbonate and so are bones. Both grind up to fine particles that easily flow through your plumbing system. Egg shells are NOT "famous" for creating clogs, neither are potato peels, fruit pits, celery, ad infinitum.......
You ask ten people on the street what you can't put in a garbage disposal, you will get ten different answers--each person with their favorite forbidden food wastes that you "absolutely positively, cannot" put in your disposal. I will guarantee that virtually none are correct.
The biggest problem I see with disposals clogging is improper installation. The trend for the last few decades is to install a disposal the easiest and quickest and cheapest way possible. That is by using a disposal tailpipe installation kit that you see at Lowe's and Home Depot.
The tell tell sign is the disposal has been installed by turning it to its side (so the front manufacture's label does not show) and discharging it directly into the adjacent sinks drain pipe. This saves the plumber a few cents worth of PVC by not having to use a separate trap, and the uneducated (in plumbing at least) homeowner the two or three minutes worth of mental task of how to install a separate trap and line for the disposer.
People and lazy plumbers use a "disposal installation tailpipe" to do this. The pipe has a baffle in it that forces the disposal's waste downward into the drain pipe and also allows the sink above it to drain through.
So a disposal's waste output is being forced to make an instant 90 degree turn in only half the diameter of the pipe. If you are going to get a clog, this is where it's going to be.
A disposal should be mounted the way its designed by the manufacturer. The front of the machine is facing out so you see it read the Brand Name label you open the cabinet. The discharge goes directly out the rear, into its own trap and line, and into the main drain line. No constrictions, no sharp 90 degree angles and free water flow.
As a credit to the good grinding ability of today's disposers. often they will function with this poor-excuse-for-a-plumbing job. However, stringy wastes or bulky waste will one day create a clog at this vulnerable junction, especially after the disposal gets older and the grinding ring gets dull.
So, of course, the disposal gets the blame for human stupidity.
Not running enough water, is probably the second most common cause of drain clogging. Full flow while grinding with the water left running for about ten seconds after the disposal is the best defense against clogs.
If the water is turned off prematurely when the water velocity slows, it drops its food load and leaves it at the bottom of the pipe or junction. It's important to allow the water to run long enough to allow the food waste laden water to reach the septic tank or street line before water flow is stopped.
Sadly, most homeowners do not maintain their plumbing and allow pipe buildup. When a clog occurs never would they be willing to accept the responsibility as theirs. Instead the disposal, of course, gets the blame. And whatever they were grinding at the time of clogging, of course, now becomes the culprit.
If Aunt Edna was grinding turnip peelings when her sink stops up, then she tells sister Sue that you can "never, ever put turnip peels down a disposal" as it clogged up her sink tight. Sister Sue tells neighbor Agnes, then that you absolutely cannot put turnips down a disposal. Neighbor Agnes tell Mrs. Goodly at the PTA meeting, that turnips can never, ever be put into a disposal. Neighbor Agnes tells husband John that turnips put down a disposal will cause you to have to install a new plumbing system. John tells Mr. Vickers at the water cooler the next day at work, Mr. Vickers goes home and tells his wife, who tells her hairdresser...and so on and so on ...Ad Infinium.
So is the birth of a new Wives Tale.
Substitute egg shells for turnips, or potato peels, or plum peelings or virtually any food wastes. They have all had a turn at being THE verboten food waste item that you can "absolutely positively can never ever" put into your machine.
The only food wastes that I have seen consistently appear in manufacturer's literature are artichoke leaves. Some manufacture's warn about too LARGE of a quantity of a given waste at a time (such as corn husks) but other than that there are few forbidden items.
The residential food waste disposer is one of the most near perfect of home appliances. It can handle virtually any food wastes and helps to keeps our solid waste stream free of organic materials. Materials that can produce methane in land fills and provide breeding grounds for the growth of vermin such as rodents, flies and maggots which in turn lead to the spreading of communicable diseases.
Sadly, old wives tales and human ignorance prevent the disposal from truly doing its job and being the ecologically responsible tool that it was designed to be.
