We just had a plumber use a modern device to clear out our drain line–which had been building up sludge, for all we know, during all the 27 years we’ve lived in this mobile home. The plumber said we should not use the disposal, because no matter how finely ground the food comes out of the garbage disposal it’ll build up and coat the inside of the drain line like atherosclerosis and build up. Is he right?
My garbage disposal is such a useful convenience that I would consider having to clear out the drain once every 27 years a small price to pay and worth every penny.
Yes.
We gave up our disposal a couple of years ago when we once again had to call a plumber to clear out the drain line. IIRC he told us that unless we changed out the drain line we’d keep having the same issue.
Truthfully, we don’t miss it. We have a four-legged bag holder next to the sink where we dump everything. When the bag is full, we toss it in with the general trash. Cooking grease, which should never be poured down any drain/disposal, goes into one of the many glass jars I save when we finish whatever was in the jar.
We bought our home a few months ago, and during the remodel, I made the unilateral decision to not install a sink disposal. Ticked my husband right off, but I did my research, and then spoke to a trustworthy plumber with 30 years experience (my cousin, who was just an advisor since I knew he wouldn’t have let me pay for any help I tried to hire him for,) who agrees with me. Yes, it’s a good way to gunk up the pipes, 'though a fairly minor repair. The big deal is that it can be terrible on the septic system.
Yes, I miss having one sometimes - especially when I’m cleaning gunk out of the drain screen! But that’s minor compared to the repair and maintenance costs in the long term.
Can you afford to have it replaced? That might be an option – a newer model might not be as, um, clogging I guess would be the word.
With a septic system, if you can live without one, the system is happier. We don’t have one, x 39 years. I compost all plant/ vegetable matter, and feed that which should not be composted to the corbies. They get the stale bread too, if any. Some dishwashers have a grinder, but our ancient and entry level Bosch does not.
As someone who spent a couple hours trying to fix one the other day, cursing over how awful it was (flat, hidden bottlecap wedged so that it could turn but not enough), I still have to say… disposal > no disposal.
It’s not a food garbage chute, however.
Garbage disposal units ((aka InSinkerators) became somewhat popular here in Aus during the 1970’s, but I haven’t seen one in any new house built later than that.
Many households now (dare I venture most?) either have a backyard compost heap, bin, chooks or perhaps a worm-farm to consume superfluous foodstuffs. I couldn’t think of anything more ecologically wasteful than a garbage disposal unit to be perfectly honest!
Makes no sense to me. It’s not magic, so obviously you should scrape what you can into the real garbage first, but hair down your shower drain and lint down your laundry drain are more insoluble than food, and your toilet pushes chunks about a thousand times as big as anything that gets through a disposal, so I don’t see how it can be any higher than fourth on the pipe clogging list.
As far as I’m concerned, our disposal is just for the little bits that get rinsed off the dishes after we scrape them and before we load them in the dishwasher. I do not and never have used the garbage disposal as a major means of getting rid of food waste. And when I do use it, I make sure to continue running the water after the disposal is turned off to flush out whatever I can. So far, so good…
Dogs, chickens, compost pile; we don’t have/need a disposal.
Septic tanks and sewage systems are designed to handle human waste and water only. Anything else that finds its way into the system is not a good thing.
Don’t install a disposal. Don’t use it if you have one. Convenience is not an excuse.
Hair and soap are unfortunate things that also get into the system. But minimizing those is a really good idea. Grease should also be avoided. Wipe off greasy pans, etc. first before cleaning. “Disposable” diapers and other paperish products also do not go down the drain. (The diapers also cannot be thrown into the trash, which makes the problem of proper disposal of them interesting.)
Never had a problem myself. But like others have said, just use it for the little bits after a plate has been scraped clean. I think many people try to put a LOT of stuff down there. It’s great for the little bits that get scraped off the plate. If we peal potatoes for instance, that goes in the trash.
We’ve burned through three garbage disposals since buying the house many years ago. The last one had rusted through somehow - I put ice cubes down the drain to ‘clean it’ and…oh, my, that was unfortunate. So, now we just have a drain, with a nasty little wire screen that catches crap. I don’t like it, it smells and the wire screen gets clogged up. But I spray lysol, or pour down bleach, and I wash the wire screen along with the dirty dishtowels in hot water and a little bleach, so…
yeah bad with septic systems.
you need lots of water to wash the discharge to where it won’t be a problem in your plumbing with any system.
They’re bad for septic systems. They’re also harder on city water treatment systems. So we have the conundrum that in many American cities, code requires that you install a disposer, while experts recommend that you not use it.
I try to minimize use, scraping into the trash, and using a compost pail for scraps from chopping/peeling. But a certain amount of stuff still winds up going down the drain, and I run the disposer to mince that up as much as possible before sending it on.
On the other sink my wife put in a strainer that’s made of standard screen material. It’s amazing how much crud that catches! That sure keeps the drain on that side cleaner. I suppose I could put one in both sides and do even better but I go for the compromise that’s more convenient.
BTW, keep your disposer clean by tossing in a lemon or lime now and then. Even old ones that you’re tossing out help. Another alternative is to toss in some ice cubes and grind them, but I prefer the clean smell from lemons and limes.
We used to have a garbage bag near the sink, long before we lived in a place with a garbage disposal. That’s not practical here and now–especially since a garbage bag would certainly bring ants. I take the trash out just after finishing the dishes, so including scraps from the plates isn’t such a bad idea. Let the ants in the dumpster fight over it intil the trash truck comes for it.
What’s wrong with an actual trash can with a lid, in the corner or something like that?
Nothing, so long as the ants can’t get into it.