Look, I was stupid. We’ll just get that part out of the way now.
Kitchen sink has two basins and is right next to the dishwasher. I had just finished up loading the dishwasher and started it. Then, in a fit of cleaning, I threw some shriveled baby carrots and onions into garbage disposal with the water running and turned on the disposal. That part seemed to go fine, until the smell of onion became overwhelming, so I cut up an old lemon and threw one quarter in as well.
That . . . did a bad thing.
The two sinks do communicate with one another. Now, when I run the garbage disposal, water and shredded onion backs up into the other sink. If I let them sit, the water levels between them equalize, though there’s no shredded stuff on the disposal side.
Checked the disposal. Nothing in it. Hit the reset button. Runs the same as it has been. Pulled out as much of the shredded onion from the other sink as I could. No sign of carrots. Only sign of lemon is the produce sticker.
Went and got the plunger. Thought about where the plunger had been and also got the bottle of bleach. Poured approximately 1 cup of bleach into the sink without the disposal, raised the water level above the top of the plunger cup (because air compresses while water doesn’t) and went to town. All I managed to do was pump water into the other sink.
I’ve stopped the dishwasher and checked it. Nothing appears caught or plugged.
Now I have two sinks half full of disgusting, onion shred filled bleach water, the disposal runs and runs and runs, and neither sink will clear.
It has happened to me too. What I did was get the nerve to stick my hand in the dirty water and take a rag and stuff it in one of the drains and hold it there while the other hand did the plunging in the other sink. This will force the pressure down and hopefully solve your problems.
Also, on a whim, I just plugged the disposal sink and plunged the other sink. Got some fizzy bubbles, and some water came out of what I can only imagine is a relief valve next to the faucet. On removing the pluger and the plug, the sinks equalized with a few more fizzy bubbles, and that was all.
The good news is that now that you’ve but bleach in there, you can’t do anything until everything drains past the clog. Have a beer.
Tomorrow morning, look under the sink. There’s probably a nut at the base of the disposal; loosen it, take of the base of the disposal (oh, unplug the disposal and put the dishpan under it) and see if you can fish the gunk out.
Your drain is plugged downstream from the disposal. The disposal isn’t the cause of, or the soluton, the problem. It’s an easy fix, but I am not sure I can explain it to you.
In the cabinet underneath the sink, there’s a pipe (hopefully PVC) that leads from the bottom of the disposal that takes the broken down food and water to the sewer (septic field). It will have a collar that tightens and seals the pipe to the disposal exit. You need to put a bucket below that pipe, then unscrew the collar which will release the pipe, and all the scraps and water that are in the sinks/dishwasher will come gushing out (hence the bucket.) If you’re lucky, and in my experience you will be about 90% of the time, the plug will be in that section or just past it, and a screwdriver or a coat hanger will be enough to break up the clog. If so, reattach the pipe and run water through the drain for a minute or two. Check for leaks under the sink.
Most of the time this will solve the problem, but if not it is time to call a plumber. A handyman with a drain snake will be cheaper, it really isn’t something that requires a plumber in most cases.
A possible solution I’ve heard of but haven’t personally used. You run your garden hose into the kitchen and put it into the drain. Wrap a bunch of towels around it and then have somebody outside turn the hose on while you hold it in place (or do it as a solo operation if you’ve got a good nozzle control). Supposedly the water pressure from the hose is much higher and it’ll blast everything down the pipe.
In this situation, where you have two sink drains, you’re going to want to close off the other drain as well or you’ll end up with most of the water going into one drain and spraying back out the other.
I’ll just chime in to mention that the ‘relief valve’ next to the faucet is to make sure that when you do something like plunge your sink* you don’t send a bunch of dirty water into the dishwasher, but instead back up that.
*It’s actually an anti-siphon valve and it’s there to make sure that when the dishwasher is done draining it doesn’t suck dirty water back down the hose from your disposal…but it’ll do this job as well.
ETA Here’s a poorly drawn but really good picture of what that thing is. The dishwasher pushes the drain water up to that point, through this air gap and to the disposal. Then when it’s done draining, and the water that’s still in the hose falls back down, it sucks air in behind it instead of just pulling the dirty water that’s sitting in your drain back to the dishwasher. When you plunged the drain, you pushed all that water backwards towards your dishwasher and got stopped by this (though some probably made it through). You need this because the dishwasher is draining uphill. If your dishwasher draining down to a drain in your basement, you wouldn’t need this.
Here is a video that shows how to unclog a sink drain, although it is a bathroom sink. The steps are essentially the same and it will help you out. Ignore the part at the end about the drain plunger, a kitchen sink doesn’t have that.
Depending on the lay out of the piping under the sink you may not have to remove the disposal. Start by locating the “P” trap and remove it. If it is clear check to see if the drain from the sink to the trap is clear. If it is the inspect down stream. Remember when you remove the trap you will need to catch the water. I would expect the plug to be at one of the fittings, that is 90 degree elbows or “T”.
Okay, this might come across as somewhat complicated but it isn’t.
Under your sink…where the dishwasher hose connects to the garbage disposal is a rubber fitting. Use a pair of vice grips or another human being with a pair of pliers to crimp the rubber fitting.
Then fill both sinks about half-way.
Then force a sink stopper or another plunger into one of the sinks…and plunge the hell out of the other.
I can tell you this…after awhile it’ll become clear that the plunging seems either easy or very difficult. By that I mean either the water (and plunger) will tend to bounce around or just be difficult to move.
If the former, the waters probably bouncing up a stack (vent) and you’ll need to snake the drain… OR keep plunging
(I cleaned drains for about 15 years and got so good at it that I once unclogged a drain with an empty pepsi bottle)
Remove the p trap as that is likely where it’s all plugged. Everything you keep moving water back and forth from is connected together before your p trap.
plunging may be difficult to get results because you have four locations where the pressure can go and you want to have only one.
your blockage seems to be after the drains of the sinks combine. with a pail or pan underneath remove the P trap remove it (large pliers or wrench). the blockage may be in the trap.
onions are stringy and can easily clog drains. a small composting pile or container could be used for much vegetable residue.
chemicals is a last resort in clearing plumbing, bleach won’t do anything to clear plumbing, though bleach is a hazard to clothes and eyeballs.
Good heavens just get under the sink and take the drains apart til you find the wad of onion (a notorious drain clogger) All the fittings should be hand tight. All you need is a bucket and your hands. Taking apart and clearing the drains is so easy I taught my kid to do it when he was about 8.
