This is the real issue with sink disposal units - most municipal sewage treatment plants really can’t deal with substances other than poop and toilet paper. Grinding up other foodstuffs creates undigested matter that clogs the filters and reverse osmosis units at the plant.
It’s very important to minimize material going down the drain - strain it out and compost it.
Banana peels are definitely a no-no from personal experience. Citrus peels (or whole pieces of citrus that have passed their edibility date) on the other hand are great for the disposal, cleans it out and leaves a nice smell.
Other bad experiences: shrimp shells (just pass right through the disposal and clog the drain). Cores from fibrous veggies like celery or lettuce. I never try bones of any type (well maybe an occasional fish bone) - even if the disposal can handle it, the racket it makes is frightening.
I do make it a point to only buy higher-end disposals, mainly because they are much quieter. A side benefit is better grinding performance.
Because they have had issues with dumbass tenants in the past, who thought they had license to literally dispose of food garbage, is my thought. Quantity over time matters, a single eggshell won’t do much, but an entire carton of expired eggs would.
Knowing your own maintenance is important. Taking a disposal off is easy. If it stops working completely, learn how to unjam it which in every case I know of is a 1/4 inch Allen wrench, there’s a port on the very bottom. If you need to take it off to unclog completely, that’s pretty easy though messy. Disconnect the hoses, stick a screwdriver in the bracket on top and rotate to unscrew.
Not all disposals are considered septic-safe, but they make disposals meant for them.
Kitchen sinks are usually 1.5 inches nominal, bathroom sinks 1.25 or 1.5, and toilet flanges 3 or 4 inches.
It sounds like the high rise pipes are already coated with grease. So just about anything is likely to attach to it and cause another layer to form. The powder formed by ground egg/shells is particularly bad for this. The landlord needs to make a practice of flushing them with enzymatic cleaner late at night.
I’ve always made it my practice to run the disposal right before I run the dishwasher. That way anything that goes down gets treated to hot water with strong enzymes in it to make sure it gets all the way to the sewer. A strong, sharp, disposal is also important. Old ones just bend or rip pieces, and can even jam them together into a bigger mess. A disposal needs replacing sometimes before it “quits.”
It is commonly recommended to not rinse plates before putting into dishwasher. Just scrape off the large solids.
Potato skins in the disposal can become a starchy paste that can cause clogs.
So, again, if the only things you’re supposed to put in a disposal are things you could put in an ordinary drain anyway, why have the disposal?
I think that sums it up.
Coffee grounds, egg shells, and sand are things you do not want going down your waste lines. The problem is they are not water soluble and do not decay. Assuming they get past the U bend, any place the flow slows down, the insoluble material will accumulate. And will stay there forever, or at least until someone cleans the pipe.
This is a huge problem in industrial buildings where the workers often dump old coffee pots down the drain. Each pot might not have much insolubles, but it accumulates. My company actually replaced all the old style coffee machines with Keurig-style, after yet another expensive plumbing repair from the office kitchenettes.
The same thing is true regarding fat and grease. If you pour off the excess grease into another container and then wash the dish, you’re OK. Pouring that grease down the sink is not; I use a soup can that goes into the freezer, and then the trash when it’s full.
You also need to run lots of water, more than you think you will need.
Apple corps? The word has the same pronunciation, anyway. I’m assuming that fibrous area around the seeds doesn’t grind up well?
No, Apple Corps was the company the Beatles started to sell Apple Records.
I think grinding beetles in your garbage disposal is also contraindicated.
Yeah, it might leave a ringo round the pipe.
Yeah, a fat finger and not a good proofread after posting.
My parents put a lot of things is their disposal, including all egg shells, melon rinds, and god knows what else. They never had an issue. I’m quite a bit more careful, but will put a piece of lemon peel in now and then.
Related thread which discusses some of these issues
Yes, worthless and very bad for the environment, too.
All that stuff you are putting down there ought to go in your compost pile for recycling.
And the large amount of clean water you are wasting to wash that down is a burden on the city water supply.
I do something similar. I pour the grease into an empty beer can (or something similar). I do not freeze it but toss it in the trash when the time comes.
Not sure why waste down the drain that goes through a filtration system is “worse” than putting it in a landfill. And, FWIW, I live in Chicago which is right next to a Great Lake…we have more fresh water than almost anyone else in the world (for the most part what we take out is put back after being cleaned).
I use my disposer on a daily basis for all manner of vegetable waste. I’ve done this for over 10 years with no clogs. My only caveat is grease.