Environment
2008-07-01 15:11:00
Flush it...or don’t flush it???
QUESTION: Why do I always seem to have plumbing problems on holidays?
ANSWER: Most folks don’t know this, but by the time the holidays roll around each year, that plumbing system that has taken a beating all summer is just about ready to give it up! The winter freeze, the springtime thaws and rains, the summer heat, the ground baking like an oven…these things all collaborate to give your plumbing system components all they can handle. And by the time that those Thanksgiving & Christmas holidays come around, they have turned into the busiest work days of the year for that hardworking plumber! No kidding!
We get together in large family groups for other holidays throughout the year, enjoy a great meal, serve up that homemade pie with cool whip, settle in for the football games, and someone yells, “Doesn’t your garbage disposal work?” What’ya mean, doesn’t my garbage disposal work? Oh Noooooo!!
That garbage disposal will normally be the one thing that you can expect to give you trouble on any particular holiday. Why, you ask? There have been many, many hours of meal preparation leading up to the festive food frolics at your house, and sometimes there are people helping with that task who start shoving all kinds of waste down that disposal. Sometimes these are items that just cannot be taken apart and gotten rid of by the blades inside that appliance. In any case, if you have to call out an emergency plumber during any of the holidays, he’ll likely just head on into the kitchen without you even telling him why you actually called him out. That’s how sure he’ll be that your disposal is probably not working properly. As we said, family holidays end up being the plumber’s busiest days of the year, and he will likely know pretty accurately what’s going on in your sink. On the other hand, if he heads straight for the bathroom, just give him a few moments alone.
First, even if you aren’t going to be the actual cook for the holiday meals (your mother-in-law can be really pushy when it comes to your kitchen….right) you want to make certain that everyone who is going to be using the garbage disposal knows what shouldn’t be put in there: “We don’t need no corn husks, no grease, no bones, no potato skins, no egg shells, no lettuce, no metal forks or spoons…etc.” You get the picture…right? Secondly, don’t stuff too much down the disposal at once. Just do a little bit at a time. If you see a problem starting to develop, call an emergency plumber before you find yourself standing in a flooded kitchen floor.
It can be tricky, since holiday meals are often group efforts, but you either need to keep track of everything that will go into the disposal, or issue a mandate on how to use it. Everyone will, of course, be very insulted, but it is better to be safe than to have your kitchen flood just as everyone sits down to eat that meal you’ve slaved for hours over.
On a typical holiday, and even more so with a Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, a normal household of 4 or 5 people can swell to more than 20, what with both sides of the family and all of their kids. So consider that there might be 4 or 5 times the number of hands being washed, glasses of water to fill, and trips to the bathroom, which is going to distress your plumbing system in general.
While there is nothing you can do to force people to use the bathroom less or cook less, you can make sure that all of the people in the house (mainly the kids) know what can and can’t be flushed. You might even say to your guests that the plumbing has been acting up, so, if you would, help us to keep a close eye on it. This will ensure that your guests are mindful of the plumbing when they use the garbage disposal or visit the bathrooms, and it might, just might, keep your local plumber off your guest list this summer, and during the fall holiday season.
A good idea, any time of the year, is to have that plumbing system checked out by a pro anytime you see or hear something when you’re using it that just doesn’t sound quite right…hearing water running in the middle of the night when everyone is in bed is not a fun thing to have happen...Some Info was researched on the WorldWideWeb…More Next Month…
