# What I just learned from a plumber.



## SurviveNthrive (May 20, 2010)

He's here right now, it's going to run $400 for everything that has to be done. It's frustrating because I don't have the tools and the know how for the major problem, and plumbing isn't exactly foreign to me and this is apparently a matter of decades of use finally causing a problem.

What I learned with garbage disposals is don't ever allow PASTA, RICE and/or GREASE to get down them. The grease is inadvertent, but the PASTA and RICE I did not know about, heck, I've seen them shove a tree limb in some garbage disposals.

The plumbers who did the work and gave estimates all said the same thing-don't use Liquid Plumber, it might loosen the clog just enough to give you a really, really bad problem.

_What Not to Put in a Garbage Disposal
From Stephen Hallo III, former About.com Guide

What Not to Put in a Garbage Disposal

Throughout the ages, people have used the garbage disposal to rid the kitchen of slimy, sticky and stinky things. Well not really throughout the ages, just since its invention in 1927. Since that exciting day, the garbage disposal has become an appliance of legend and wonder. Despite what you may have heard, not everything can go into a garbage disposal. It's called a garbage disposal, not an in-sink trash can. Here is a list of common items that should never be put into a disposal unit:

Rice and pasta- No matter how much water you run or how long you run the appliance, you can never break rice or pasta down small enough. Both items swell when they are in contact with water, so the small pieces will eventually gather in the trap and swell until it is closed.

Animal bones- The garbage disposal is just not strong enough to break these down small enough to fit through. Animal bones are the most common thing that jams disposals.

Grease- The grease will eventually solidify and clog a portion, or all, of your drain.

Egg shells- Despite what you may have heard, egg shells do not sharpen disposal blades. I'm not even sure how someone would think that would work.

Mostly they just end up clogging the line.

Any kind of stringy or tough-peeled vegetable- This includes asparagus, lettuce, celery and potato peels. Maybe in a small amount the disposal can handle it, but I wouldn't try it.

The old adage of "less is more" definitely applies to the garbage disposal. Only small amounts of table scraps should go into the disposal. If you find that something from the above list has jammed your disposal it's a relatively easy process to unjam it._

What's safe to put down a garbage disposal?

Water.


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## mosquitomountainman (Jan 25, 2010)

We have chickens, a dog, cat and goat for our garbage disposals. If they won't eat it it goes to compost pile.

Seriously, one of the reasons we live like we do is because I got tired of fixing all those labor saving conveniences we used to have. If I could figure out how to get by without the vehicles they'd be gone too. :gaah:


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## The_Blob (Dec 24, 2008)

we don't waste food like that in this house...


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## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

Yep. 
Between us, the dogs, cats, horses, goats and chickens, food is never pitched. Eggshell goes directly into one of the gardens and gets tilled under in spring and fall.


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## OldCootHillbilly (Jul 9, 2010)

Used ta work on the commercial ones, be why we ain't got one!:gaah:

Sorry bout the troubles there survive, stinks an dang plumbers er expensive!


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## SurviveNthrive (May 20, 2010)

It's good to know...now...passing it on to help others.


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## Clarice (Aug 19, 2010)

If the critters won't eat it, it goes in the compost. Waste not, want not.


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## bunkerbob (Sep 29, 2009)

Our disposal empties right out into the front veggie garden with the sink water, it gets stopped up occasionally but not much and easy to unstop. The chickens think it's payday when they hear the disposal come on.


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## gypsysue (Mar 27, 2010)

Clarice said:


> If the critters won't eat it, it goes in the compost. Waste not, want not.


Absolutely! Our way of doing things, exactly!


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## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

bunkerbob said:


> Our disposal empties right out into the front veggie garden with the sink water, it gets stopped up occasionally but not much and easy to unstop. *The chickens think it's payday when they hear the disposal come on*.


:lolsmash: :lolsmash: That's funny!!! It's also a great idea!

Our washing machine water makes it's way into the lower end of the lower garden.


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## dawnwinds58 (Jul 12, 2010)

*Send it down the food chain!*

Please remember when feeding livestock there are some things you don't want to put in some animals. Bones cooked, can splinter and shard. This can kill dogs, cats, chickens, ducks, and pigs. Anything with yeast or baking powder can hurt dogs and horses. Chocolate is toxic to dogs and can cause colic in horses. Think about what is proper diet for each animal, what they pick on their own. Corn is not the end all to feed and has little nutrition though many calories; cornmeal for humans can swell and bust a gut or gizzard easily is you have a piggy hen or goose, even rice and raw pasta can do this. We don't waste anything, all veggie trimmings go to chickens and geese; all meat trimmings to dogs. Some people around here will call us when they see a deer freshly dead on the road. It becomes Rat Terrier food in a heartbeat, and they love it. Broken egg shell and coffee grounds can save your tomatos. The grounds make the soil acidic and the shells help prevent blossom end rot.
Always find a place to send it, rather than waste it.


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## pdx210 (Jan 8, 2010)

SurviveNthrive said:


> What Not to Put in a Garbage Disposal
> 
> Rice and pasta- Any kind of stringy or tough-peeled vegetable- This includes asparagus, lettuce, celery and potato peels. Maybe in a small amount the disposal can handle it, but I wouldn't try it.


i put these down the disposal all the time but not large helpings just bits off a plate. The way to keep your disposal heath is run a cup or two of ice cubs through the thing every month


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## SurviveNthrive (May 20, 2010)

Dude says that this stuff adds up over time, _even decades_. I estimate this took since the late 1980's to accummulate in the pipes.

I'm not even going to let that place residue get in there. I ain't going to be paying for this in 2032!


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## pdx210 (Jan 8, 2010)

Humm..... I've never had problems with clogged pipes but i don't dump cooking oil down the sink or run lots of stuff down the disposal.


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## SurviveNthrive (May 20, 2010)

pdx210 said:


> Humm..... I've never had problems with clogged pipes but i don't dump cooking oil down the sink or run lots of stuff down the disposal.


Neither did anyone in this house, since like 1986!

Until last week.


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## nj_m715 (Oct 31, 2008)

pdx210 said:


> The way to keep your disposal heath is run a cup or two of ice cubs through the thing every month


Just watch out for the mother bear, their don't to have their young frozen and stuffed down a disposal.


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## SurviveNthrive (May 20, 2010)

nj_m715 said:


> Just watch out for the mother bear, their don't to have their young frozen and stuffed down a disposal.


Great catch, funny typo!

I needed a good laugh and that was one.

:congrat:


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## nj_m715 (Oct 31, 2008)

I feel like I'm the pot calling the kettle black. Spelling is not one of my strengths, but it was the first thing that popped into my head when I read it. 

I'm sure I'll leave the door open for pdx to get me back.


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## pdx210 (Jan 8, 2010)

SurviveNthrive said:


> Great catch, funny typo!
> 
> I needed a good laugh and that was one.
> 
> :congrat:


lol...

i have auto spell check on the apple and obviously i don't often catch the typos:gaah:


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## Jason (Jul 25, 2009)

I honestly never knew that about the egg shells. I eat around a dozen egg whites a week and always just pitched the shells and yolks. They'll be on the pile from now on.


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## SurviveNthrive (May 20, 2010)

This was an eye opener, it changed a perspective, something we receive percautions on might actually be a matter of thinking "I don't have a problem" when it's "I don't have a problem, yet."


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## The_Blob (Dec 24, 2008)

Jason said:


> I honestly never knew that about the egg shells. I eat around a dozen egg whites a week and always just pitched the shells and yolks. They'll be on the pile from now on.


my ex-gf ate a lot of egg whites, which worked out perfect for me, because I would add the yolks to my scrambled eggs :2thumb:

she was more than a tad miffed when my cholesterol was 40 pts lower than hers, anecdoatlly proving (to me) that heredity is SO much more important than diet & I estimate 50% of 'nutrition' info is just another control mechanism.  :nuts:


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## muskratmama (Aug 4, 2010)

UncleJoe said:


> :lolsmash: :lolsmash: That's funny!!! It's also a great idea!
> 
> Our washing machine water makes it's way into the lower end of the lower garden.


And easier than hauling it to them in a bucket. Chickens will eat anything. I wish they'd leave some coffee grounds for the carrots.


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## survivalist72 (Jan 4, 2012)

we don't have one when we built our house for that very reason. It also takes longer to break down in the septic tank as well.
we do like many of the others here it goes to the animals what can and what can't goes to the compost pile and what can't go there goes in trash to be picked up.


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## jungatheart (Feb 2, 2010)

I open the window over the sink and pitch it out. Always gets eaten by something. 

I've seen a Vulture swallow a chicken leg bone whole.


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## TommyJefferson (May 12, 2010)

Kitchen sink drains are for liquids.

Solid waste goes in the trash can.

These are like $2 at Wal-Mart.









After working in commercial kitchens for many years, no house I own will ever have a "garbage disposal".

But hey, the RotoRooter man has to eat too right?


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## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

We keep a bucket of crushed egg shells to put around the base of our tomato plants. Hubby's grandpa said it cuts the bellys of soft-bodied critters that would make a meal of it. As it breaks down, it adds calcium to prevent blossom-end rot (like someone already said) - a 2-for-1 deal! 

We have a septic tank so no garbage disposal for us.


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