One of the most indispensable in our modern kitchen is our garbage disposal that makes food preparation and clean-up a breeze. Mounted underneath our kitchen sink, it grinds up food scraps that goes into drain with a heavy flow of water. The blades or shredder breaks down food debris in its grinding chamber and then an impeller arm and plate forces the liquid and debris down into the drainage pipe. Water coming from the dishwasher also runs through the garbage disposal unit so that any large particles are caught, grounded up and flushed into the line.

A good quality garbage disposal can usually last many years or more depending upon its proper care and usage. Simple problems easy to repair; but with a serious problem, you are better off replacing the whole unit.

Lots of people stuff everything and anything into the garbage disposal. But did you know that there are quite a bit of things that can be damaging to your disposal and plumbing systems?

Garbage Disposal Tip

To make your disposal work at its best:

• Use cold water when grinding food (hot water can melt fats and cause a clog in the disposer’s mechanism and the pipes
• Do not overfill
• Do not pour bleach, drain cleaners or other chemicals into the unit
• Do not grind overly fibrous materials (such as corn husks, onion peels, artichokes or celery stalks), bones, rice, coffee grounds, egg shells, fruit or vegetable peelings, or such materials as glass, rubber or metal
• Always run water before and after you use your disposal

Word to the Wise

When something is caught accidentally in the disposal, switch off the unit and use tongs or a needle-nose pliers to extract the item out. Never use your hand.

To clean a garbage disposal of built-up sludge and debris, fill it with ice cubes and a cup of rock salt and then run it for about five seconds. If your garbage disposal smells,  you can deodorize it by running water down while you grind a lemon.

Always – read the operation manual!

When a repair is warranted, the expert – Mr. Rooter Plumbing is available at your fingertips. Call us at the number listed here, usually we will be at your location within the hour any time day or night, holiday and weekends.

Every homeowner must know that malfunctioning shut off valves can lead to a variety of problems including increased maintenance repair costs, and even worse, costs in replacing your damaged property once a leak occur.

In the event  of a water emergency in your home, everyone in your household should know what an emergency shut off valve is and where it is located. Usually, it is found under your kitchen sink, behind your toilet, underneath your lavatory sink and on top of your washer box.  Although we cannot prevent mother nature from flooding our home with rain water, we can at least help prevent floods inside our homes by turning off these valves.

To exercise care in making sure that these devices on all our plumbing fixtures remain in tip-top shape, we should occasionally turn them on and off.  It is recommended that we do this every couple of months to ensure they are in proper working order. Especially in Naples and Fort  Myers area, where the water is high in chlorine and is corrosive to the small o-rings found in these shut-offs.

Generally speaking, just by doing this simple care can save you a lot of trouble and headaches in repair. However, like most other things, they only work when they are properly maintained.

Mr. Rooter offers a free plumbing check up of your drain and plumbing system with every service call. As your service professional, we would be glad to come to your home or business at any time, day or night, 24/7. We do not charge any extra for coming out on an emergency call and no night or overtime charges.