Garbage Disposals???

[anakiwa]

So tell me- what is and is not supposed to go down a garbage disposal?

Growing up, one always had to put things in the trash. Everywhere I've lived for the last several years comes with a disposal- and I've gotten more and more lazy about pulling things out of the sink.

Tonight I made dinner and put beet skins and ends, shallot skins and ends, and egg shells down the disposal. Well they made it through the disposal, but completely plugged up the pipe. Both sides of the double sink were completely plugged (in fact when I would turn on the disposal, it would shoot everything from that side of the sink up through the other sink, spraying debris all over the dishes that were drying on that side). Eventually I figured out how to open the bottom of the pipe and was eventually able to clean up the mess and now I have a functioning sink again.

Initially I was thinking the egg shells were where I went wrong, but it seemed like the shallot skins were doing more of the plugging. Any thoughts?

[Andrea]

Fingers






Hehehee..... sorry

[OakLeaf]

I say the shallot skins (anything that isn't "crisp" won't grind). Eggshells are actually supposed to be good for the dispos-alls, they help sharpen the blade.

That said, I don't use mine. "Up north," I compost; "down south," it just jams every single time I use the stupid thing. Supposedly there's a net environmental benefit to using them, but I think that may be only in places where water is plentiful. You have to use a LOT of water and only run one thing down it at a time.

Drain screens are your friend

[Cindyloo]

Never, ever put raw chicken skin through a garbage disposal. It gets all stringy and caught up in the mechanism. It then decomposes and STINKS like no other....

[Zen]

Why not just keep an old coffee can or similar container on your counter top for items like that?

Coffee grounds and eggshells are especially good as compost.
Not chicken skin or meat, though.

[withm]

Disposers don't last forever. The one at my old house "appeared" and "sounded like" it was grinding up food... and it was. Sort of. But it was not grinding it up enough to be washed away, and it accumulated about 50' away in the pipes running thru the basement ceiling. It took two plumber's visits to diagnose this, AND a new disposer.... So if your's is more than say 10 years old, I'd spring for a new one, which is cheaper than 2 plumbers visits, esp if you can install it yourself.

[Trek420]

Fingers

Hehehee..... sorry

OMG, that is always in the back of my mind. But disposals wear out and not only is compost great for a garden and the planet and so on but saves wear and tear on the disposal.

Growing up we composted. It just makes sense. We pay for produce including parts we don't eat,we pay to have the waste disposed of, then we pay for soil amendment and compost

It's best not to put any protein in, attracts critters.

I've replaced the plumbing here twice, snaked it out and replaced some pipes, then later the sink backed up and replaced plumbing to the outside, then the disposal died.

Since I'm remodeling ah heck, take the whole blasted thing out.

The people I bought from fried everything in lard I saw the pipes when the first plumber took them out.

I'd hate to see their arteries

[Tuckervill]

I have a brand new heavy duty Insinkerator brand disposal. It's no pansy. It can grind up anything, and I run it while I rinse the sink, thereby using the water twice (water is not an issue here...except for too much of it at present). It does say to avoid stringy vegetables, like celery. But do put the bones and eggshells in it. I don't compost because I don't garden, (ever since youth baseball took over my springs) and disposals are supposed to be eco-friendly.

I'm fascinated that sewer treatment facilities don't take into account garbage disposals....I really doubt it, having worked for a city water utility. At least where I live, I know they prepare for every eventuality. But isn't human waste just vegetables that went through prior processing?

Karen

[Trek420]

isn't human waste just vegetables that went through prior processing?

Karen

ewww LOL

[Zen]

But isn't human waste just vegetables that went through prior processing?

Not unless your vegetables contain E. coli O157:H7

[Tokie]

(a little hijack)Zen, how long are you going to make us keep watching that space? back to the disussion, I can personally attest that coffee grounds and any thin kind of peels (carrot,potato,apple etc) will not be properly liquified by the disposal and will go through and quite possibly glop up your drain and cost you a plumber's visit. Tokie

[Trek420]

I have a brand new heavy duty Insinkerator brand disposal. It's no pansy.

ok, so, are you calling my disposal a wimp

I must defend the honor of my Legend Series Wasteking Insinkerator 9980

"of course, you know this means war"
~ bugs bunny

[SouthernBelle]

My brother the master plumber thinks garbage disposals are evil, though profitable. I don't have one since he plumbed my house.

[Zen]

Legend Series Wasteking Insinkerator 9980

You know a man came up with that name.

Wasteking ...