Chesapeake In The Know

I am lucky enough to somehow always avoid being the cook on Thanksgiving. But that means I’m always on cleanup duty. If you’re like me, listen up. How you clean up those dishes could determine whether or not you’ll be making an emergency call to a plumber later that night!

The wastewater system is not designed to carry food scraps, oil, grease, or anything other than water (and your personal waste). Fats, oils, and grease poured down the sink can lead to big problems.  They solidify along the walls of the pipes and can lead to clogs that cause serious damage to the system. Clogged pipes could back up into your home, bringing all of that yucky stuff from the kitchen sink (and the bathroom, mind you) right back into your home.

Luckily, you can prevent this from happening. Pour used cooking grease and oils into an empty soup can, store it in the freezer (so it solidifies and doesn’t start to smell) and then toss it into the garbage on your pickup day. Stop using the garbage disposal which only makes smaller pieces of food that can still cling to the grease and oil already on the pipe walls. Scrape all leftover food into the regular garbage can instead.  And finally, use a sink strainer to catch any extra food scraps that might make their way into the sink.  

We wish you a happy, healthy, and clog-free Thanksgiving!