I’ve heard multiple times that it’s not okay to allow any food to go down the drain even with a garbage disposal, I guess because solids shouldn’t go down the drain. But we put a shit ton of solids down the drain through the toilet and that seems to be fine. Does the toilet go to a different sewage pipe then the sink? Or does shit have different properties that make it dissolve better?
Food itself isn’t the issue - it’s the big chunks and oil/grease/fat. It’s better to pour it down the toilet, since the volume of water you flush it with is greater and the drain diameter there is larger as well (110 mm) compared to the pipes under your sink, which are usually 75 mm in diameter, sometimes even just 50 mm. Solids are also more likely to clog the P-trap under your kitchen sink.
Eventually, it all ends up in the same drain system anyway, so in that sense there’s no real difference.
Source: I’m a plumber.
Since anyone can say anything online I’m gonna need to see some butt crack for verification.
Careful what you ask for.
So if, say, someone poured bacon grease down the sink for several years until the sink stopped emptying, the solution would just be to pop the p trap off and clean it out? Seems simple enough. I always thought it would accumulate in the main line until that clogged.
No, grease does accumulate throughout the entire sewage system. It’s the solids that most easily clog the P-trap.
As a separate plumber, I would remove the p-trap and snake it until I can get good flow, then install new p-trap.
From my experience plumbing and replacing drain lines, it’s the pipe from the kitchen to the main that backs up and clogs first. A kitchen drain will be 1 1/2” or 2” pipe, and a main will be 3”-4”. Problems come up when the drain isn’t supported properly, or the piping has a lot of warp with low and high spots. As it fills with grease it will begin to sag more in spots and exasperates any existing dips.
I recommend people use enzymatic drain cleaners, not acid cleaners, once or twice a year with hot water to break down any grease deposits.
Thanks for the advice! Good stuff!
I flush food down the toilet occasionally. Works great in places without garbage disposals.