Drains are no mystery. They’re the pathways by which wastewater is taken from your home and deposited in a wastewater treatment plant where it can be cleaned and recycled. In order for this process to work efficiently, however, your drains need to be kept clear of any large amounts of food waste or other materials that could block them. Thus, we have the age-old tradition of trying to avoid drain clogs.
There are two kinds of people in the world—people who think drain clogs are inevitable and people who fight against the possibility of getting one. For the first kind of person, a plumber in East Norriton, PA is always available to help you. For the second kind of person, this blog post is dedicated to you!
We’re going to discuss some handy tools that you can take advantage of if you’re looking to stop a drain clog from forming in the first place.
Keep Your Drains Clear
We will always point to plumbing services offered by a professional as the best type of service you could call for. But the truth is that drain clogs can be avoided by homeowners who know a thing or two about their drains. We’re going to focus on the materials that most often clog drains, as well as the steps you can take to mitigate this problem.
Use a Mesh Screen
Have you ever gone to a neighbor’s house and seen their sink drain covered with a mesh screen? Sure, it might seem silly, until you realize that they needed to call a plumber only half as many times as you! Mesh screens will keep out food waste and anything else that would normally get washed down your sink’s drain and get stuck. Once the screen dries, you can empty it out in the trash can. While this might not seem like a big difference at first, doing this regularly will keep your drain in much better shape than it would be otherwise!
Avoid FOG
No, we’re not talking about the mist you see in the morning. We’re talking about FOG as in fats, oils, and grease. These materials when flushed down your kitchen drain will liquefy when heated and then solidify when cooled down. So if any of them get trapped in your drain and solidify, you’ve got a solid block in your plumbing that’s going to be hard to get out. Some of these materials remain viscous and hard to pump out by normal means, so you’ll eventually need the help of a plumber if you continue to put these materials down your drain.
A good idea when dealing with FOG is to dump it into a plastic or paper receptacle after you’re done cooking with it, so that it can be dumped out in the trash. Or, if it’s easier, you can wait until the FOG has solidified and scrape it off into the trash in one swift motion. Either way, avoid dumping FOG down your drain and we promise you’ll thank us later!
Call the experts at Carney Plumbing Heating & Cooling if you need extra help with your drains today!