Its safe to say we’re all fairly familiar with the garbage disposal, and we may even reach for the switch without giving it a second thought. What we may not realize, however, is just how big of a role garbage disposals play in prevention bigger problems. Before we get into that, however, let’s first dive into how exactly a garbage disposal works.
HOW YOUR GARBAGE DISPOSAL WORKS
Your garbage disposal is an electrical appliance that lives in the cabinet beneath your sink. A powerful little motor drives a set of blades that chop up, grind and shred your biodegradable food scraps. These scraps are washed into the blades through the disposal’s “mouth”, which is attached to a drain of your kitchen sink basin. As the blades chop and grind the scraps into small particles, the cold running water in your sink cools the mechanism as it sucks the scraps down the drain. When it’s doing its job, these particles are small enough not to clog your drain pipes.
GARBAGE DISPOSAL’S ROLE IN PREVENTION
As stated above, when a garbage disposal is working correctly, food particles that get washed down your sink are made small enough to flow throughout your plumbing with no problems. However, if your disposal is not working correctly, or there is not one in place, food bits and pieces may be too large to be processed through the pipes correctly. This results in clogs and backups, which can lead to broken pipes and flooding within your home. These are all problems that a simple garbage disposal can serve to fix.
HOW LONG DO DISPOSALS LAST?
Is my garbage disposal telling me it’s time to replace? A good-quality garbage disposal should last you 8 to 15 years before you need to start thinking about replacing it. However, that assumes it was properly installed by a trained and licensed plumber, was not abused, and was maintained periodically.
If your disposal is “acting up” as in becoming noisier or constantly jamming or blowing its circuit breaker, it could be telling you its days are numbered. However, it might only need some attention and TLC from a trained professional to bring it back to top performance. Give us a call and we’ll be happy to take a look and give you an honest evaluation.
TIME FOR A NEW DISPOSAL?
Your kitchen garbage disposal makes for simple and convenient cleanups at mealtime by chopping up food scraps and flushing them safely down the drain. Treated well, this modern convenience will serve you tirelessly for years. But what if it starts to become less dependable, quirky, or even smelly? Does it just need some maintenance, or has your garbage disposal simply come to the end of its useful life? These are all questions that we can help you answer.
The garbage disposal experts at Active Plumbing & Air Conditioning Will fix or replace your broken, leaking, or malfunctioning garbage disposal. Active Plumbing & Air Conditioning has repaired, serviced or replaced thousands of garbage disposals here in the Las Vegas valley. We service and repair all brands including InSinkErator, Sears Kenmore, Waste King, Viking, Moen, KitchenAid, General Electric, Whirlpool and more. We’d love to come over and help you solve your disposal problems! Contact us today.