Keep Your Drain and Pipe System Happy for the Holidays

It is the holiday season, and people are busy preparing their presents and getting ready to welcome relatives and friends on Christmas Day. We would like to offer a friendly reminder to go easy on your drain and pipe system. Otherwise, it could take a beating during the holidays.

There are many reasons that your drain and pipe system could falter during the holiday season. Grease and food waste from cooking can gum up the works. Also, out-of-town guests can put heavy strain on showers and toilets.

The holiday season is one of the busiest for the piping industry. Drain cleaning and rootering companies often get calls about a backed up sink or a backed up toilet.

Here are a few tips to prevent holiday drain cleaning problems:

• Remind guests to treat the toilet kindly – Consider hanging a sign reminding people not to throw facial scrub pads, hair, cotton balls and other products into the toilet. Provide a trashcan in the bathroom, and remind guests that toilets should only be used to flush toilet paper.
• Schedule showers – If you have a number of guests clamoring to use your shower, have them plan their showers in advance, allowing for 10 to 15 minutes in between. This can allow a slow drain to have adequate time to work efficiently before the next shower. It can also help distribute the use of the hot water.
• Do not pour fats or cooking oil into the drain – Fats and cooking oil will solidify upon reaching the pipes, causing clogging. Wipe your pots and pans with a paper towel to absorb grease and toss the towels into the trashcans.
• Do not throw fibrous waste into the garbage disposal – Stringy or fibrous waste, such as potato peels, celery and similar items, will clog your drain. They should be thrown into the trash instead of the garbage disposal.
• Run cold water for 15 seconds before and after using the garbage disposal – This will help flush the waste down the sewer line and avoid clogging.

Call us if you encounter a problem over the holidays. The experts at Utah Rooter can get your drain and pipe system up and running before it puts a damper on your Christmas.