Pumpkins and Drains = Not a Good Combination

Most of us look forward to the fun of Halloween each year.  Trick-or-treating, disguising ourselves as our heroes, favorite villains or poster bunnies is nothing without the carving of pumpkins.  The entire holiday is enjoyable until it’s time to get rid of the pumpkin guts.

Some make a pumpkin pie, or roast the seeds.  Others simply throw the pumpkin remains into the trash or in compost and the rest decide to dispose of the gristly, gooey waste down the garbage disposal.  After that, it does not take long before the real Halloween plumbing nightmare really begins.

What the rest do not realize is that the glob of gummy pulp and large pumpkin seeds is too sticky and massive to slide through the pipes without problems.   In addition, as the amount of refuse multiplies (as pumpkins contain a lot of pulp, strings and seeds), the more trouble you are going to have.  The same goes for toilets.  We are still talking about pipes, pumpkin pulp, strings and guts that will progressively harden making the mass more and more difficult to remove through the pipes.

Just as pumpkins can damage or clog your drains, there is a long list of other obstacles and substances that will almost guarantee kitchen drain problems and bathroom plumbing issues.  Grease, oils and fats are not only disastrous for household plumbing systems, but also threaten local sewage systems which can cause health and environmental hazards.  Food scraps are included in this category.  Once the greasy matter passes down the drain it does not leave the pipes and instead embeds itself within the walls throughout the entire water system.

Even more serious than pumpkins, food and grease emptied into a drain is liquid paint.  Paint will accumulate within a water piping system as will grease, but the chemicals involved not only create clog pipes, but instigate a health and environmental hazard.   Pouring paint down a drain is even more dangerous than food and grease.

Unfortunately, many of us find out about household drain mistakes too late.  If you are finding yourself with a bathroom plumbing or kitchen drain emergency this Halloween, or any time of year, give Rapid Rooter in South Florida a call 877-202-6874, or visit your South Florida plumber.