Your drainage is only for draining water, nothing else is supposed to be put down in it. But that’s not always the case. With better sewage systems and garbage disposers, we are throwing more and more things down the drain.
There are many obvious things you shouldn’t dispose of through your drainage system, for eg: metal pieces. But then there are some items you are not sure about. This is a list of such items; the items you think are safe to throw the drain but which you shouldn’t.
1. Rice & Pasta
Rice and pasta absorb water and expand. Not only that, it takes forever for them to dissolve in water. This means they can easily clog your drain.
2. Eggshells
What harm can tiny pieces of eggshells cause? More than you know. Eggshells stick to each other and clog the drain.
Of course, you may have a disposer unit. But even the best garbage disposal cannot grind and dispose of egg shells. Instead, the thin membranes of the eggshells when ground become sticky and over time leads to clogs.
The good thing is these egg shells are good fertilizer for plants. So instead of putting them down the drain compost them or simply put them in your pots.
3. Milk
Milk? I have been pouring milk down the drain for years now, never had a clog!
That’s right, milk doesn’t create clogs.
Then why is it on this list?
That is because putting the milk down the sink causes environmental problems so serious that this practice is banned in the UK. Milk requires a lot of Oxygen to decompose, which means that in water the milk absorbs all the oxygen that is for fishes and other creatures effectively killing them.
So how do you dispose of it? Just leave it in the trash can.
4. Flour
Like rice and pasta flour also expands when in contact with water creating a sticky substance. They will stick to the sides of your drain pipes and gradually gets bigger creating nasty clogs.
5.Coffee grounds
Coffee grounds do not dissolve in water. Not only that they clumb together in the drain line gradually leading to big clogs.
Instead of putting down the drain you can use these coffee grounds as fertilizer for your plants. There are also lots of uses with coffee grounds some of which you can check here.
6. Oil and other fatty substances
What can a little oil do to your drainage? You will be surprised to here they are the main reason behind 50% of clogs.
As you know oil and fats do not dissolve in water. This means that it is possible for them to accumulate in some part of the drainage pipes. Over time they get bigger reducing water flow and finally clogging the drainage. Imagine having to clean the drainage of sticky, greasy things, you are better off putting them in the trash can.
7. Hair
I guess you know what a big ball of hair can cause your drainage. Some of the clogs may be broken using a plunger but never this one.
But it is likely that no one put them down the drain on purpose but that hasn’t stopped thousands of drainages from clogging. You can use a ‘hair stopper’ for your drainage, they are very practical, cheap and easily available everywhere.
8. Glue
I don’t think anyone in their right mind will pour down a bottle of glue down a sinkhole (There are always exceptions). If this is such a no-brainer why do I mention it here? Because even the most intelligent people throw down those small stickers on fruits and bottles down the drain. The thing is it is not just paper, but paper with glue. As you know paper dissolves in water but the glue remains to clog drainages over the long term.
So take a little more time disposing these tiny sources of glue into the trash can.
9. Condoms
Flushing condoms down the toilet is a common practice, and everyone has done it at least once. But you do realize that condoms are ‘impregnable’, even a few of them can lead to a nasty clog somewhere down the drainage pipes. So be responsible and use the trash can.
10. Cigarette butts
It is very convenient to throw down cigarette butts down the kitchen sink, don’t you think? After all what harm can a few of them a day cause?
If smoking is injurious to your health cigarette butts are injurious to a well-functioning drainage. They are not easy to flush down, and even if you do the filters expands when in contact with water clogging the drainage at some point. Not only that these materials contain harmful toxins that are a threat to the environment, getting them in any water supply is not wise.
Definitely, there may be more items than the ones on my list above, but I hope this gives you a better idea of the subject.