Why Should You Never Pour Grease Down the Drain

It is unhealthy to cook using oil, grease, or fats. Disposing of them by dumping them down the drain or washing your pan in the sink immediately after cooking might be tempting. Some individuals toss their leftover grease into the sink without thinking twice or wash pans with cooking oil and other fats. Dumping grease, oil, and other cooking lipids down the drain is one of the most prevalent causes of plumbing problems.

Even when individuals run hot water in the hopes that it would clear any possible problems, grease-caused blockages may build and have a terrible effect on your drainage system, pipes, and whole sewage system. Elizabeth Drain Service can assist you in developing dependable methods for disposing of grease securely, efficiently, and without risking blockages or other plumbing issues, as well as give answers when a clog occurs. Continue reading for a thorough list of grease disposal dos and don’ts!

Why Is Grease Harmful to Your Pipes?Although it may seem handy to pour leftover oil down the sink drain after cooking, it is significantly more dangerous than most people know. Grease and cooking oil may cause substantial damage to your drainage, waste, and sewage systems by causing clogs.
The incorrect disposal of fats, oils, and grease (FOG) may cause plumbing jams and even entire pipe blockages. Grease contained in butter, margarine, pork fats, lard, shortening, vegetable oil, sauces, and salad dressings may produce harmful accumulation in the pipes when it thickens and combines with other oil particles. If FOG builds up in your pipes, it may block water flow throughout your house and prevent your pipes from draining correctly.

What Happens When Grease Goes Down the Drain?
How can grease block drains? At their most fundamental, grease-caused obstructions are a matter of chemistry – grease hardens as it cools and may get caught in your pipes and clog drains. As you pour your used cooking oil and grease down the drain, the fats in the grease degrade into their most basic components, fatty acids, and glycerol.

Because of concrete degradation, the fatty acids in the grease progressively bond to the calcium contained in sewers and sewage pipes. When the acids and calcium react, a waxy, soap-like substance forms. When individuals flush more grease down their drains, these solid compounds eventually build on the sewage pipe roof and produce fat stalactites known as “fatbergs.”

Combatting the Fatbergs
A fatberg is a combination of the terms “fat” and “iceberg,” It refers to a large amount of crystallized fat that may clog sewage lines. When individuals throw grease and oil down the drain, they create a fatberg. These materials then solidify and attach to non-biodegradable things such as baby wipes. Fatbergs may cause significant harm to wastewater treatment facilities and need considerable effort to remove.

A little bit of grease and oil may create significant difficulties over time. Even if you’re merely washing and scrubbing the leftovers of grease and oil from old pots and pans, you may wash items down the drain and contribute to forming new fatbergs. It is critical to note that as these hardened obstructions grow, congealed fat accumulates, clogging the sewage system and causing severe backup difficulties.

Pouring frying oil down the drain endangers your home’s pipes and drainage system, but hardened fat clogs may also seriously affect your sewage system.

What Effect Does Pouring Grease Down the Drain Have on Your Sewage System?
Fat accumulation builds and grips onto particles inside sewage pipes over time, making removing it much more difficult. These hardened fat deposits make complete and appropriate pipe cleaning exceedingly tricky and may even spread outside of your home’s particular drainage system. Fatbergs formed by grease blockages may restrict wastewater flow, causing significant sewage backups and ruptures in extreme circumstances.

Sewer system damage may have a huge detrimental influence on the environment. Sanitary sewer overflows, or SSOs, discharge untreated or only partially treated sewage due to faulty sewer materials or poor sewer maintenance. SSOs provide several health hazards, including the spread of viruses and bacteria and the development of mold and fungus. Although SSOs can cause massive property damage, human waste in bodies of water and drinking sources contaminants.

Moreover, grease and oil may enter and pollute natural waterways such as rivers and lakes. Excess fat introduced into a body of water may reduce the water’s oxygen levels and smother any animals. You can guarantee the effective operation of your neighboring wastewater treatment systems by properly disposing of FOG.

How Can You Get Rid of Grease?
Is it OK to throw oil down the drain? It is preferable to employ alternative disposal options. Here are some ideas on how to properly dispose of grease.

1. Let it completely dry
Allowing the oil to cool and dry in the air will protect you from accidental burns and enable it to harden. Letting the oil harden makes it simpler to scrape and gather it after cleaning.

2. Transfer the Grease to a Separate Container
You may scoop or wipe off the oil with a plastic spatula or a cotton towel after it has dried and is safe to handle. If you have a disposable container to collect leftover oil, you may scrape all the dried oil and fat into it until ready to use and throw it away. When you’re prepared to dispose of the container, wrap it in a plastic bag to avoid spills or leaks from the container in the trash.

3. Throw It in the Garbage
Another option is to transfer the liquid grease from the pan into an aluminum foil-covered basin and place it in the refrigerator for several hours. After the oil has set in the fridge, remove the foil from the bowl or jar, wrap it over the fat, and dispose of it safely. Remember not to compost your grease since the fragrance might attract animals, and never throw your oil outdoors because it can still enter the sewage system as runoff.

4. Clean all of the pans
Whenever possible, avoid running water over oily cookware or plates. When you’ve removed most of the dried grease, wipe out the pots, pans, and dishes that came into touch with the oil using a paper towel or plastic scraper before rinsing them in the sink.

How Can You Get Rid of Cooking Oil?
1.Let It Cool
Leave enough time for the frying oil to dry fully to avoid being burnt. Let the oil cool in the open air before disposing of it. Cooking oil, like grease, may be frozen or refrigerated to expedite cooling.

2. Empty it into a trash can.
When discarding a tiny quantity of a pan of oil, such as one filled with canola or olive oil, pour the cooled oil into the dustbin on top of paper towels. Alternatively, pour the oil into a disposable container and place it in a plastic bag before throwing it away.

3. Pour it into a reusable container
If you have a greater volume of oil, pour it into a container with a detachable top and dispose of it properly in the trash. It’s also a good idea to pour the oil into a container to reuse it if you’ve cooked it appropriately and not heated it above its smoke point. Reusing your oil may help you save money and avoid wasting an excellent commodity. While the oil is still warm, filter it to remove any remaining food particles and keep putting it in a freezer or refrigerator in an airtight container until ready to use.

4. Oil Recycling
Yet, recycling significant volumes of oil is another alternative for disposal. After straining your oil, please place it in a sealed container and transport it to the collecting point. You will not need to chill FOG for collecting. When ready, seek a local collection place in your municipality to recycle your cooking oil. You will prevent adding more rubbish to a landfill by converting it into alternative energy. When the collecting facility has filtered food waste, the cooking oil may be refined into biofuel.

What Takes Place if Grease is Poured Down the Drain?
Is it ever OK to throw fat or cooking oil down the drain? Is there ever a safe method to go about it? What can you do to address any following issues? Let’s debunk the following fallacies about prospective “solutions” that might harm your drainage pipes and system.

Myth #1: Pouring boiling water down the drain will dissolve grease.
Some folks may attempt to pour significant volumes of boiling water down the drain shortly after spilling oil and grease into their sink. Since boiling water may liquefy the fat lodged in your pipes, they believe it can effectively unclog your drain. Sadly, this is not a permanent solution since it may transfer the grease farther down the line. The oil and fats will solidify again but in a far more inaccessible location.

Myth #2: Using Washing Soap to Flush the Hot Water Faucet Flushes Grease
People often believe running the hot water faucet with a dab of dish soap can assist liquefy and flush any accumulated fat. Although hot water and dish soap might help loosen grease and oil from your pipes, dish soap only temporarily breaks down fats. Another standard method for flushing blockages is to use vinegar and baking soda. However, this will drive the accumulation further into the drainage system.

Myth #3: Pouring Liquid Cooking Oil Down the Drain Is Safe
Fats and hardened grease are the most dangerous to your drains and sewage system. As a result, many individuals think that since cooking oil is liquid, it will drain just as quickly as water. Cooking oils that stay liquid at room temperature, on the other hand, might create difficulties and risk harming and blocking your pipes. Even if you clean your pipes with water, olive and canola oils can coat them and cause clogs.

Myth #4: Trash Disposal Can Handle Grease
Trash disposals are effective instruments for breaking down food, but they are not intended to remove hardened grease, fats, or accumulation from liquid cooking oils. Heavy usage of your trash disposal may also lead to further clogs, and repetitive grease coatings can ultimately cause your garbage disposal blades to become less effective.

Finally, you should never pour grease, cooking oil, or any other kind of fat down the drain – but there are methods to rectify the issue if you have already done so. Contacting a trustworthy plumbing specialist is the best answer for an accidental grease leak in your sink or accumulation in your pipes. To determine whether to call a plumber, look for warning indications such as sluggish drainage, an unpleasant odor, or a gurgling sound from the drain. Elizabeth Drain Service can provide dependable and long-term solutions by removing any blockage and keeping it from recurring.

Schedule an Appointment With Elizabeth Drain Service TodayIf you have any concerns regarding the health of your sink, drainage system, or pipes, Elizabeth Drain Service is here to help. We want you and your family to have the most excellent plumbing and drainage systems possible. We guarantee a minimum one-year warranty on all components and labor. Throughout the broader Elizabeth, NJ region, our unparalleled and highly trained specialists are here to assist with drain maintenance and repair.

When there is a grease buildup in your pipes, you need the finest and highest quality treatment as soon as possible. Contact Elizabeth Drain Service now for expert, economical, and dependable service that will keep your pipes clean!