What do you do with things which should not go down the kitchen sink?
Sewer Facts:
Household waste pipes are normally 100mm (4 inches) in diameter. That's the same size across as a margarine tub. The sewer pipes under the street are usually 150mm (6 inches), which is only half as big again.
And for the complete set of figures, the pipe from the sink to the drain under the house is 40mm, and the pipe from the toilet to the drain is 80mm across.
Don't clog your pipes with your kitchen waste!
Putting vegetable oils, warm fat and food scraps down your sink causes thousands of blocked drains every year.
While the sewerage system can cope with human waste, and waste water from kitchens, it is not designed to be a waste disposal unit for everything.
Putting fats, oils, grease and food scraps down your sink causes problems with smells, and the smells attract vermin.
The fats build up in the drain and sewers and clog the pipes, causing sewage spillage and environmental pollution.
Kitchen Do's
The main idea is to keep the amount of FOG going down the sink plug hole to the minimum, by removing most of it and putting it in the waste bin.
Use your Fat Trap.
Do not pour fat, oil and grease down the sink or drain.
Take the cooking container with the "FOG" in it – your frying pan or roasting tin – and pour the cooled-off but still liquid fat or oil into a heat-resistant container with a cap (such as a Fat Trap) instead of down your sink. When full, empty the contents of the container into a scrap jar and put the jar in with your household rubbish.
Scrape off surplus "FOG".
Do not rinse frying pans, pots, pans and plates with hot water to remove all the grease.
Remove most oil and grease from frying pans, pots, pans and plates with scrapers and kitchen paper before you wash them.
Wipe preparation surfaces.
Do not use hot water to rinse all the grease from the work surfaces.
First wipe your greasy work surfaces with kitchen paper, then wash them.
Bin all scraps.
Do not put food scraps down the sink or drain.
Put food scraps in the bin. Wrap well if necessary, and put them in with your household rubbish.
If you can, invest in a composter and put the vegetable scraps in there, and the results on the garden.
Warning: Never put meat scraps or grease into a composter. The rotted remains don't provide anything that a plant wants. Plants want rotted down dead plants, not dead animals. The smell of rotting meat will attract vermin to your property, and after the composter they'll sniff around your house.
See our Sink-Wise flyer (140k pdf) for a copy of the above information.
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For more information, go to the Sink-Wise page.
Click here for the Toilet and Shower Do's.