Holidays Can Drain Free-Flowing Lifestyle

by Pamela Dickman
And never buy a wet cell phone at Wal-Mart.

The day after Thanksgiving means leftovers - turkey, potatoes, gravy, deviled eggs - to treat the tummy. For plumbers, those treats mean clogged drains and one of the busiest weekends of the year, according to several local plumbers.

“If it can go down the drain, it’s been there,” said Barton Palmer, general manager of Benjamin Franklin plumbing.

Local plumbers say the holiday season is particularly busy because of the food stuffed down disposals and the extra demand on plumbing systems with extra family members on hand.

Image: Holiday meals can clog more than your arteries

The day after Thanksgiving, always busy for retail stores, also is the busiest day of the year for Roto-Rooter, a national plumbing and drain service that reports about 50 percent more calls, nationwide, than on any other Friday.

Grease from Thanksgiving dinner can start a slow buildup that could eventually cause a plug during the Christmas season, as can extra family members using showers and toilets.

Ask Benjamin Franklin’s local plumbers what they have seen down drains, and you’ll get all sorts of answers: Eggshells - Cat litter - Potato peels - Hot Wheels cars - A headless Barbie doll - Grease buildup - A diamond ring - And plenty of cell phones in toilet lines.

“Cell phones are famous for plugging up bathrooms,” said Joel Mullen, operations manager for Ace-Hi Plumbing. “Especially at Wal-Mart.”

One of the strangest things Mullen has ever located in a drain was dentures. The customer lost his or her dentures but was not sure exactly where.

Using a fiber-optic cable and camera, Mullen found the choppers 30 feet down the sewer line.

“I told them we can stop running water and dig up your yard, or say goodbye,” Mullen said. “They said goodbye to that set of false teeth.”

. . .

Roto-Rooter offers the following advice on ways to not need their services this holiday season:

• Never pour fats or cooking oil down drains. They solidify in pipes. Instead, wipe grease from pots with paper towels and throw them in the trash. Larger amounts of cooking oil are usually accepted at your local recycling center

• Do not put stringy, fibrous foods in the garbage disposal, including poultry skins, celery and peels from fruits and potatoes. Disposals cannot sufficiently grind these materials.

• Make sure the disposal is running when you put food into it. Don’t wait until it’s full to turn it on.

• Wait 10 minutes between showers so slow drains have time to do their job.

• Never flush cotton balls, swabs, hair or facial scrub pads down a toilet. They do not dissolve and can clog the line.

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Source - http://www.timescall.com/