All About Kitchen Sink Drains
In this article you will be learning the specifics of how kitchen sink drains, it is designed and what type and size of pipe is used to make the installation of it. Among all the drain lines found in your home, kitchen sink drains are probably among the ones that are most used and, consequently, it also is considered one of the dirtiest of all the lines in your home plumbing system. This line is also called a secondary line because its main purpose is only to collect wastes coming from the kitchen sink and to dump it into the main drain, which is the biggest drain pipe in your home. You will learn about the main drain during the next pages.
A secondary line, like kitchen line has usually 1.5” to 2” in diameter and the pipe can be cast iron pipe, galvanize pipe or plastic pipe. The plastic pipe can be either white PVC or black pipe also known as ABS. What is the most common form of blockage in kitchen line? And why it gets so dirty and stinky?
The obvious type of plug in kitchen line is food waste. Most people don’t realize that what goes down the drain in that particular line in most case will never make to the main drain and, as the years go by, the line will get really stuffed with food decomposed, also known as the stinky black sludge. Why sludge build up occur in such a good size pipe? Why the
water does not push it all the way to the main drain?
Garbage Disposal is an amazing technology and it does a great job in chewing food in pieces, however, over 90% of people forget or don’t know that garbage disposal only cut food in pieces; it is not designed to eat it. Also, most people fail to understand that most food waste is heavier than water, which also means that as the food is pushed into the garbage disposal and goes through the drain, it will actually stay in the bottom of the pipe which over time will build up a solid blockage and eventually will cause the kitchen sink line to back up.
Why kitchen sink drains get clogged? Well, as a secondary line, a kitchen line is not a long line, it is an internal line and, most kitchen lines are designed with a poor slope which reduces the speed of the drainage. So, if you have a flat line with a poor or no dropping slope, it is clear to understand that if food is heavier than water, it can be concluded that all the food dumped in the drain will most likely to remain in the pipe and consequently, it will plug the drain. So, how to unclog the kitchen drain? You will find out more about that in another section. For your review:
kitchen Sink Drains Have:
- An approximate length of pipe between 3 to 75 ft long. - The pipe size measuring 1.5" to 2" in diameter. - The following pipe types: GALVANIZED, PLASTIC & COPPER.
What Cause the Line to Clog?
- Large amount of food dumped in the drain. - Overtime build-ups (known as: black and stinky sludge debris)
Main Contributors to Clog Kitchen Sink Drains:
- Human Abuse of the line - Poor slope in the line (flat line). - Too much junk dumped all at once. - Not enough water to push the waste down in the main drain. - Physical problem with the piping system. - Wrong size of piping installed (not meeting the plumbing code).
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