When I was growing up, these seemed to be ubiquitous and I never liked them. They seemed overcomplicated for the purpose, and created a gross and smelly area under the sink that needed more cleaning.
I haven’t had one in years, as a simple sink mesh does the same job. But I don’t really know how other people are. Are under sink garbage disposals still common, and commonly actually used by people here?
They shouldn’t make a gross smelly area under your sink. It sounds like yours was leaking.
Or had a backflow issue
I went out of my way to get one installed in a house that didn’t have one. So, yeah.
If yours is making a mess under the sink, it’s either broken or installed wrong.
I use mine all the time, much easier than dealing with a nasty sink strainer as I just spray down the sink into the disposal and run it. Also keeps the trash from smelling.
If it’s being smelly under the sink, it’s broken or not installed right. If it’s being smelly from the drain hole sink side then you’re not cleaning it from time to time (Which is as easy as dropping in some cleaner and running it every other month or so).
I’m actually looking to upgrade mine so it can handle some bones
A cup full of ice cubes once a week keeps mine clean
The upgrade is so worth it. I got a 1hp one when I needed to replace the old one. I could probably send a whole rotisserie chicken down that thing without issue (other than destroying my plumbing anyways). I don’t deliberately send bones down it but it has happened and they don’t even slow it down.
They were never a thing in Europe.
The sewage treatment is not built to handle that kind of stuff. The sewage pipes aren’t too happy about it, either. I might flush some carbs down the toilet. The poop-munching bacteria at the treatment plant get a nice growth boost from it. Grease not only clogs your own pipes, but causes issues for the whole city. I think it’s possible to get fined for it if you’d get caught starting a year or two back.
Food waste goes in the trash or compost. If it goes in the trash it’s burned at industrial temperatures to burn clean. The heat is used for district heating networks.
The sewage treatment is not built to handle that kind of stuff.
They’re also not built to handle it in the US, but lower standards solve that problem pretty handily
Yeah, grease and oil kills plumbing
They were never a thing in Europe.
Not really a thing in Canada either. Bought a reasonably midrange ($600k) brand-new apartment back in 2006, it didn’t come with it. Also have never seen it in any other house that I’ve visited, except for the wealthy. And by that, I mean in a house that you would normally pay $4-8 million for. Which is certainly upper middle class where I am, but not overly wealthy.
Didn’t grow up with one, but consider it standard now. There should be an organic stream to waste disposal. Much more green to send your plate scrapings to the treatment plant than to wrap them up in plastic and bury it in a landfill.
I’ve never not had one, do you scoop all your food waste out of the sink with your hands? Cleaning is as easy as dropping a lemon peel in once in a while or a tray of ice.
Big stuff straight into the trash. Little stuff into the sink strainer. It all settles to the middle of the strainer. Pick up the strainer and dump it into the trash.
Does the debris ever clog the strainer? Sometimes the disposal gets clogged and holds filthy water in the sink, and I just run the disposal and it clears it all out. Otherwise you’d have to reach in and grab the strainer out and that’s… Ew.
Lol what? They are ubiquitous as ever.
I’ve always had one in every place I live. Even the shitty apartment I had one was installed.
Food waste goes to compost!
We have one, I like it. Never gross smelling, keeps the drains clear, seems to help the dishwasher run better.
Most garbage disposals just cause more trouble that they’re worth since they turn small chunks of food into paste and that’s more likely to stick to the insides of drains and cause more clogs than the small chunks, as long as your drains are properly maintained. And a halfway decent strainer will keep out the larger pieces. It’s also not good for your city drains and makes sewage processing more expensive. Better to use composting for your food scraps if you can.
I compost (and save stuff for broth) and we have a sink disposal. It’s for the little bits of cooked food left on plates, are you composting those? The sink that has one is the least cloggy kitchen sink I’ve ever had, and as far as I understand they are pretty neutral in terms of waste stream.
Grease I agree shouldn’t go in there, that goes in the trash.
I worked in apartment maintenance for a bit. That is a requirement for low income housing, at least in California. If it doesn’t have one or it stops working for any reason, the tenant can claim unlivable living conditions and not pay rent until it’s fixed. This is true for many types of problems but you asked about garbage disposals. Also the property could potentially lose the designation of low income housing which means losing the federal/state subsidy. Most tenants don’t know about this and choose to move out instead after a few rent increases. On the other hand there is a list of “problem tenants” that landlords share and if you end up on it then good luck finding a new place to rent.
They seem more common now if anything
I’m not sure what extra cleaning you’re talking about but if you use them once in a while they don’t stink
My house had the cheapest garbage disposal which I quickly broke. When I went to replace it, I found that replacing them is incredibly easy and the mid-tier model (about $120) said it could handle small beef bones and peach pits. I’ve been very happy with that, and all my food waste goes in. I don’t have a lot of room for compost, but the city purports to be generating electricity from the sewage, so I hope it isn’t wasted. It also means that my trash doesn’t smell, which is nice.
Are they easy to self-install? I still have a bit of new owner “shit I’m responsible for everything, better not fuck it up” mentality.
Yeah, they’re pretty easy as long as you already have the outlet under the sink. The hardest part is maneuvering the drain pipe into place. Once you have it in place there’s just two or three nuts you need to tighten. If you’re really worried about it, you can stick a bucket under it for a couple days it to check for leaks. I’d say it’s a pretty good project to get an intro to plumbing. In the worst case if you get in over your head, you can call a plumber to come in and finish it, and they’ll get it done within half an hour.
That was reassuring, thabk you. I didn’t specify, but it’s already set up for one with an under sink outlet connecting to a switch by the sink. So it shouldn’t require any new electrical work.
Easy to replace? sure. A couple hours if your handy.
But installing one for the first time will require electrical in addition to the and plumbing work. It’s a pretty big job for a DIYer.
Two seals (sink and drain) and a power cord.
They’re not legal where I live. Something about our sewage lines or treatment center not being able to handle it if I recall correctly. I have a clog resistant drain strainer that I clean out every time I rinse dishes in the sink instead.
