We of course all want to be good stewards of the environment, and to also take good care of the pipes in our homes. If your home is hooked up to sewer service, what goes down your kitchen sink will come through the sanitary sewer system in your home, pass through your local municipality’s pipes and sewer system, then continue into NEW Water’s “interceptors” (larger connecting pipes), and onward to one of our two treatment facilities to be processed for pollution removal, cleaned, and sent back into the environment.
What you put down the kitchen sink directly impacts our public health, shared waterways, and can also lead to a sewer backup in your own home. NEW Water serves about 239,000 residents throughout Northeast Wisconsin. This shared community resource is one we can all help to protect, so that it can better serve our visitors, businesses, and families.
Generally speaking, it is OK to put small scraps of biodegradable food waste into a kitchen garbage disposal, provided there is no fats, oils, or grease (FOG).
Small food scraps are an organic matter that can help aid in anaerobic digestion, a resource recovery process NEW Water uses to produce electricity, as well as to recover and reuse heat. However, it is critical that fats, oils, and grease are never put down the kitchen drain, or any drain, as it can clog pipes in your home, as well as cause equipment problems in both your municipal system, and the NEW Water system. Pots, pans, plates, cookware, dinnerware, etc. should be scraped or wiped into the trash before putting them into the dishwasher as well, to remove any oil / grease residue. (Remember, the wastewater from the dishwasher eventually goes into the same pipes as your kitchen sink.)
Never pour fats, oils, grease down the drain
Never put coffee grounds down the drain
Never put pharmaceuticals down any drain (learn how to safely disposal of medications in Wisconsin here)
Only put small pieces of biodegradable food into the garbage disposal
Do not put anything else like plastic, paper, cigarette butts, harsh chemicals, or anything combustible
Grind food with a steady stream of cold water
If you live in an apartment or condo, you may wish to check with management to ask their policy /preferences on putting food into the kitchen garbage disposal
Image Credit: Consumer Reports
Never pour these items down a kitchen sink, or any drain.
Below is a chart from the Water Environment Federation (WEF) which covers environmentally friendly ways of proper disposal for many household items.
In Northeast Wisconsin, properly dispose of Household Hazardous Waste at Brown County Resource Recovery
Additional resources “Garbage Disposals and Food Waste: Do’s and Don’t’s,” City of Thousand Oaks Sustainability Blog
“The essential garbage disposal guide to maintenance and cleaning,” The Washington Post
“Quick Tips – what to put in the garbage disposal,” American Home Shield
Image Credit: WEF
There are many ways you can #LoveYourPipes. 