Fats, Oils and Grease in Kitchen Drains

Why it matters

A coated kitchen line narrows a little every week until a holiday dinner finally plugs it. Grease that gets past your house can also join with wipes in the Region's sewers, causing blockages downstream that cost everyone.

The routine, in order

1. Pour off. Let fat from the pan cool in a tin or jar, then put it in the garbage, or in the green bin if your collection program accepts it. Check Durham's current rules.
2. Wipe. A paper towel swipe across every oily skillet before it hits the sink.
3. Strain. Use a basket strainer in every sink bowl and empty it into the bin.
4. Scrape. Scrape plates into the green bin rather than the disposal.
5. Run water. After using the disposal, run cold water for a good thirty seconds so the ground food reaches the main line.

Mistakes to avoid

• Chasing grease with boiling water. It moves the clog a short distance where it sets again.
• Relying on dish soap to "break up" fat in the pipe.
• Feeding potato peels, pasta and rice to a disposal; they swell and pack.
• Pouring bottled drain cleaners into a clogged kitchen line. Our chemical cleaner manual explains why.

Where a plumber takes over

When both bowls are slow, the dishwasher backs up into the sink, or you have plunged without success. Our kitchen drain service and jetting pages describe what we do.