Removal of Garbage Disposals
SKU:
CA$0.00
Unavailable
per item
In certain settings, garbage disposal units can become a considerable risk in high-rise buildings. Often, the operator is unaware of the proper method of use (placing the wrong materials into it and not flushing enough to get it out of the suite and down into the vertical stacks), or the machine itself might be underpowered or burning out, and the public is ill-informed about their claimed benefits to the ecology. We don't wish to debate the pros and cons, plenty have done that and there is an abundance of information online. Our goal is to have the users become more aware of their proper use AND the risk they can be to the property as it relates to insurance claims.
We Don't Hate Garbage Disposers - We find them to be more RISK than REWARD!
Garburators – We recommend to Owners that they be removed and the second bowl be plumbed to match the other.
Why the war on garburators? It isn’t probably what you think. It is not the debate of whether the material put down it is better or worse for the environment. It’s not the cost of electricity or the water used. There are many sides to the argument of removal.
Our decision to make this recommendation is very simple. The risk is much greater than the reward.
Fact 1 – Garburators are found under the sink attached to one of the two bowls. Except for a half dozen units at the FALLS, most kitchen sinks are located on an island in the kitchen layout. From the bowl of the sink the flow of waste goes down through your concrete floor into the unit below (that is primarily why you have a dropped ceiling in your kitchen to allow for this island plumbing) and then horizontally across to where that connects to the principal vertical waste pipe going down to below the ground level and then out of the building to the city sewer. The distance from your kitchen sink to where it connects to the main vertical waste pipe can be anywhere from 10 to 14 feet.
Fact 2 – Many users do not use the garburators properly. This is not unusual and is one of the principal reasons that garburators prematurely fail. When added to the extreme distance the waste must travel horizontally, users stop the flushing process when they hear the sign that the bowl is empty but the waste is likely still in the pipes. If people dump animal fats or items when they cool will congeal then there is a strong chance that the start of a buildup may occur.
Fact 3 – You are likely not the only part of the problem. Water escape can result from a clogged drain. The dishwasher is designed to help the flushing process and that is why it is plumbed into the plumbing on the same side as the garburator but with the design issue of long horizontal pipes, if a plugged drain is taking place you might not know until you see the bowl fill up when the dishwasher is discharging. This is why we never recommend you put a load of dishwashing on unless you are at home. The dishwasher will continue to discharge after each cycle and there may be several if you choose the heavy cleaning cycle. Now if you are considering the problem that might take place in your suite from your efforts, let’s consider what takes place when a buildup breaks loose and then joins another issue in the main stack (the vertical pipe leading down to the city sewer) and blocks the route. Farfetched you say? Well actually no! In the North Tower alone (where there is considerably more suites) we have had two suites be the recipient of two separate blockages, coincidentally both on the fifth floor. In both cases a main stack blocked just below the fifth floor meaning all of the units feeding into this vertical main pipe above the unit on the fifth floor may not have noticed an issue but in both cases the waste flowing down this vertical stack ended up flowing into the kitchen sink and ultimately onto the kitchen/dining room floor completely damaging the wood floors in the suite and required emergency restoration service. With the emergency restoration cost usually in excess of $5000 per event BEFORE the actual repairs being made, the costs are significant. Each time the Strata Corporation’s insurer is involved we are responsible for the first $25,000.
And so the principal reason for recommending this course of action is purely risk reduction based on the design of our plumbing structure, lack of understanding for proper use, and the fact the risk is compounded by others.
Now if you like, I can give you some other reasons that strengthen our position:
Reason 1: We need to reduce not increase the use of water. For those of you that might not be aware, the amount of water flowing into the building determines the number of units consumed and this number is used in the calculation of sewage costs (direct correlation of water flow to sewer cost). A simple recommendation to make while you are still using your disposer – flush longer using more water which increases the cost of sewer services.
Ok so how much does a little extra water cost? Enough and more all the time. The FALLS Water and Sewer bill might surprise you (it did us). Here are some facts that might surprise and alarm readers:
1. Our Bills are received quarterly. During our last nine billing cycles, the daily rate for our water and sewer has gone from $133.66 per day to $329.18 per day – almost 250% increase from September 2011 until now.
2. During this 9 billing cycles there has been significant billing increases in each component of the bill: a. Water Service size 6 (I am guessing a base charge on the size of the sewer connection pipe – remember this is not a fee based specifically on the volume going through it (that comes later). This rate went from $498.25/cycle in the first cycle to $622.40/cycle in the ninth, an increase of $124.15 or 24.92%
b. City Sewer Rate (per unit calculated by water consumed) has gone from $1.58 in the first cycle to $2.02 in last, an increase of $.48 or 30.38%
c. Water Consumption Rate has gone from $2.74 in the first cycle to $3.45 in the last, an increase of $.71 or 25.91%
d. CRD Sewer Rate has gone from $1.28 in the first cycle to $2.63 in the last, an increase of $1.35 or 105.47%
3. And if the above numbers are not sitting well, our nine billing cycles have cost the Strata Corporation - $257,669.49
Reason 2: The stuff entering our sewer lines is NOT an eco-friendly product. Fact is it is mixed with so much phosphates it is a toxic mess. The topic is a hot button topic everywhere but it recently was featured in a Globe and Mail article: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/cities-looks-at-new-ways-to-use-garburator-food-waste/article20611130/
And if your search engine is slow here are a few other items you can read:
http://davidsuzuki.org/blogs/queen-of-green/2010/11/break-up-with-your-garburator/
http://davidsuzuki.org/what-you-can-do/queen-of-green/faqs/composting/whats-eco-friendlier-composting-or-the-garburator/
And then there is this tongue and cheek letter:
Dear Homeowner,
Hi! It’s me, your garbage disposal. Yes, that nifty little contraption in your sink. I just want to say thank you for feeding me all sorts of tasty treats. Burnt toast, cooked carrots, old beans—yum! And that time you freshened me up with some lemon peels? Amazing. Just for that, I’ll forgive you for last Thursday’s fork incident.
Okay, now that all the niceties are out of the way, we need to have a little chat. I know you have a lot going on in your life and you probably have better things to do than worry about li’l ol’ me, but I’m hurting. Literally. Sometimes you throw things down me that I can’t handle, and I’m not just talking about Grandma’s silverware. These are everyday items that get caught in my blades, clog up my drain, and shorten what would otherwise be a very long and maintenance-free existence.
Here are a few examples of what you should never, ever toss my way:
Egg shells: One of the most highly debated items. Despite what you may have heard, egg shells do not sharpen my blades. Their pesky membranes can actually get caught up in my blades, doing more harm than good.
Pasta: When exposed to water, starchy leftovers like pasta and rice can swell and clog the drain. Instead of giving them to me, you can compost them (or eat them!).
Fibrous vegetables: Veggies like celery, lettuce, asparagus, rhubarb and artichokes are too stringy to me chew up. Their fibers can easily wrap around my blades and clog up the drain. The same goes for corn husks. Bad idea.
Animal bones: Most people would never dream of putting T-bones or pork chops down their disposal. But fish bones and chicken bones? That’s common practice, and it’s not a good one. Big or small, you should never toss bones down the disposal. I’m not strong enough to handle them!
Potato peels: You may get away with it from time to time, but these starchy little offenders will catch up with you. Peels turn to glue in the drain and clog up my moving parts.
Grease: Butter, shortening, oil and other greasy substances will solidify and slowly accumulate in my drain, leading to a nasty clog. Plus, they’re stinky. I don’t like being stinky.
Fruit pits: If you can’t chew it, neither can I. Fruit pits (even small ones like olive pits) are way too hard for me to process.
Harsh chemicals: Please don’t use harsh chemicals like bleach and drain cleaners. They can damage my blades and pipes! Instead, try using a natural cleaner like Borax. It’s much nicer to my insides (and the environment).
And now for a couple of things I do enjoy every once and a while:
Ice and salt: For a quick and easy clean, fill me with two cups of ice and one cup of rock salt. Then, run me with cold water for 5 to 10 seconds. This is a great way to remove that tough sludge and debris that refuses to budge.
Citrus fruits: The next time I’m smelling a little funky, throw me a few lemon or orange peels. They’ll have me smelling summery sweet!
The above is courtesy of Wade Roberts Plumbing –
http://www.waderobertsplumbing.com/plumbing-tips/garbage-disposal-wrote-letter/
Garburators – We recommend to Owners that they be removed and the second bowl be plumbed to match the other.
Why the war on garburators? It isn’t probably what you think. It is not the debate of whether the material put down it is better or worse for the environment. It’s not the cost of electricity or the water used. There are many sides to the argument of removal.
Our decision to make this recommendation is very simple. The risk is much greater than the reward.
Fact 1 – Garburators are found under the sink attached to one of the two bowls. Except for a half dozen units at the FALLS, most kitchen sinks are located on an island in the kitchen layout. From the bowl of the sink the flow of waste goes down through your concrete floor into the unit below (that is primarily why you have a dropped ceiling in your kitchen to allow for this island plumbing) and then horizontally across to where that connects to the principal vertical waste pipe going down to below the ground level and then out of the building to the city sewer. The distance from your kitchen sink to where it connects to the main vertical waste pipe can be anywhere from 10 to 14 feet.
Fact 2 – Many users do not use the garburators properly. This is not unusual and is one of the principal reasons that garburators prematurely fail. When added to the extreme distance the waste must travel horizontally, users stop the flushing process when they hear the sign that the bowl is empty but the waste is likely still in the pipes. If people dump animal fats or items when they cool will congeal then there is a strong chance that the start of a buildup may occur.
Fact 3 – You are likely not the only part of the problem. Water escape can result from a clogged drain. The dishwasher is designed to help the flushing process and that is why it is plumbed into the plumbing on the same side as the garburator but with the design issue of long horizontal pipes, if a plugged drain is taking place you might not know until you see the bowl fill up when the dishwasher is discharging. This is why we never recommend you put a load of dishwashing on unless you are at home. The dishwasher will continue to discharge after each cycle and there may be several if you choose the heavy cleaning cycle. Now if you are considering the problem that might take place in your suite from your efforts, let’s consider what takes place when a buildup breaks loose and then joins another issue in the main stack (the vertical pipe leading down to the city sewer) and blocks the route. Farfetched you say? Well actually no! In the North Tower alone (where there is considerably more suites) we have had two suites be the recipient of two separate blockages, coincidentally both on the fifth floor. In both cases a main stack blocked just below the fifth floor meaning all of the units feeding into this vertical main pipe above the unit on the fifth floor may not have noticed an issue but in both cases the waste flowing down this vertical stack ended up flowing into the kitchen sink and ultimately onto the kitchen/dining room floor completely damaging the wood floors in the suite and required emergency restoration service. With the emergency restoration cost usually in excess of $5000 per event BEFORE the actual repairs being made, the costs are significant. Each time the Strata Corporation’s insurer is involved we are responsible for the first $25,000.
And so the principal reason for recommending this course of action is purely risk reduction based on the design of our plumbing structure, lack of understanding for proper use, and the fact the risk is compounded by others.
Now if you like, I can give you some other reasons that strengthen our position:
Reason 1: We need to reduce not increase the use of water. For those of you that might not be aware, the amount of water flowing into the building determines the number of units consumed and this number is used in the calculation of sewage costs (direct correlation of water flow to sewer cost). A simple recommendation to make while you are still using your disposer – flush longer using more water which increases the cost of sewer services.
Ok so how much does a little extra water cost? Enough and more all the time. The FALLS Water and Sewer bill might surprise you (it did us). Here are some facts that might surprise and alarm readers:
1. Our Bills are received quarterly. During our last nine billing cycles, the daily rate for our water and sewer has gone from $133.66 per day to $329.18 per day – almost 250% increase from September 2011 until now.
2. During this 9 billing cycles there has been significant billing increases in each component of the bill: a. Water Service size 6 (I am guessing a base charge on the size of the sewer connection pipe – remember this is not a fee based specifically on the volume going through it (that comes later). This rate went from $498.25/cycle in the first cycle to $622.40/cycle in the ninth, an increase of $124.15 or 24.92%
b. City Sewer Rate (per unit calculated by water consumed) has gone from $1.58 in the first cycle to $2.02 in last, an increase of $.48 or 30.38%
c. Water Consumption Rate has gone from $2.74 in the first cycle to $3.45 in the last, an increase of $.71 or 25.91%
d. CRD Sewer Rate has gone from $1.28 in the first cycle to $2.63 in the last, an increase of $1.35 or 105.47%
3. And if the above numbers are not sitting well, our nine billing cycles have cost the Strata Corporation - $257,669.49
Reason 2: The stuff entering our sewer lines is NOT an eco-friendly product. Fact is it is mixed with so much phosphates it is a toxic mess. The topic is a hot button topic everywhere but it recently was featured in a Globe and Mail article: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/cities-looks-at-new-ways-to-use-garburator-food-waste/article20611130/
And if your search engine is slow here are a few other items you can read:
http://davidsuzuki.org/blogs/queen-of-green/2010/11/break-up-with-your-garburator/
http://davidsuzuki.org/what-you-can-do/queen-of-green/faqs/composting/whats-eco-friendlier-composting-or-the-garburator/
And then there is this tongue and cheek letter:
Dear Homeowner,
Hi! It’s me, your garbage disposal. Yes, that nifty little contraption in your sink. I just want to say thank you for feeding me all sorts of tasty treats. Burnt toast, cooked carrots, old beans—yum! And that time you freshened me up with some lemon peels? Amazing. Just for that, I’ll forgive you for last Thursday’s fork incident.
Okay, now that all the niceties are out of the way, we need to have a little chat. I know you have a lot going on in your life and you probably have better things to do than worry about li’l ol’ me, but I’m hurting. Literally. Sometimes you throw things down me that I can’t handle, and I’m not just talking about Grandma’s silverware. These are everyday items that get caught in my blades, clog up my drain, and shorten what would otherwise be a very long and maintenance-free existence.
Here are a few examples of what you should never, ever toss my way:
Egg shells: One of the most highly debated items. Despite what you may have heard, egg shells do not sharpen my blades. Their pesky membranes can actually get caught up in my blades, doing more harm than good.
Pasta: When exposed to water, starchy leftovers like pasta and rice can swell and clog the drain. Instead of giving them to me, you can compost them (or eat them!).
Fibrous vegetables: Veggies like celery, lettuce, asparagus, rhubarb and artichokes are too stringy to me chew up. Their fibers can easily wrap around my blades and clog up the drain. The same goes for corn husks. Bad idea.
Animal bones: Most people would never dream of putting T-bones or pork chops down their disposal. But fish bones and chicken bones? That’s common practice, and it’s not a good one. Big or small, you should never toss bones down the disposal. I’m not strong enough to handle them!
Potato peels: You may get away with it from time to time, but these starchy little offenders will catch up with you. Peels turn to glue in the drain and clog up my moving parts.
Grease: Butter, shortening, oil and other greasy substances will solidify and slowly accumulate in my drain, leading to a nasty clog. Plus, they’re stinky. I don’t like being stinky.
Fruit pits: If you can’t chew it, neither can I. Fruit pits (even small ones like olive pits) are way too hard for me to process.
Harsh chemicals: Please don’t use harsh chemicals like bleach and drain cleaners. They can damage my blades and pipes! Instead, try using a natural cleaner like Borax. It’s much nicer to my insides (and the environment).
And now for a couple of things I do enjoy every once and a while:
Ice and salt: For a quick and easy clean, fill me with two cups of ice and one cup of rock salt. Then, run me with cold water for 5 to 10 seconds. This is a great way to remove that tough sludge and debris that refuses to budge.
Citrus fruits: The next time I’m smelling a little funky, throw me a few lemon or orange peels. They’ll have me smelling summery sweet!
The above is courtesy of Wade Roberts Plumbing –
http://www.waderobertsplumbing.com/plumbing-tips/garbage-disposal-wrote-letter/