There May Be a Clog in the Drain Line
Begin by filling up the other sink (not the one with the disposal) with water. Stop when there are three – four inches of water. Then plug the side with the garbage disposal. Use your plunger, put it over the plug, and try to clear the drain.
Primary Causes of Double Kitchen Sink Backflow
Food debris: When food or grease builds up in your drain, it can completely block the pipes or stick to the walls, restricting water flow. Soap scum: It's common for soap scum and hard water minerals to accumulate in your pipes over time, causing a backup.
When installing a food waste disposal in a double sink, to prevent backup in the other sink compartment during use, you must install an air gap. An air gap is a plumbing device used to prevent the backflow of wastewater from the disposal unit into the other sink compartment.
If both sides of your double kitchen sinks appear clogged and begin to back up, the likely reason is a blockage in your sink's main drain or you have a clogged garbage disposal.
Pour one cup of fresh baking soda down the drain, followed by one cup of white vinegar. Place a rubber stopper or other sink hole cover over the drain opening. Wait 15 minutes to allow the vinegar and baking soda to unclog your drain, Then take out the drain cover and run hot tap water down the drain to clear the clog.
Pour 1/2 cup of baking soda and 1/2 cup of vinegar down each side of the sink. Cover the openings and let the mixture work its magic for about 10 minutes. Run a gallon of warm water down each side to finish flushing debris.
Cover the disposal drain with a sink plunger, then plunge up and down rapidly to build up water pressure and loosen the clog. Once the clog is loosened, use cold water to rinse the drain and get rid of any lingering waste.
Maintain Proper Air Gaps
An air gap is a vertical space between a water outlet, such as a faucet, and the highest point of the water source. These gaps help stop backflow.
What Is a Baffle Tee? The septic tank baffle tee (also known as a baffle) is a device located at either the inlet or outlet of your septic tank. Their purpose is to prevent sewage from flowing into the pipes.
Stuck food in your drain and pipes is the most common reason garbage disposals get backed up, and it's one of the easiest problems to fix. To keep your receptacle in good condition, try not to put all your meals down your sink.
PLEASE NOTE: Drano® Professional Strength Crystals Clog Remover is NOT safe for use in garbage disposals.
If you do not have a backwater valve, plugs with backflow devices can be installed in floor drains. These plugs have a ball or float that will stop water or sewage from backing up into a home while permitting water to flow into the drain. These plugs can be left in place year-round.
The Main Causes
Thus, if there's a clog or blockage there, it affects both sides equivalently. Blockages: The most common reason for one sink to back up into the other is due to blockages. These can be as a result of food scraps, grease, soap build-up, or any object that has fallen into the sink.
Coffee grounds won't hurt your disposal, per se. They'll actually go down easy and even smell good doing it. But once they get further, they can accumulate like they would in a coffee filter, creating an obstruction in the pipes. Coffee grounds are best disposed of in the compost pile or the trash.
An air gap is the only completely reliable method for preventing backflow.
Taps used in high risk installations, such as kitchen sinks, laboratories and medical facilities are considered to be a fluid category 5 risk. Backflow protection is usually provided in the form of an AUK3 tap gap i.e. an air gap of 20 mm or twice the internal diameter of the inlet pipe, whichever is the greater.
Potato peels and skins are notorious for causing clogs due to their starchy composition, which creates a thick paste when mixed with water. This thick paste sticks to the garbage disposal blades and pipes, clogging and potentially damaging your plumbing system.
A jammed garbage disposal is one of the top reasons to call a plumber, but should you justify the cost? The answer is yes. As long as there isn't any structural damage to the unit, the disposal should work like new once a plumber fixes it. Expect to pay anywhere from $75-100 to have your system running again.
You may ask, “Can rice and pasta go in a garbage disposal?” It may seem like soft foods like rice, pasta, and potatoes are garbage disposal safe, but they top the list of what can't go in a garbage disposal. These starchy items swell when exposed to water, causing blockages that can create clogs and backups.
So when the main pipe is clogged, and when you run the garbage disposal, the water has nowhere to go but to go out on the other Y branch into the kitchen sink. There is nothing wrong with your garbage disposal. The solution is to unclog your main pipe.
You can create an effective drain cleaner easily by simply mixing equal parts baking soda and vinegar. Dump this solution down your sink drain, wait 15-30 minutes, then try to flush the back-up out with hot water, running the tap for at least a minute.
The Santeen Sulfuric Acid Drain Opener proved to be the most potent among all the chemical drain cleaners we tested, effectively dissolving 80% of the hair, 80% of the organic matter, 40% of the grease and 76% of the paper products.