Thanksgiving Kitchen: Keep Your Sink and Garbage Disposal Running

Holiday foods that belong in the trash, not the drain

A disposal chops food smaller; it doesn't make it vanish. Everything it grinds still rides through the trap and the yard line to the city sewer. The usual troublemakers:

• Turkey fat, drippings, gravy and butter pour like liquid, then cool into a waxy film that grabs crumbs.
• Potato peels grind into a starchy paste that settles in the trap.
• Rice, stuffing, bread and pasta keep soaking up water after they go down and swell into a plug.
• Bones and turkey skin stall the motor or wedge between the spinning plate and the grind ring.
• Celery, onion skins and corn husks wrap their fibers around the moving parts.

What Fort Worth Water asks you to do with grease

The City of Fort Worth's water department asks homes to put cooking grease in the garbage, wipe pots, pans and dishes with a used paper towel before washing, scrape food into the trash or compost rather than the disposal, and set strainers in the sink drains. It also notes that most sewer blockages form between the house and the city's main, not in the main itself.

For a little grease, let the drippings firm up in an empty can, close the lid and drop it in your garbage cart. A turkey fryer's worth of oil can go to any of Fort Worth's four drop-off stations, which take cooking fats, oils and grease as household hazardous waste from city residents. Bring a water bill from the last six months and a matching driver's license (apartment residents need only the license). The stations close Thanksgiving Day and the Friday after and reopen Saturday morning.

The city also partnered in last season's regional Holiday Grease Roundup, which collected home kitchen grease from November 1 through January 31. Restaurants follow separate rules; see grease trap service.

Running the disposal on a big cooking day

If you use the disposal, go light:

• Cold water, start to finish. Cold water keeps any stray fat on the scraps firm so it moves on with the food instead of coating the pipe.
• Empty the disposal before the dishwasher runs. Most dishwashers drain through it, so leftover scraps can push dirty water back into the dishwasher.
• Skip chemical drain openers. They rarely clear a packed food plug, and can harm seals and older pipe.

If the unit hums but won't grind, switch it off, turn the hex socket on the bottom with the small wrench that came with it, and press the red reset button; keep hands out of the chamber. Jams that keep coming back may mean it's time for garbage disposal replacement; for year-round habits, see how to prevent clogged drains before they start.

A full house: showers, toilets and hot water

• Stagger morning showers. A tank water heater needs time to recover after several in a row; with a tankless unit, avoid two showers and the dishwasher at once.
• Put a wastebasket in every bathroom so guests toss wipes, even "flushable" ones, instead of flushing them.
• Leave a plunger beside each toilet and show guests the shut-off valve behind it.

A water heater that rumbles or runs out early deserves a water heater repair visit before the holiday; see also no hot water and toilet overflowing. For cold nights, see our freeze prep checklist.

Older Fort Worth homes: give the kitchen line a head start

Many houses in established neighborhoods such as Riverside, Oakhurst, Fairmount and Arlington Heights still drain through original cast-iron or clay pipe. Old cast iron builds a scaly lining that holds onto grease, and clay joints can let roots in, so a sink that's sluggish in early November tends to get worse once the cooking starts. If yours gurgles, schedule drain cleaning a week or two before the 26th. A line that keeps clogging calls for a video camera inspection to find grease, roots or a break needing sewer line repair.

If the kitchen sink backs up on Thanksgiving

1. Stop adding water. Shut the faucet and pause the dishwasher.
2. Check the other drains. If a tub gurgles or a toilet rises when the sink drains, the main line is blocked; stop using water everywhere.
3. Reset the disposal if its bowl is the one holding water, then try it once with cold water.
4. Plunge it: flat cup plunger, other bowl blocked with a wet rag, water over the cup, straight up and down.
5. Call if it won't clear. If sewage or water comes up in a tub or floor drain, call (817) 755-5621 at any hour and we send our on-call plumber right away. A slow sink is booked at a time that suits you.

If neighbors have the same backup at once, the trouble may be in the city's main; report it to Fort Worth Water's 24-hour emergency line, listed on the city's website. See also sewage backing up in the tub and 24/7 emergency service.

Thanksgiving sink and disposal FAQ

Get the kitchen drain ready before the 26th

Call (817) 755-5621 to book a drain check or disposal repair before the holiday, or use our contact page. Plumber 24 Fort Worth holds Texas plumbing license # M-27587. First-time customers get $50 off, seniors, military members and first responders get 10% off, and the dispatch fee is $0 with a repair; see our coupons.

Office hours 8 AM–11 PM daily · 24/7 emergency service