The most recent example of a garbage disposal used incorrectly occurred last Sunday evening when a third-floor unit on the 555 side and part of the hallway were flooded with what appeared to be leftovers from a chicken and rice dinner. Evidently, someone on the fourth, fifth or sixth floor dumped copious amounts of chicken and rice down their drain which caused the common area pipe on G1 to clog which then caused water to back up into the kitchen sink in the third floor unit and overflow onto the floor and into the hallway. Since the unit was not occupied, the flow continued for some time.
Since the owner had not left an emergency key with anyone in the building, the board called a locksmith to get into the unit. The problem was quickly assessed by the board and Bert Meli was called at 7:15 PM on a Sunday evening. He arrived with a helper at 8 PM. and quickly stopped the flow, found the blockage and cleared the pipe. That is one reason why the board uses Bert Meli, when you need him he is there, regardless of the hour or the day. His quick response saved us additional property damage.
So how do you use a garbage disposal? As I said, the safest way is not to use one at all. Throw all food scraps and solids directly into the garbage and not down the drain. Garbage disposals are only partially effective in grinding up solid food, therefore, put only very small pieces of solid food in the disposal. Additionally, most people don’t run the garbage disposal long enough after they put food down it. It is recommended that you run it for 3 to 5 minutes while flushing it with cold water.
I missed a good part of the football game Sunday night because someone didn’t know how to dispose of left over food correctly.