Holiday clogs keep
plumbers hopping

Kitchen catastrophes often
peak during Thanksgiving Day

If Bobby Perkins gets involved in a Thanksgiving meal, chances are that something's gone wrong.

Disposal tips Here are some tips from plumbers on how to avoid a clogged drain: » Don't pour fats or cooking oils down the drain because liquid fats solidify in pipes. If grease has gotten down the drain, run cold water to make it difficult for the fat to stick to the pipes. » Garbage disposals can't grind poultry skins, carrots, celery, banana peels or other stringy, fibrous waste. Also, rice and coffee expand and could easily clog a drain. » Turn on the garbage disposal before putting food down the drain. Food should be put in the garbage disposal in portions no bigger than a handful at a time. » Run water while putting food in the garbage disposal, and briefly afterwards to flush waste. Sources: Mr. Rooter Plumbing and The Plumbing Contractors Inc.

"Basically, they're stuffing potato peels, celery. Everything stuffed down the drain and in a disposal," said the veteran plumber, who spent yesterday unclogging nearly a dozen sink drains of Thanksgiving leftovers and cooking scraps.

But he wasn't alone.

Industry experts say Thanksgiving is one of the busiest days for plumbers locally and nationally, as people pay the price for putting too much turkey day fare down drains and into disposals.

There was no exception in the islands yesterday, with phones at several Hawaii plumbing companies ringing nonstop.

Some plumbers said they were busier than last Thanksgiving.

Others expected an onslaught of business today from residents who waited a day with a clogged sink to avoid high holiday rates, or hoped the drain would clear on its own.

Perkins, of Mr. Rooter Plumbing, started clearing drains at 8 a.m. yesterday. By midafternoon, he had gone to points islandwide and still wasn't getting a break in calls.

"Thanksgiving is the worst," he said, as he headed to unclog a sink in Manoa.

Sid Lagaret, owner of The Plumbing Contractors Inc., said most holidays that gather families for food mean a spike in demand for plumbers.

But Thanksgiving is notorious for being the busiest, ahead of even Christmas.

"Through the year, you rarely get one day full of kitchen sinks," Perkins said, with a laugh. "But Thanksgiving is always a kitchen day."

JoAnne Liebeler, Mr. Rooter national spokeswoman, said the holiday season accounts for 20 percent of the company's annual business, with clogged pipes being one of the biggest reported problems.

"You need to remember the average kitchen sink drain is only 1 1/2 inches in diameter, so it's not designed to handle a large volume of waste materials," Liebeler said in a news release.

Lagaret, who decided to take this Thanksgiving off, said the biggest culprits of sink drain clogs include potato peels, grease, turkey bones and rice.

"People have the idea that they can use a garbage disposal and grind everything up and put it in," he said, adding that he doesn't put any food down his own garbage disposal.

"But your drain lines are like the arteries in your body. When they close all the way, a heart attack happens. We call it a clog."

Lagaret said there are some ways to prevent kitchen sink clogs, including putting several pots of boiling water down the drain monthly or bi-monthly to free lodged food particles.

Licensed plumbers use sulfuric acid to clear pipes, he said.

Perkins suggested a product called BioChoice ES, which uses live bacteria to free pipes of grease. He also said there are other preventive drain clearers available at hardware and grocery stores.