Home owners: preventative pipe maintenance?

[piasabird]

I have a garden out in my back yard so I throw all the egg shells, vegetable and fruit stuff in my gardent to get composted.

 

[Imp]

wow thats great

those waterless urinals are supposed to be upkept with a chemical solution that dissolves the piss to make it not stink.. but in my experience even if they are properly maintained they still reek.

I don't think it's the drain/chemical. The ones at work had a blue/oily chemical that acted like a U-fitting pipe under drains.

Problem is that it's a huge urinal with a large "aiming" area above the drain. What happens when people pee all over the floor in a public washroom? It stinks when it's not wiped down well. Well, now replace "floor" with "floor and wall" (men can't aim), and you have a white wall full of dried and caked on piss.

I don't know if they ever sprayed/washed the urinal's surfaces because I'm guessing that the drain wouldn't handle large volumes well.

 

[wirednuts]

I don't know if they ever sprayed/washed the urinal's surfaces because I'm guessing that the drain wouldn't handle large volumes well.

you got it. they dont wash them because youre not supposed to dump water down them, as it just wastes the chemical additive.

its a terrible idea all around. flushing water helps the sewer system function. but people dont hear that, they just think "hey, zero water equals green planet!" but then you have the city flushing the sewers twice as much because people arent flushing as much water through them.

 

[DrPizza]

I have had a garbage disposal my entire life, on a septic tank. (at my parents' house and my house)
I have never had a problem or remember my parents having a clogged drain due to it.
We used it daily. You obviously scrape your plates in the garbage first, but any remnants are easily ground up, passed to the septic and eaten.
The bacteria and enzymes easily consume food waste.

You might have to pump your septic tank like 1% sooner than someone without a disposal... Instead of every 5 years, it might be every 4 years and 11 months...

Seriously... people looove to give advice based on hearsay.

Meh.. I have a septic system and use a garbage disposal on a daily basis. Never had a problem with it. Then again, I don't shove huge quantities of food down it. Only the remnants that are left in dishes after they are scraped into the trash.

Ummmm, if you're putting into the "garbage disposal" what's left on plates AFTER scraping remaining scraps into the garbage, I'm not so sure you understand what people use garbage disposals for. Garbage disposal = giant blender under the sink that can grind up bulk beef and wash it down your drain. The idea is that with a garbage disposal, you don't have food in your trash that sits there rotting, smelling, attracting flies, etc., until the next garbage pick-up day.

Also, for others with garbage disposals, I've seen conflicting views: some people say put chicken bones down & others say don't. Supposedly the chicken bones will help "pick out" any chunks of food that might be stuck in the grates. Putting orange peel down without any running water always keeps it fresher smelling.

what would the upper class be pumping if they don't have a septic tank?

What's class have to do with septic tanks? Some (most?) of the most expensive places in my area are built where there are no municipal sewage systems.

 

[alkemyst]

What's class have to do with septic tanks? Some (most?) of the most expensive places in my area are built where there are no municipal sewage systems.

Maybe in your area but the chance of them being upper class is going to be slim. Who'd want to live like that.

 

[Squisher]

A large quantity of cooked rice and garbage disposals don't mix.


The only plumbing maintenance I can think of might be the regular draining of the hot water tank. And, every few years checking the anode rod.

 

[DrPizza]

Maybe in your area but the chance of them being upper class is going to be slim. Who'd want to live like that.

More upper class than you... and apparently you're rather ignorant on the issue - "live like that" - live like what? Once about every 5 years you have a guy with a truck come, he sticks a vacuum like hose down into the tank, sucks out the sludge, and leaves. Costs under $200. From a homeowner point of view, there's no difference, except most people don't put massive quantities of food down the garbage disposal. There's no odor or anything else associated with it. Toilets, drains, etc., work exactly like they do on a system attached to a sewage system. Many large places with a lot of land happen to have septic systems - it's often too expensive for the area municipalities to run sewer lines to outlying areas. You can easily find multi-million dollar homes with septic systems.
5 seconds of google:
http://homes.augusta.com/realestate/realtor-listings/augusta-georgia-29803/4-bedrooms-5-baths/OTHER/410-Paddock-Club-Parkway/$1,000,000?tp=Homes.Augusta.com&classification=mdRealEstate&temp_type=detail&listing_id=47247784
http://www.nicolewatkins.com/realestate/detailview/80//4177130/

I thought you used to work for a real estate company. You truly are an ignorant individual, particularly since you could have simply googled in order to avoid looking like a pompous better than everyone else ass (again.)

Well, maybe this place is just middle class: http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/140-Wallacks-Dr-Stamford-CT-06902/57364027_zpid/

 

[edro]

More upper class than you...

He's a city boy. He's afraid to get dirt on his M3.

 

[Imp]

you got it. they dont wash them because youre not supposed to dump water down them, as it just wastes the chemical additive.

its a terrible idea all around. flushing water helps the sewer system function. but people dont hear that, they just think "hey, zero water equals green planet!" but then you have the city flushing the sewers twice as much because people arent flushing as much water through them.

Screw the city and flushing. Jesus effing Christ, when we still had them, the entire washroom would stink on a daily basis, and after a weekend with the ventilation turned off, no doors opening to circulate air, it was just disgusting. In 3 years, I never got used to it.

 

[jagec]

The only plumbing maintenance I can think of might be the regular draining of the hot water tank. And, every few years checking the anode rod.

I'm amazed that no one mentioned this yet. If you put random crap down your drains and don't maintain them, they will slowly clog up until you get sick of it and get them snaked. No disaster involved. If you ignore your water heater and never check/replace the anode, one day you will come home to 55 gallons of hot water all over your floor.

Oh, and when you replace your anode, get the magnesium ones. Aluminum is le suck.

On a sidenote, wow, alky got banned? I was starting to think that he was unbannable.