You Should Never Throw Away Used Oil In The Sink

After you have finished cooking and want to clean it, you are tempted to get rid of the used oil as easily as possible by throwing it in the toilet bowl or the sink. But is it okay to do that?

Here are just a few reasons why experts advise you to avoid throwing hot oil in the sink or toilet bowl if you don't want to get in trouble later.

Oils can become solid, blocking the pipes

Many oils that are in the liquid state, when hot, solidify after cooling. This is the case with coconut oil, the oil in which you fried animal fats or butter.

Solid debris sticks to the walls of the pipes, capturing other food waste and eventually blocking the pipe, especially where it forms curved, U-shaped areas.

Anything harder than water will stay there, eventually causing the sink to completely clog. Afterward, the remnants will rot and a foul odor will spread in your clean kitchen.

Even oils that do not solidify after cooling, such as olive or sunflower oil, should not be thrown in the sink. These are hydrophobic, so they do not mix with water and will remain on the walls of the pipes, retaining food particles, other solid fats, hair, and other debris, and its pipe will eventually block.

Hot water and detergent do not help

Even if we can remove the oils with hot water and dishwashing detergent, when they enter the pipes of the sink, the solid fats remain blocked in certain areas, and the liquid oils separate from the water and remain on the walls of the pipes. Even if you rarely throw away the used oil in the sink, the layers of grease will thicken inside the pipes, eventually causing the inevitable: blockage of the pipe.

The problem is even more difficult if the oils solidify in hard-to-reach places inside the pipes because clogging and repairs will be even more expensive.

Oils can cause a real problem in the sewer system

Solid oils and fats discharged into the sink or toilet can form deposits inside the sewer system, where wastewater from all households is collected.

These fats can be combined with other substances inside the pipes, such as calcium and sodium, with food particles and other debris, sticking to the walls of the pipes where they form real fat conglomerates. They can grow into huge masses of solid debris, real "fatbergs" or mountains of fat that blocks the entire local sewage system.

These can cause wastewater discharges, but also block the process of water treatment and purification, with disastrous effects on the environment.

"The only way to get rid of them is to intervene professionally with strong jets of water with high pressure that release these masses of fat and debris. That's why everyone should be responsible and avoid throwing oil in the sink or toilet, "says Joel Frederick, director of Quarter Moon Plumbing in San Antonio, Texas.

What you can do with used oils

Used oils must be collected in special containers and containers, and when they are full, they can simply be thrown in the trash.

You can take the collected oils to waste oil recycling centers, such as those organized by certain companies or supermarkets. You can search online for directions to these oil storage centers to store them properly.

If you accidentally pour oil into the sink, pour boiling water, then a mixture of baking powder and vinegar. You can use a cup of baking powder, followed by a 1: 1 mixture of water and vinegar. After 10 minutes, pour another cup of boiling water.

Keep in mind that oil and grease poured into the sink or toilet bowl not only affects your household, but also the entire sewer system around your home and, ultimately, your environment.