Nowadays, a dishwasher is an irrevocable option for homes. After a family meal, your kitchen sink piles up with dirty dishes having pieces of leftover food. A dishwasher efficiently cleans these dishes but, without proper garbage disposal, the leftover food gets trapped in the drain lines, clogging the sink.
Do You Need A Garbage Disposal With A Dishwasher?
Yes, to get rid of the dishwasher clogging problem, garbage disposal is an ultimate necessity. Garbage disposal automatically cleans up the mess and does not let the drainage line get obstructed.
How Does Garbage Disposal Work?
Garbage disposal plays an important role in maintaining the performance of your dishwasher. Inside every garbage disposal, a grinding chamber is present which shreds down the food with the help of shredding blades. Afterward, an impeller arm and plate push the crushed food particles and liquid down the drain.
It efficiently ruminates the food scraps that move down the drain with a heavy flow of water. The dishwasher pumps out the used water and leftover food particles through the hose directs them into the garbage disposal.
Inside every garbage disposal, a grinding chamber is present which shreds down the food with the help of shredding blades. Afterward, an impeller arm and plate push the crushed food particles and liquid down the drain.
The garbage disposal has an electric motor plugged into a volt box and is usually mounted on the underside of the sink drain.
Most of the garbage disposals fit the standard drain outlet. Local safety codes may determine the distance at which the switch must be located from the sink, the farther away, the safer and better.
Types of Garbage Disposal
Various types of garbage disposal are present in the market but two among them are more commonly known as continuous-feed type and batch-feed type.
Continuous Feed Type
Continuous-feed type is more common and simple to operate garbage disposal unit. This type is activated by a switch as you run the water and features an open-mouth design that the user operates using an on/off wall switch.
Batch-Feed Type
Batch-feed type is the type that is activated by turning a stopper after loading the disposal with leftover food particles or other garbage. This design requires you to cover the lid and then turn on the device. The Batch-feed type is safe to operate as you cannot start it until the drain is open. On the other hand, it is difficult to find and a bit costly.
What Is The Purpose Of A Garbage Disposal?
Garbage disposal is primarily designed to shred down food pieces into small particles, so your drainpipes won’t get clogged.
The impeller disc inside the machine turns rapidly to crush and force the food waste against the outer side of the chamber.
For efficient working of your disposal, run your disposal regularly and try to keep it clean. It is essential to run the machine with cold water that aids in solidifying the grease so that it can be ground too easily.
How do we get to know if our garbage disposal needs to be replaced?
A normal working garbage disposal helps keep your dishwasher working properly. But due to excessive usage and improper cleaning routine, leads to some garbage disposal problems. Most of the time, these issues can be resolved by simple repairing while sometimes your disposal unit requires a full replacement.
Listed below are a few signs that it may be time to replace or repair your garbage disposal:
● Abnormal Gurgling Noises:
While washing dishes, there might be a chance that a spoon, fork, or something else slips into the garbage disposal unnoticed.
This can create a metal-sounding noise. You can use your hand to put that thing out. Sometimes, the disposal components may be misaligned so that they grind together when you run the machine. You need to take quick action to resolve the problem.
● Lingering Foul Odors:
The trapped food particles at your disposal are the reason for persistent odors. One can easily get rid of them by using drain cleaners, but frequent usage could damage the blades of your disposal unit which ultimately affects your machine performance. In that case, you need to repair the blades or components of the machine.
● Leaking Water:
With time, water may seep through some of the parts where your disposal connects to the rest of your plumbing system. With time these leakage points become large enough to be noticeable. In this case, you should contact a plumbing professional to fix the issue.
Should The Dishwasher Be Connected To Garbage Disposal?
Yes, it is recommended to connect your dishwasher discharge drain to the disposal.
The food pieces often get trapped in the drain of the dishwasher and due to this reason, your dishwasher may not work properly.
Related questions:
How to select garbage disposal for your dishwasher?
Choosing garbage disposal depends on your choice that how simple or detailed you want it to be.
Prefer to buy the one that serves your need. But before rushing to the market, make sure to search online the latest additional features served on newly designed disposals such as extra insulation for sound reduction or stainless-steel grinding chambers, etc.
What are the things one should never put for disposal?
One should be very careful while disposing of garbage disposal. Not all types of leftover food scraps and liquids are meant to be filled at your disposal. You cannot put fibrous or tough food pieces, oil, or other hard objects in the disposal.
Will garbage disposal clog my pipes?
If the garbage disposal is properly used, it will not clog your pipes. The key factor to ensure the efficient working of the unit is proper installation. Also, be careful while disposing as mentioned above.
Can you use a dishwasher with a broken garbage disposal?
A broken garbage disposal can be connected to the dishwasher as they are separate from the dishwashers. The drain housing for your dishwasher is enclosed so water still goes down the drain no matter what.
Conclusion:
A dishwasher with built-in disposal will never work like a disposal unit that runs individually. Separate garbage disposal is a must to have for the efficient working of a dishwasher.
It not only crushes the leftover food into smaller particles but also prevents them to get stuck in the pipes.
Choose the best disposal unit that suits your dishwasher and kitchen requirements. In short, you need to have a disposal unit if you do not want frequent clogging of your drainage pipes.
