Pumpkin guts being pulled from a kitchen sink drain.

Safely Discard of Pumpkin Guts and Holiday Cooking Grease

With Halloween and Thanksgiving around the corner, the district would like to remind residents to properly dispose of pumpkin guts and cooking grease.

Never put either down the drain. Can the grease and trash the guts!

Hand pulling the top of a pumpkin off revealing seeds and stringy guts.

Pumpkin guts are sticky, seedy, and stringy and can stick to the inside of your pipes or wrap around the blades in your garbage disposal creating a terrifying clog. When pumpkin innards dry, they become sticky like glue and could cling to the sides of your pipes causing unwanted build up and result in a clog. Clogged pipes not only create a mess and cost you money, but they also create unnecessary water waste. Flushing the guts and seeds down the toilet can result in an even more horrifying scene than an overflow in your kitchen.

 

Whole turkey in a black fryer.

During the holidays, cooking can leave gallons of unwanted oil and grease to clean up. Used cooking oil can congeal, resulting in clogs and blockages in homes as well as in the collection system. Pipes blocked by grease is an increasing cause of sewer overflows. Too often, grease is washed into the plumbing system, usually through the kitchen sink. Grease sticks to the insides of sewer pipes (both on your property and in the streets). Over time, grease can build up and block the entire pipe.

Deep-fryer oil should not be poured on the ground or down a storm drain, which could pollute waterways and clog the storm pipe.

 

Avoid clogged pipes by scraping grease and food scraps into a can or the trash for safe disposal.

Raw sewage overflowing in your home is not only unpleasant, but also costly to you, the homeowner. Increased amounts of grease entering the sanitary sewer system can also lead to higher sewer bills for increased operations and maintenance costs.

Can the grease and prevent sewer backups. No Fats, Oils, Grease