Thanksgiving is one of our busiest times of the year. All of the cooking and cleaning for the big feast creates grease that can 
block drains that may already be partially clogged. Also, if you have guests staying with you over the holiday the additional showers, extra loads of laundry and frequent toilet flushes can overload plumbing and septic system.
These tips can help you prevent a plumbing emergency this holiday season:
- Do not pour grease, fats or oil down the drain
- Never flush dental floss, feminine hygiene products, condoms, diapers, cotton swabs, cigarette butts, coffee grounds, cat litter, paper towels, and other kitchen and bathroom items that can clog and potentially damage septic system components if they become trapped.
- Flushing household chemicals, gasoline, oil, pesticides, antifreeze, and paint can stress or destroy the biological treatment taking place in the system or might contaminate surface waters and groundwater.
- By selecting the proper load size for your laundry, you’ll reduce water waste. Washing small loads of laundry on the large-load cycle wastes precious water and energy. If you can’t select load size, run only full loads of laundry.
- Doing all the household laundry in one day might seem like a time-saver, but it could be harmful to your septic system. Doing load after load does not allow your septic tank time to adequately treat wastes. You could be flooding your drainfield without allowing sufficient recovery time. Try to spread water usage throughout the week.
- If you haven’t had your septic system pumped in a couple of year, do so before the holidays.
Minor plumbing problems can turn into expensive plumbing emergencies so be sure to fix any plumbing problems you may have in your home before the holidays and the guests arrive. If you do happen to run into an emergency, however E.F. Winslow is here for you 24/7 everyday – you can call us at (800) 870-1117.