can oil go down the drain?
When you are stir-frying, searing, sauteing or grilling your meal each night and using delicious artisan oils to complement your flavors, accentuate your textures and cook your ingredients, proper cooking cleanup is most likely the last thing on your mind. After your dish is done and you portion your culinary creation onto plates for yourself, your family or your guests, your first instinct might be to place your pot or pan in the sink — used oil and all — and pour the extra oil runoff down the drain when it is time to clean.
You may have heard that disposing of used cooking oil by pouring it down the drain could be harmful to your sink, pipes and the environment, but perhaps you consider it just a myth and continue to deal with used cooking oil disposal in the same way. Unfortunately, it is true that dumping used cooking oil down the drain can be damaging — not only to your home’s or apartment building’s pipes but also to the entire sewage system or wastewater treatment plant in your area.
Here is what you need to know about used cooking oil disposal, what happens when you pour oil and grease down the drain and how to avoid creating environmental problems with waste cooking oil.
Many people think nothing is wrong with pouring their leftover used cooking oil into the sink and washing it away with your soapy cleaning water — after all, it is liquid and seems to drain smoothly without immediately seeming to cause any clogs. When disposing of your used cooking oil, however, it is important to remember that oil and grease do not behave like other liquids. When hot, they can be in a liquid state, but if oils have time to cool and accumulate over time, they can coagulate and solidify — especially when they mix with the fats and greases from the meats and other ingredients you have been cooking.
After you pour your leftover cooking oils down the drain along with the other liquid remnants of your meal prep, they will wash into your pipes — mixing with other flushed ingredients, floating around and accumulating over time into solid or sticky masses of fats that can cling to the sides of the pipes. When you continue to flood your pipes with oil and grease — even only a little at a time — the solid fat mass accumulation will only continue to build up, narrowing the pipes’ diameter, preventing smooth, quick drainage, backing up your sink and causing increasingly serious clog issues.
The longer your oil clogs build up, the harder they are to clear out, especially when you live in an older building where others have rinsed their oils and fats down the same sinks for years before you. Plus, plumbers can only work to clear the pipes accessible pipes, but the grease and fat you wash down the sink travel much farther than your drain.
When you use your drain to dispose of your used cooking oil, it makes its way from your sink through your pipes and travels to the local sewer, where it mixes with all the area’s other wastewater and an assortment of other chemicals and substances — including fat and oil from other sources and calcium from the sewers themselves. When the oils and fats from your cooking reach the sewers, they break down into their components parts of glycerol and fatty acids, which bind with calcium to create a compound with a soapy consistency that remains in the sewer system.
When water levels rise, the fatty blobs of “soap” cling to the ceilings and sides of the pipes, building up and becoming waxy “fatbergs” that can grow to enormous sizes, block the sewer lines and lead to dangerous backups that will affect everyone in the area when overflowing sewage waters rise back into the pipes and up into your drains. Fatberg masses can also block water treatment processes, becoming detrimental to the environment and the water supply in general.
To avoid plumbing issues, blocked pipes, sewage supply buildups of greasy fatbergs and environmental damage, it is vital that you handle your cooking oil disposal in an appropriate, environmentally-friendly manner. Instead of taking your pan straight to the sink after you finish cooking and dumping your leftover liquids down the drain, let your used cooking oil cool and pour it off into a resealable container — like a glass jar or a coffee can — to save for recycling. Let your supply of saved used cooking oil build up over time and take it to a local organization or facility that accepts oil deposits to recycle into biofuel. If you would like, try reusing your cooking oil while it is still good.
If you cannot find anywhere to recycle your used cooking oil, let it solidify and toss it into the trash — the garbage is a much better choice than the drain. Either way, make sure to wipe out your pans with a paper towel to soak up all the excess oil and throw those in the trash, as well. Even a small amount of grease can be damaging to your pipes and the sewer system.
DO NOT pour cooking oil down sinks or drains – while this method of disposing of cooking oil might seem convenient, the oil can solidify and cause blockages. DO wait for the oil to cool down before disposing of it. Hot oil is a safety hazard.
Some people don’t know the kind of damage the oil or grease can do when poured down a sink. The last thing you should pour down your sink is cooking oil.
It creates serious problems in the plumbing system and environment. It coats the pipes, thereby causing clogs. When cooking oil hardens within the sewer lines, it can result in backing up of sewer waste into your home.
Resolving such problems can be quite expensive, according to our emergency plumbing company in Sydney. If a neighborhood shares the same water and sewerage lines, blockages from oil and grease can cause major sewer backups into the waterways and streets. Such a scenario would create major environmental and public-health risks.
If someone pours oil or grease down the drainage, you may at first think of trying to dissolve it by using a detergent, drain cleaner, hot water, or garbage disposal.
However, these methods are ineffective. Drain cleaners that comprise of chemicals are actually discouraged for regular use.
Also, pouring hot water down the drains will melt the oil only for it to cool down and solidify further down the drain, leading to serious clogs deep down the drain.
Detergents that are believed to remove grease and fat also lead to clogs deep down the drain. Garbage disposals may not remove oils and grease from the plumbing.
While drain cleaners may assist in breaking up clogs that result from oil, they are corrosive. They can actually damage the pipes if used frequently. Such damage would demand costly repairs.
The best remedy is using natural and noncorrosive methods to clear oil clogs. For instance, you can use baking soda and white vinegar to remove oil clogs.
In this case, take some baking soda (half a cup) and pour it down the drainage. Next, pour white vinegar (half a cup) down the same drainage. The mixture will cause fizzing within the drainage.
Once you’ve poured the two products, cover the drainage to maintain the fizzing effect. Allow for the fizzing to go on for 10 minutes. Then flush the drainage with boiling water (one kettle).
Vinegar and baking soda can dissolve fatty acids to form glycerin and soap, thereby preventing clogs. However, to avoid injury and burns on your eyes or face, don’t use this method when a commercial drainage opener is used or where there’s standing water.
You should never dispose cooking oil down the drainage. The best method for disposing oil is putting it in sealable containers. Once the oil cools and solidifies, tighten the container lid and dispose the container in a trash bin.
Alternatively, store the cooking oil in re-sealable containers and drop it off in a local recycling center. Recycled oil is used in making alternative fuel for a diesel engine.
It’s also used as a major ingredient in making some pet food, livestock feed, and cosmetics. Before washing oily dishes and cookware, wipe them with absorbent paper towels to remove the cooking oil.
Some water and sewerage agencies advice on the liquids and products that shouldn’t be disposed down the drainage. For instance, avoid pouring these products down the drainage:
You can save your cooking oil to reuse later, but if it's gone bad or you don't want it, there some easy, safe ways to get rid of it. It's also a good idea to check with your local solid waste department to see if they have any disposal recommendations or regulations.
If you plan to deep-fry soon or fry foods on a regular basis, you can save the cooking oil to use again. First, strain the oil through a coffee filter or several layers of cheesecloth to remove any particles and crumbs. Then, pour it into an airtight container and store in a dark place until ready to use.
It is important to note that you should reuse oil only once or twice. Give it a sniff before using it; if it smells rancid, toss it out. Remember that each time you reuse oil, the oil deteriorates and the smoke point (the temperature at which it will burn) decreases.
If you want to get rid of the oil, let the oil cool completely, then pour it into a nonrecyclable container with a lid and throw it in the garbage. Common nonrecyclable containers that work well include cardboard milk cartons and similar wax- or plastic-lined paper containers. Styrofoam and other takeout containers are also good options.
If you prefer to throw it out, you need to freeze or refrigerate the oil first to harden it. Pour the oil into an old can and put it in the freezer or fridge. Once the oil is solid enough to come out of the can in one piece, it is ready to be thrown into the trash.
If you have no more than a cup of oil or grease, pour it into a coffee mug and set it in the fridge. When it solidifies, scoop it out and drop it into the trash with a spoon. Then wipe out the mug with a paper towel or used napkin before washing it.
If you have a small amount of oil, it can be safely disposed into a partially filled plastic trash bag. Just be sure to cool the cooking oil first and close the bag. Paper towels, food scraps, and other absorbent material help contain the oil so you don't have a pool of it that can potentially leak from the bottom of the bag.
Before disposing, you can mix the oil with an absorbent material like cat litter, sand, and sawdust, which easily soaks up the liquid. Save old oil in a used container until it is time to empty the litter box; dump the oil into the litter before tossing out.
If you do a lot of frying, you may want to consider getting a grease disposal system kit that consists of a plastic receptacle with foil-lined bags that can hold up to 32 ounces of oil. Place a bag in the container and pour the cooled oil into the bag. When it is full, seal the bag and throw it in the garbage.
Some cities have collection programs for recycling used cooking oil into biodiesel. Check Earth911 to see if there's a recycler near you that will accept it. Biodiesel is a clean-burning fuel that is used in many types of motor vehicles (often city trucks and fleet vehicles) and can be used as heating oil.
There are a few no-nos when it comes to getting rid of used cooking oil. Don't pour oil down the drain or in the toilet. It can clog not only your pipes but also the city sewer mains. You should also not add oil to a septic system. It can clog pipes and, even worse, your distribution lines and drainage field. Water contaminated with oil is difficult—sometimes impossible—to treat. This means it can eventually pollute local waterways.
Don't pour hot oil into the trash can, as it can attract insects and rodents as well as cause issues with garbage trucks and solid waste sites. You should also not dispose of cooking oil into compost bins or piles. Fats, in general, are bad for compost, and cooking oil is nothing but fat.
SeQuential helps business owners and home chefs alike recycle their used cooking oil. Here, we explore what happens if you make the mistake of disposing of your oil through your sink and why recycling is so important.
The first problem of pouring used cooking oil down the drain is that it is illegal. Dumping oil can lead to hefty fines and possible shutdowns. Pouring oil liquid oil down the drain hardens in the pipes and can create fatbergs. As the oil travels along your pipes, it leaves tough residue that builds up over time.
Sewers are full of chemicals from cleaning supplies, the oxidization of pipe systems, and decomposing waste. When cooking oil comes into contact with these chemicals, they react together and form a new soapy, waxy substance known as a fatberg. As they form, they stick to the walls of sewers and collect bits of other debris that adhere to their surface. These fatbergs keep growing and growing over time, sometimes reaching over 100 tons in weight!
Fatbergs are extremely destructive to pipelines and sewer systems. As they grow, these fatty and soapy masses clog pipes so they don’t work as effectively – if at all. Very large fatbergs can even make pipes burst. This leads to flooding, backwashes, and rising repair bills until the fatberg can be removed.
Not only are the consequences of illegally dumping oil expensive, but they can also be environmentally destructive. Sewer floods and backwashes can deposit garbage and raw sewage into the surrounding area. This contamination is toxic to plants and wildlife and damaging to the local environment.
Recycle your used cooking oil with SeQuential. We serve the West Coast and will collect used cooking oil at zero cost to you. We then process it into renewable fuel, a clean-burning renewable fuel that can be used in place of regular diesel. By recycling your oil, you can both protect your drains and sewer systems while making a positive environmental impact as well.
