Maintenance Insider

Q: I have a double-sink with a garbage disposal, and all the scraps shoot up into the other sink when I use the disposal. The pipes are not clogged because the sinks drain fine otherwise. I have resorted to plugging the one sink before I use the disposal, but I don’t always remember and it makes a mess when the disposal is turned on. What is wrong with my sinks?

A: This is a common problem with the garbage disposals when they are used with double-sinks that are plumbed to a single drain line. The power of the disposal acting like a pump pushes more water than the pipes can handle, therefore the water goes the route of least resistance, which is to the other sink bowl.

One simple solution is to install a Baffle Tee between the sinks. A better way is to use a three-way Sanitary Tee. The best solution is using a 45-degree PVC hub x hub x hub sewer and drain wye connected to the main drain at the wall and have both sinks connect to the “wye” end. All three methods direct water away from the open sink bowl and down the drain.