Halloween Pumpkin Pulp Causing Havoc in Sink Drains and Disposals

CINCINNATI, October 22, 2019 (Newswire.com) - ​The Roto-Rooter man has become as common a Halloween visitor as trick-or-treaters, thanks to sticky pumpkin pulp and seeds. Plumbers know that frantic homeowners will be seeking help with pulp-clogged garbage disposals and sink drains in the days leading up to Halloween.

Roto-Rooter, America’s largest provider of plumbing repair and drain cleaning services, reminds jack-o’-lantern carvers that pumpkin pulp should never be put down drains or into garbage disposals. The slimy gunk is ideal for clogging sink drains. “Mother Nature created the perfect recipe for clogging drains. Pumpkin pulp has a sticky, stringy consistency that hardens when it dries. It will choke drainpipes and gum up the moving parts inside garbage disposals,” said Paul Abrams, spokesman for Cincinnati-based Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Water Cleanup. Abrams says Roto-Rooter deals with this problem every October because homeowners think it’s convenient to carve pumpkins in the sink and avoid a mess when they’re finished by pushing everything down into the disposal.

To prevent Halloween drain disasters, Roto-Rooter suggests carving pumpkins far from away from the sink on a bed of newspapers. Then carvers should wrap up the mess and throw all pumpkin-related materials onto a compost pile or into the garbage can. Rinsing gobs of pulp off your hands over the kitchen sink is also a bad idea since even a small amount of pumpkin pulp can slow or clog a drain. Use the outside faucet instead.

Pumpkin seeds can be separated and roasted for a tasty treat or they can be air-dried and planted to grow next year’s Halloween pumpkins.

Roto-Rooter was established in 1935 and is the largest provider of plumbing repair and sewer and drain cleaning services in North America. Roto-Rooter also provides water damage cleanup services in most of its locations. It operates businesses in 130 company-owned territories and approximately 400 franchise territories, serving approximately 91 percent of the U.S. population and 40% of the Canadian population. Roto-Rooter also has licensed master franchises in the republics of Indonesia and Singapore, and the Philippines. For more information please visit http://www.rotorooter.com/plumbing-videos/halloween/  

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Source: Roto-Rooter