I’ve heard multiple times that it’s not okay to allow any food to go down the drain even with a garbage disposal, I guess because solids shouldn’t go down the drain. But we put a shit ton of solids down the drain through the toilet and that seems to be fine. Does the toilet go to a different sewage pipe then the sink? Or does shit have different properties that make it dissolve better?

  • over_clox@lemmy.world
    1·
    14 days ago

    It’s mostly because of fatty foods. The fats/oils tend to solidify in the colder temperatures of sewage lines, ultimately causing clogged lines.

    Our waste though has generally digested a large amount of that fat, whether it gets built up on your belly and ass or whether a lot of it gets expelled in the sweat.

    Edit: Also, ideally, bacteria helps a lot with breaking down human waste and toilet paper, making the waste easier to flow through the pipes.

    • XeroxCool@lemmy.world
      1·
      14 days ago

      Just wanna point out that dietary fat is not the same as body fat. You aren’t made of walnuts, so walnut fat doesn’t go straight to your belly. Just about all fat gets digested and converted into sugar, put in your bloodstream, and then, if there’s excess, converted into body fat. To leave your body, it then gets converted back into sugar, gets used as energy, and then the CO2 goes back into your blood and exhaled. Sweating more doesn’t cause fat loss, just water weight loss, and people losing weight aren’t expelling it out by ass.

      Solid waste volume has surprisingly little to do with the actual food you eat. It’s primarily dead bacteria, 50-70% by volume. While some food makes it through, it’s mostly the nondigestable things full of fiber. And capsaicin.

  • bstix@feddit.dk
    0·
    14 days ago

    Shit dissolves better. Food (generally) has more fats and oils that will stick and clog the pipes…

    It’s the same pipe.

  • Opinionhaver@feddit.ukEnglish
    0·
    14 days ago

    Food itself isn’t the issue - it’s the big chunks and oil/grease/fat. It’s better to pour it down the toilet, since the volume of water you flush it with is greater and the drain diameter there is larger as well (110 mm) compared to the pipes under your sink, which are usually 75 mm in diameter, sometimes even just 50 mm. Solids are also more likely to clog the P-trap under your kitchen sink.

    Eventually, it all ends up in the same drain system anyway, so in that sense there’s no real difference.

    Source: I’m a plumber.