How Does a Garbage Disposal Work?

Many people cannot live without their garbage disposal machine, since it helps keep their kitchen sink smelling fresh, and helps reduce the chances of harmful bacteria that can cause diseases from entering the kitchen. However, what many people do not know is how a garbage disposal works.

So, what makes a waste disposal device work so efficiently?

It is made up of a high torque electric motor that is insulated, which is usually rated at two hundred and fifty to seven hundred and fifty watts. It spins a circular turntable, which is placed horizontally above it. The device is usually mounted to the bottom of a sink and is crafted to store waste foods inside a hopper chamber.

When the device is turned on, the motor gives a spin to the flywheel and the impellers attached to it at almost 2,000 rotations per minute. The impellers that are attached to the device then begin to work in order to grind the waste items. Water from the kitchen tap then flushes the powdered waste material out the waste line connector discharge outlet and through the sewer system.

What are the other features of a waste disposal system that make it work efficiently?

Splash guard                                                                                    

Your skin drain will usually have parts called splash guards that are simply nothing other than rubber flaps on the side. These disposal flaps make sure that the water from processing the waste does not splash back up your sink basin. This is also where you insert your food scraps to go into the waste disposal system.

Upper hopper

As you throw your food waste into the waste disposal device, they land in an area called the upper hopper chamber. You should make sure that you are running cold water while the waste foods begin to enter the upper hopper chamber.

Flywheel, shredders and impellers

Inside the upper hopper chamber, you will find that there is a flywheel and a shredder ring. The flywheel consists of two impellers on both sides of the wheel. As the flywheel spins, the teeth of the shredder grind the waste items and push them onto the ring using the impellers. Thus, a waste disposal device efficiently grinds your waste into a powder.

Garbage disposal devices however also have their limitations. If you do not understand the limitations of the devices, then you could end up having to repair them time and again.

So, what are the limitations of a waste disposal system?

• You have to be careful what things you put inside them.
• When they are running, you should make sure you keep the faucet on and run huge amounts of cold water. Make sure you start running the water before the waste food hits the drain, since cold water solidifies all the grease from the waste materials.
• You should only send small amounts of waste food down the device at a time, since you would otherwise only end up jamming the entire device.
• You should avoid putting huge chunks of waste food such as the leftovers in a Thanksgiving dinner, since it would choke up the device and it would stop functioning.

If you do not already have a waste disposal device, make sure you get one when you do a kitchen remodel.

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