Even if you’re careful to properly dispose of rendered fats, cooking oils, and grease, your kitchen sink is always collecting debris. Residual food from your plates, utensils, and pans makes its way into your kitchen sink’s drain. Over time, this waste creates tough, tacky coatings. It also supports robust colonies of bacteria, fungi, and biofilms. These buildups decrease the interior diameters of drain pipes and slow the movement of wastewater. They also increase the likelihood of stubborn drain clogs. Fortunately, there are six easy ways to identify a developing blockage.

1. Slow-Moving Water

Slow-moving drains are the most obvious sign of a developing clog. If your kitchen sink drains slowly, you might have heavy buildup on your drain pipe walls or a larger, trapped item that’s partially blocking waste flow.

2. Greasy or Filmy Sink Coatings

It’s not uncommon to drain kitchen sinks and take up other tasks while they empty. If you aren’t paying attention, you might not notice that your kitchen sink is draining slowly. Fortunately, slow-moving drains leave plenty of evidence behind. While a swiftly moving and high-functioning drain will clear out all wastewater and small food items, a slow-moving drain will leave your sink filled with greasy residues and food remnants.

3. Rank Odors

As it rots, trapped food starts to smell bad. In-drain bacteria and other odor-causing germs feed on this waste. The resulting drain odors are both strong and pervasive. They can make entire kitchens smell rank.

4. Drain Gnats

Drain gnats live and breed in the moist, nutrient-dense buildups in dirty drain pipes. These buildups also provide sustenance for drain gnat larvae. If you have an ongoing drain gnat problem in your kitchen, an impending clog could be why.

5. Bubbling or Gurgling Sounds

Heavy, in-pipe builups aren’t the only cause of blocked kitchen drains. Certain foods tend to clump together when wet, including:

• Pasta
• Rice
• Bread
• Flour

Clumps of wet food can create full or partial drain blockages.

Sometimes, kitchen drain blockages are the result of dropped items like chopsticks, toothpicks, or fashion rings. Items like these create partial obstructions that slow the movement of wastewater but don’t block it entirely.

If you have a partial drain blockage, your drains might make bubbling, gurgling, or sucking sounds as slow-moving water clears the obstruction. DIY drain snaking and plunging could push solid, non-degradable items deeper into your plumbing system. To avoid complicating your drain repair, have a plumber clear your drain instead.

6. Rising Humidity

Clogged and partially clogged drains constantly add moisture to the air. This can make your kitchen feel clammy or muggy. It can also create the perfect conditions for mildew and mold.

Professional drain cleaning is the safest and most effective way to clear full and partial drain blockages. If you need drain cleaning in Granada Hills, CA, get in touch with Turbo Plumbing & Rooter today!