The day after Thanksgiving — known as “Black Friday” — is a day when the Christmas shopping season begins and retailers across the nation open early, close late, and promote sales at massively discounted prices. Retailers, however, aren’t the only businesses affected by the day following Thanksgiving. Plumbers have dubbed it “Brown Friday.” Roto-Rooter said it experiences a 50% increase in call volume the day after Thanksgiving compared to an average Friday. Thanksgiving gatherings and meals can overload kitchen sinks, garbage disposals, toilets, and main sewers. Extra guests mean more toilet flushes, showers, dishwasher and laundry loads, and garbage disposal usage. Simply put, Thanksgiving puts a heavy strain on American plumbing systems and keeps plumbers super busy. While plumbing mishaps do generate a tremendous amount of revenue, plumbers still want you to know that you can avoid having to pay holiday rates for a plumber to come out by following a few simple rules:
- 1. Never pour grease, turkey drippings, or cooking oil down drains. They solidify in pies like candle wax and choke drains.
- 2. Don’t put potato peels, poultry skin, bones, rice, or pasta down the garbage disposal. They can handle small quantities of scraps, but most food should go into the trash can or compost pile.
- 3. Make sure the garbage disposal is running when you add food scraps.
- 4. Don’t flush wet wipes down toilets. Most won’t dissolve and may clog drainpipes and sewers.
- 5. Place plungers in guest bathrooms to save guests the embarrassment of asking for one.
- 6. Spread out showers and laundry loads so pipes have the time to drain fully.
