Plumbing 101: Drain Basics

The typical sink has two types of plumbing fixtures. The faucets allow water to flow into the sink; the drain carries liquids away from the inside section of that raised basin. Plumbers in a commercial, educational or business area must pay close attention to the sort of liquids that get tossed down any of the drains.

If such an area happens to contain a laboratory, then the lab workers might be using a flammable substance, such as acetone. Such a substance should not be allowed to flow, undiluted into a drain. In fact, even the first rinse from a container that once held acetone needs to be disposed of in the same manner as all other toxic waste.

Succeeding rinses are less dangerous. They can be thrown down a drainage pipe. When acetone has been properly diluted, usually through repeated rinses, then it should not damage the pipes that it comes in contact with. If not well diluted, then that strong smelling liquid can corrode the pipes.

Now that fact should be noted by anyone who uses acetone. As indicated above, the workers in a laboratory would certainly fall into that group. However, even the residents of a home might need to pay attention to what they let slip into the drainage pipes. For example, if they use nail polish remover, then they must consider acetone’s corrosive nature. After all, that chemical is the primary ingredient in a bottle of nail polish remover.

A homemaker should thus think about providing the family’s private dwelling with some sort of hazardous waste container. It could be placed in the section where other items, such as old batteries, get stored. On the specified collection days, that container could be taken to the designated spot. Its proper disposal should become as commonplace as the collection of recyclable products.