Garbage Disposal Repair in Accokeek, MD

What's different about Accokeek

Accokeek was a rural tobacco-farming area on the Potomac and is now mostly suburban, but parts of it are still large-lot and wooded. The Moyaone Reserve west of Route 210 has individually designed mid-century homes on lots of five acres or more. Housing overall is fairly new for southern Prince George's County, with a median build year of 1997.

Water and sewer service varies by address here. WSSC Water is the public utility for the county and handles water and sewer emergencies at 301-206-4002 where it serves, but some homes may be on private wells or a private onsite wastewater system. Prince George's County DPIE has separate sections for wells and onsite sewage systems. Check your bill: a WSSC sewer charge means public sewer.

That matters for disposals. Ground food adds solids to whatever receives the wastewater. On public sewer that's rarely a concern. On a private onsite wastewater system, a disposal adds to the load the system has to handle and can mean pumping more often, so many owners use it sparingly or compost instead.

Repair or replace

Signs to watch for

• Humming without grinding
• Frequent trips of the reset button
• Water on the cabinet floor
• A sink that drains slowly even with the unit running
• Gurgling from other drains when the kitchen empties

Timing notes

Holiday cooking is the classic time for jams, as peels and grease pile up in one afternoon. If your home isn't on municipal sewer, those heavy days are also when a disposal puts the most solids into the system, so scraping plates into the trash helps. Replacing a failing unit before a big gathering avoids a mid-meal shutdown. In winter, run plenty of cold water with each use, since grease firms up faster in cold pipes and long runs to a rural tank or a street main give it more room to settle.