My mom told me to always run the garbage disposal before running the dishwasher. Is it really necessa?

Question

I thought the reason for doing so it is that it was supposed to keep food particles from the disposal getting into the dishwasher. And I vaguely remember water from the dishwasher empyting into the sink. So there was some way in which the dishwasher and the disposal were connected. My roommate never heard of running the disposal before the dishwasher.

Answer 1

I have never heard of that. Maybe it's different with each disposal or plumbing setup.

Answer 2

Yes.

But, I'm surprised that no one told you why the dishwasher is connected to the drain above the garbage disposal unit. It's because the food that comes off the dishes shouldn't go directly into the drain without being chopped up as much as possible. So, when the first batch of dirty water from the dishwasher drains into the garbage disposal unit, all of the food that comes off the dishes sits in the unit until it's turned on and chopped up.

So, it's a good idea (not critical) to run the disposal unit before the dirty dishwasher water goes in there.

By the way, if your house is hooked up to the local sewage system, it's important to leave the water on for at least 30 seconds after you run the garbage disposer so that all the chopped up stuff gets fully flushed out.

Answer 3

The dishwasher drain line is usually connected to the garbage disposal. If there is anything in the disposal it can possibly slow or prevent the water from running down the drain and make it back up into the sink. If the sink cannot hold all of the water from the dishwasher it will go onto the floor.

It is also a good idea to run the hot water in the sink until it gets it's hottest before starting the dishwasher to ensure that you at least start off with good hot water.

Answer 4

If you don't run the disposal before the dishwasher then food can end up back on your dishes in some cases. Or your sink can end up flooding with dish water. It just depends on your setup, but as a precaution... it is a very good idea to go ahead and run the disposal first. Everyone knows that...

Answer 5

The dishwasher empties into the garbage disposal (usually). If someone stuffed a cabbage, or any other food, into the disposal and failed to run it then the sink may very well overflow into the floor when it drains. In other words its to keep the sink from stopping up.

Answer 6

Like doctors say...it's all connected. The dishwasher water cycles through your disposal, so if there is nasty stuff in your disposal it could pose a messy problem. It probably isn't necessary, but it is probably a good habit to get into. It could avoid overflow or at least a gross collection of stuff in the disposal side of your sink.

Answer 7

YES. Our dishwsher actually drains through the disposal so we run the disposal and then the dishwasher. If the disposal is clean, (nothing going into it) we simply run the dishwsher. JUST DONT RUN THE DISPOSAL WHEN THE DISHWSHER IS RUNNING.

Answer 8

For most instances it is not necessary. At your mom's house, however, it may have been. It is possible that the valve which allows the washer to drain into the sink drain did not work properly, which could have caused a back wash.

Some people do this because it insures that you empty your disposal regularly keeping it from getting stinky.

It all depends on your plumbing.

Answer 9

Depends on how the water system's set up, but mine has water go through the disposal into the dishwasher. If the disposal has stuff in it, that stuff goes on the "cleaned" dishes. That's the only thing I can think of...

Answer 10

First things first: listen to your mum. They are never wrong. Perhaps its the years of experience behind them.