Garbage Disposals and Colorado Springs Hard Water

Colorado Springs hard water is not kind to garbage disposals. Mineral scale accumulates on the grinding components over time and reduces efficiency. The combination of scale buildup and normal wear means garbage disposals in Colorado Springs homes often have shorter useful lives than manufacturers’ estimates suggest – those estimates are based on average water conditions, not the hard water that Colorado Springs homeowners deal with every day.

Repair vs Replace – The Honest Answer

Garbage disposals are one of the most straightforward repair-versus-replace decisions in plumbing. The parts inside a disposal are generally not serviceable, and the cost of attempting a repair often approaches the cost of a new unit. WireNut’s plumbers give you an honest assessment of whether a repair makes financial sense or whether a new unit is the better call. In most cases where a disposal has hummed its last hum or sprung a significant leak, replacement is the right answer.

Choosing the Right Disposal for Your Colorado Springs Home

Not all garbage disposals are created equal. Motor size, grinding stages, and noise insulation all vary significantly between models. For Colorado Springs homeowners with hard water, a disposal with stainless steel grinding components holds up better than one with lesser materials. WireNut’s plumbers can help you choose a unit that fits your kitchen’s usage and your budget before they install it.

• Disposal that hums but will not spin. This usually means the grinding plate is jammed. Before calling WireNut, try the reset button on the bottom of the unit and use the hex wrench socket to manually free the plate. If that does not fix it, the motor may be burnt out and replacement is the next step.
• Disposal that will not turn on at all. Check the reset button first, then check the outlet under the sink that the disposal plugs into. If neither of those is the issue, the unit has likely failed and needs replacement.
• Disposal that leaks at the sink flange. A leak at the top where the disposal mounts to the sink drain is usually a failed putty seal. This is fixable but requires removing and reseating the disposal – a job for a licensed plumber.
• Disposal that leaks at the side. A side leak usually comes from the dishwasher connection or the drain outlet. These connections can be tightened or replaced without replacing the whole unit.
• Disposal that drains slowly. A disposal that gurgles or drains slowly is usually a drain line issue, not a disposal issue. WireNut diagnoses drain problems connected to disposals and clears them as part of the service call.
• Disposal replacement. When a Colorado Springs homeowner’s garbage disposal has reached end of life, WireNut handles the full replacement including disconnection of the old unit, installation and plumbing connections for the new one, and testing before we leave.

Here are the garbage disposal problems our plumbers see most often in Colorado Springs homes.

What to Tell WireNut When You Call About Your Disposal

When you call WireNut about a garbage disposal problem in your Colorado Springs home, the most helpful things to tell us are what the disposal is doing (or not doing), whether you have already tried the reset button, and roughly how old the unit is. That information helps your plumber arrive with the right replacement unit on the truck if a new installation is likely, rather than making a diagnosis visit and then a separate installation visit.