How your Kitchen Plumbing Works

The Basics of Kitchen Plumbing

Every homeowner should take the time to properly understand how his or her kitchen plumbing works. Understanding this basic concept makes it easier to make repairs in the future, or understand what a plumber must fix to get your cooking area functioning properly once again.

It’s All Interconnected

It doesn’t matter if you just have a basin, or you have a sink, a garbage disposal and a dish washer, all those devices are connected and rely on the same system to function. The plumbing is what makes everything else function properly. There’s a series of drains that drop down from each of the sinks in the home to let water go out the sink and through the pipes. These pipes drop straight down, route through a P-trap and then go do the main drain .

If a garbage disposal is added to the system, it’s connected to the same drain system and the food particles and liquid flow through that same drain out of the cooking area.

If a dish washer is installed, it drains out its liquid through the same drain that’s used by the garbage disposal and the sink.

The sink has two separate water supply lines going to it that usually have individual shutoffs as well. There’s a hot and a cold supply line. The dish washer has its own supply line as well going directly to it, making it possible to run the dish washer and the basin at the same time. The garbage disposal does not have a supply line of its own, which is why it’s recommended to run water while using the system to keep it functioning properly.

Appliances Have Their Own Supply

If you have a refrigerator with a water dispenser or an ice maker, this has a built-in water line as well. This allows the appliance to continually do its job without affecting any of the other fixtures.

Problems are Connected as Well

Now that you understand a bit how all the plumbing in the kitchen comes together, it’s easy to see how it might be difficult to diagnose a problem. All the different fixtures are interconnected, and a problem in one could cause problems in multiple systems. That’s why it’s often best to have a professional come in and look if you run into issues.

If you’re having an issue, call us at 831-431-6593 for a repair quote today. You’ll have help at your home before you know it and your kitchen will be running smoothly once again.