The Garbage Disposal Isn't Saving Your Pipes
Chandler runs a fats, oils and grease program for one reason: household cooking grease causes sewer blockages and backups, in homes and in the city's lines. Meat fat, butter, sauces, dressings and gravy all count.
The city is blunt about two habits most people think are fine. Garbage disposals don't keep grease out of the pipes; ground food sticks to the grease on the pipe walls and builds the clog faster. And hot water or dish soap only moves grease further down the line, where it hardens somewhere harder to reach.
The city tracks grease back to the neighborhood and even the building by checking manholes and running cameras through its sewer pipes. In your home's line, we do the same thing on a smaller scale: clear it with a cable or hydro jetting, then a camera inspection shows whether grease, roots or a damaged section is the real cause.
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Where Is Your Cleanout?
When the main line backs up, the fastest fix goes through the sewer cleanout, the capped pipe that opens into your main line. The City of Chandler doesn't keep records of where cleanouts are on private property, so if you've never seen yours, you're not alone.
About 73% of Chandler homes were built between 1980 and 2009, per U.S. Census data, from the older streets around Downtown Chandler to Ocotillo and Fulton Ranch. Cleanouts end up under landscaping, behind bushes, or in the side yard. We'll find it, and if the line keeps backing up, the camera tells us why.
- Yours (call us): clogs and backups between your fixtures and the city's connection.
- The city's: water coming up in the street, sidewalk or around the meter. Call Public Works and Utilities at 480-782-3700 (option 3, then option 1) during business hours, or 480-782-4130 after hours.
Chandler's Grease Rules for Home
What the city asks Chandler households to do:
- Collect grease in a can, let it cool, and throw it in the trash
- Freeze small amounts, then cover, bag, tie and toss them
- Take larger amounts in a secured container to the city's Household Hazardous Waste facility (appointments at 480-782-3510)
- Skip products that claim to dissolve grease; they can push it further down the line
Already backed up? Main-line drain cleaning is $99 through an accessible cleanout (residential, no pools; mention it when you book). Anything else starts with a $99 service call that goes toward the repair if you go ahead.