Hi,

I was putting down onion tops in my sink's garbage disposal 2 days earlier with what I have to say now was way too little water. As a result, the sink clogged up, and the garbage disposal "broke." It turns out the garbage disposal was not actually broken, and I reset it by pushing a button on the bottom.

However, now, I feel that the problem is a clog or something beyond the wall. The problem is that the water will run, but eventually back up into the sink. I believe that using water from other areas of the apartment backs up water into the kitchen sink as well.

I took apart the pvc pipes under the sink, and they appear to be fine, but when water is drained into the sink, it appears to drain, but is in reality filling up to a certain point and then overflowing.

Another couple of pieces of information that may or may not be helpful: When I reset the garbage disposal, I ran it with water and it was working, which made me happy, until the pressure blew off the U tube under the sink and water flooded the kitchen, which made me very unhappy. Also, it appears the U-tube has a small hole or something which is allowing it to leak.

So far, I have tried plunging and taking apart the pipes under the kitchen sink to clean them, but it appears the clog is further along. I would greatly appreciate any advice on my predicament, and thank you in advance for your replies.

That U tube is your trap and they will leak under theses circumstances, not to worry. You need to remove the trap and the horizontal pipe to the wall and rod from there. 8" inisde the wall you'll do a 90 degree turn so your snake must be small. 1/4" should do it. Before going to this trouble try filling the sink and a few buckets with very hot water,drain the sink and keep pouring buckets to keep the sink almost to the top. This might be all it takes to break loose those onions skins, use more water next time or just the can.

Garbage Disposers are great inventions - but have to be used with caution. You cannot put everything down the drain. Small amounts of soft food are fine but onions certainly are not. Use lots of water every time you use garbage disposer to flush chopped up food as far down your drain as possible. Also, if you have dull blades, they won't be able to chop up your leftovers to small pieces eventually clogging up your drains.

Thanks for the quick replies, I actually ended up not having to snake the wall because it turned out the main line was clogged (I live in an apartment complex, with 10+ other lines going to the main line) so it actually wasn't my fault haha. Funny thing is, I ended up finally learning how the bottom of a kitchen sink works, figures!