For this post and our next one, we’d like to turn our (and your!) attention to a couple of helpful things in your home that don’t usually get a lot of fanfare. The first thing we’d like to show you is the bendy piping underneath the drain of your sink. It’s called a “P-trap”, because it’s shaped like the letter “P”. It connects the horizontal and vertical pipes under most sinks, and even most toilets.
This handy little device does a few neat tricks. Since it holds a small amount of water inside the bend, it’s able to collect debris or objects that go down a drain, allowing them to enter your plumbing and septic system more gradually, which reduces clogs. This can also be helpful if you drop something down the drain unintentionally! The P-trap also helps you out as things travel in the opposite direction. Sewers and septic tanks produce a lot of hazardous gasses, and these are prevented from flowing into your home thanks to the P-trap.
