What Is the Link Between a Dishwasher and a Sink?

Main Connection

• Many new garbage disposals are equipped with an inlet pipe, which sticks out from the side of the disposal. The inlet pipe allows you to attach the drainage or outlet hose from your dishwasher to the garbage disposal. Once you've done this, as the dishwasher drains, the water travels from the dishwasher through the inlet pipe and the garbage disposal and down your main sink drain. The only caveat is that when you buy the disposal, there often is a plug in the inlet pipe, which you simply pop out prior to attaching the hose.

Advantages

• The main advantage of attaching your dishwasher to your garbage disposal and thus your main sink drain is that every time you run the dishwasher, your garbage disposal gets a good flushing. In the long run, that can keep the disposal from getting clogged and nasty. That, in turn, can keep the disposal in better working condition longer and smelling fresher.

Disadvantages

• In an ideal world, no one would put items down the garbage disposal they really shouldn't, and all garbage disposals would obliterate anything you threw into them. In reality, not everything is supposed to get chucked into the disposal and run through your sink, and disposals break. If you hook the dishwasher to the garbage disposal outlet and put items in the disposal that build up and get stuck, whenever the sink and disposal clog, you risk having the dishwasher not drain properly. Sometimes food from the disposal can even back up into the dishwasher outlet hose and flush back into the dishwasher. If that happens, you will need to disconnect and clean the hose. When the disposal or sink require maintenance, you will need to disconnect the dishwasher to do the repair safely.

Considerations

• Many people, especially those in older houses, find that the sink and disposal clog quite often. When remodeling, some homeowners want to have their dishwasher completely separate from the sink and disposal. This is possible, but most building and plumbing codes require dishwashers to drain into an indirect waste receptacle, and for most people, the disposal is the easiest way to accommodate this regulation. Disposals and sinks often clog because the disposal is simply old and worn out, and it no longer has the capacity to break down the waste properly. Replacing the disposal often alleviates the clogging and allows both the dishwasher and sink to drain the way they should.