Kimjangcheol Kimchi waste detergent foam backflow
“There is no technical problem in theory… Avoid excessive use”
Among the various problems that occur in flats, if you are asked to highlight the difficult situation that low-income households find, ‘reflux’ cannot be left out. In the kimchi-making season, garbage from kimchi is disposed of in the sink without permission, and a lot of red pepper powder comes out from the sink of the downstairs furniture.
According to the related industry on the 3rd, an article was recently posted in an online community with the title ‘Proper kimchi waste disposal’. If you look at the posted article, the sink is blocked with the residue left after kimchi blocks the drain.
During the kimchi-making season, every house dumped kimchi-making waste, such as leftover seasoning, into the sink, causing the pipe to become clogged and a lot of red kimchi soup to reach the sink of the downstairs furniture.
This problem occurs not only in sinks, but also in laundry room plumbing. In one apartment complex, although there was a designated laundry room, a washing machine was placed on the balcony and used, so the ground floor furniture in the same building was hit by a water bomb and a bubble bomb at the same time.
In winter, when the temperature drops below zero, like these days, the lower floors face a different problem. When the pipe freezes, the water does not drain smoothly. Flats with frozen plumbing are constantly complaining that they ‘avoid cold mornings and nights and returning the washing machine’, but low-lying homes suffer flash flooding because some households ignore this.
Conversely, during the summer monsoon season, rain is a problem. Normal rainfall is fine, but heavy rainfall, such as during the monsoon season, can significantly exceed the capacity of the pipe. Ultimately, plumbing does not drain rainwater smoothly, and low furniture where water from the floor collects often becomes a ‘sea of water’.
It’s not just plumbing issues. In winter, the lower floors are closer to the ground, so the cold energy from the floor is transferred intact, and the amount of sunlight is less than the upper floors. It is a bit cold because of this, and it costs more to heat it.
It is said to have decreased a lot recently, but there are cases where rubbish is thrown from high floors, various dust that fell when shaking blankets, and children’s toys falling in front of the house. Noise between floors is also a part you have to put up with to some extent if you are on a lower floor.
Residents of damaged low-rise homes responded by saying, ‘If you don’t live on the lower floors, you can’t understand these difficulties’, ‘All you need to do is be a little considerate, but there are many selfish residents . ‘, and ‘This wouldn’t happen if you didn’t say not to do it’.
The lower floors are not without their disadvantages. You can enjoy the landscaped trees in the complex as if it were the front yard, and children are less likely to notice even if they run indoors. You don’t have to use the elevator, so it’s easy to get in and out, and you don’t have to pay this fee for the management fee. Above all, the house price or rental price is relatively low.
Korea is more technologically advanced than any other country when it comes to apartments, enough to be called the ‘apartment republic’. But why does this problem appear again and again every year? If you put together the words of the officials of the construction company, you can conclude that in theory there is little chance of problems with the pipes.
An official from a large construction company said, “Nowadays, it is true that cases of freezing or bursting in winter are rare because even pipes require technology, such as heat insulation or building heat wires into the pipes themselves .” It’s true that it’s hard to conclude that problems can’t arise because there are so many.”
So, overuse is what ultimately causes this problem. An apartment, or condominium, is a space where several people live together. It is hoped that this problem will gradually decrease if residents make small concessions.
Lee Sang-ryeol, Hankyung.com reporter yisr0203@hankyung.com
