Plumbers Brace for "Brown Friday," their Busiest Day of the Year

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Nov 16, 2022, 10:00 ET

CINCINNATI, Nov. 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ --The day after Thanksgiving is the busiest day of the year for plumbing and drain service providers like Roto-Rooter. Big gatherings, meal preparation and kitchen cleanup will overload sinks, disposals, toilets and sewers, creating headaches for families and lots of work for plumbers. Retailers call it Black Friday, but Roto-Rooter calls it "Brown Friday" due to the amount of sewage and wastewater involved.

Roto-Rooter, the world's largest provider of plumbing repair and sewer & drain services, will see a 50% increase in call volume over an average Friday and a 21% uptick in business over any other four-day weekend period. It's all due to big holiday meal preparation and house guests. "Extra guests mean more flushes, showers, dish washing and laundry, increasing the likelihood of a plumbing or drain failure," said Paul Abrams, Roto-Rooter spokesman. "It's baked into the holiday weekend; we know exactly what will happen."

Roto-Rooter will be open and available throughout the four-day Thanksgiving weekend to deal with extra service calls. Virtually every Roto-Rooter service technician in the country works on "Brown Friday." In fact, Roto-Rooter is currently airing a humorous new television commercial about the importance of staffing up for its busiest day.

To avoid plumbing and drain trouble over Thanksgiving weekend, follow these tips:

Never pour grease, turkey drippings or cooking oil down drains. They solidify in pipes and choke drains.
Don't put potato peels, poultry skins, bones, rice or pasta down the garbage disposal. Disposals can handle small quantities of scraps, but most food should go into the trash can or compost pile.
Make sure the disposal is running when you add food scraps.
Don't flush wet wipes down toilets. Most won't dissolve and may clog pipes.
Place plungers in guest bathrooms to save guests the embarrassment of asking for one.
Spread out showers and laundry so pipes have time to drain.

To learn more about Roto-Rooter's Thanksgiving/Brown Friday plumbing rush, read our blog.

Founded in 1935, Roto-Rooter is the world's largest provider of plumbing and sewer & drain cleaning services. Roto-Rooter also provides water cleanup services. Roto-Rooter operates businesses in more than 130 company owned locations and 400 independent franchise locations serving the U.S. and Canada. Look up your local Roto-Rooter at www.rotorooter.com/locations/

Contact: Paul Abrams
O) 513-762-6434
C): 513-702-5631
[email protected]

SOURCE Roto-Rooter