Why Are There Fruit Flies in My Kitchen Sink Drain?

Has this ever happened to you? You’re washing a dish in the kitchen sink and watch a tiny creature shoot up out of the drain. Is that a gnat? Then you see more of them flying around your kitchen. These irritating little guys are actually fruit flies. And if you’re wanting to know how they got in there and what may be done about them, you’re in the right place. 

Why Are They Here? 

Fruit flies survive all over the U.S., and spread quickly. According to WebMD, “An adult female fruit fly can lay up to 2,000 eggs on the surface of anything that’s moist and rotting. Within 30 hours, tiny maggots hatch and start to eat the decayed food. Within two days, they’re all grown up and ready to mate.” As they’re drawn to moisture and rotten food, they’ll frequently appear in your trash can, your old fruit and the kitchen drain, which is filled with moisture and tiny chunks of food. Occasionally you’ll see them appear up out of the drain. This can be particularly frustrating if you have a partly clogged sink or disposal that clears out slowly. This maintains more moisture and food debris that draws these insects and enables them to thrive and reproduce. 

How Bad Are They? 

When fruit flies transfer from a dirty surface to a clean one, they carry germs with them. This might include listeria, salmonella and even E. coli. All of these bacteria can cause serious cases of food poisoning. 

What Can I Do About Them? 

Because of this bacterial exposure, keep your surfaces clean at all times. Use a kitchen surface cleaner that kills bacteria. Don’t reuse sponges that can absorb, retain and exchange germs. It’s cleaner to use paper towels and dispose of them. 

Bug sprays can kill the adult fruit flies but won’t get rid of the eggs. And you probably don’t want to spread insecticide all over your kitchen. Instead, run boiling water down your drain. Before bed, block off your drains with clear packing tape. In the morning, you ought to see some fruit flies trapped to it. 

Here are other barriers you can also try, all with a jar: 

• Wine—Put an ounce of wine inside the jar. Put a hole in the lid so the fruit flies can enter. You can also have a funnel or paper cone in the place of a lid. 

• Rotten fruit—Same as above, but use rotten fruit in place of wine. 
• Apple cider vinegar—Same as above but you’ll use apple cider vinegar. 
• Apple cider vinegar and dish soap—Same as above with dish liquid as well, which makes it much harder for flies to escape. 
• Yeast—Put in two or three ounces of water, one packet of activated dry yeast as well as a teaspoon of sugar. 

To avoid bringing in fruit flies: 

• Clean your produce immediately after bringing it home. Sometimes they can contain fruit fly eggs or larvae. 
• Refrigerate whatever you can. 
• Don’t keep old produce in your kitchen. Buy only what you’re most likely to eat. 
• Empty your kitchen trash often, and keep it closed. 
• Keep your surfaces clean and disinfected. 

• If you want to keep windows raised, install well-fitted screens. 

If the above methods haven’t eliminated your fruit fly issue, there may be something wrong with your p-trap. That’s the section of your drain pipe bent in a u shape to capture water and keep foul air from wafting up into your home. It also prevents flies from surviving in your pipes and flying up out of the drain. If your pipe has a leak and has no water seal, this can lead to a fruit fly problem. Run the water and search below for a leak. If you notice one, get it fixed right away. Leaky pipes can lead to mold and structural problems with your home. 

You should also hire a plumber if your kitchen sink or garbage disposal is draining slower than usual. This problem not only helps encourage fruit flies, but over time the sink drain can entirely clog and become useless. The Service Experts Heating, Air Conditioning & Plumbing plumbing team has the equipment, experience and know-how to diagnose the problem and fix it promptly. We employ a video drain inspector to plainly see what’s happening in the pipes, and multiple methods to clean them, depending on the type and extent of the blockage. If the problem is a garbage disposal, we can repair or replace it at a price you can afford. We also handle leaky pipes. 

If you need any sort of plumbing service at all, call the professionals at Service Experts Heating, Air Conditioning & Plumbing. Whether we’re warming, cooling or making the water run, we take great pride in keeping our customers satisfied. With more than 4,000 team members, we can deliver and innovate better than anyone. Our can-do family attitude helps us get the job done on time, and right—the first time.