Why Are There Fruit Flies in My Kitchen Sink Drain?

Has this ever happened to you? You’re scrubbing a dish in the kitchen sink and watch a small creature buzz up out of the drain. Was that a gnat? Then you see more of them zooming around your kitchen. These aggravating little guys are actually fruit flies. And if you’re wondering how they got in there and what can be done about them, you’re in the right place. 

Why Are They Here? 

Fruit flies live all over the U.S., and mate 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 lured by moisture and rotten food, they’ll frequently appear in your trash can, your rotten fruit and the kitchen drain, which is full of moisture and tiny pieces of food. Occasionally you’ll see them come up out of the drain. This can be particularly bad if you have a partly clogged sink or disposal that drains slowly. This maintains more moisture and food debris that draws these insects and lets them thrive and reproduce. 

How Bad Are They? 

When fruit flies move from a dirty surface to a clean one, they lug germs with them. This can include listeria, salmonella and even E. coli. All of these bacteria can result in severe cases of food poisoning. 

What Can I Do About Them? 

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

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

Here are other barriers you can also use, all involving a jar: 

• Wine—Put an ounce of wine into the jar. Add a hole in the lid so the fruit flies can get in. You can also use a funnel or paper cone instead of a lid. 

• Old 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 added, which makes it harder for flies to escape. 
• Yeast—Add two or three ounces of water, one packet of activated dry yeast as well as a teaspoon of sugar. 

To minimize bringing in fruit flies: 

• Wash your produce as soon you bring it home. In some cases they can contain fruit fly eggs or larvae. 
• Refrigerate as soon as you can. 
• Don’t keep spoiled produce in your home. Buy only what you’re 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 infestation, there might be something wrong with your p-trap. That’s the section of your drain pipe bent in a u shape to hold 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 lacks a water seal, this can produce a fruit fly infestation. Run the water and look below for a leak. If you spot one, get it fixed quickly. Leaky pipes can cause mold and structural damage to your home. 

You should also hire a plumber if your kitchen sink or garbage disposal is draining slowly. This problem not only helps breed fruit flies, but over time the sink drain can completely clog and become unusable. The Service Experts Heating, Air Conditioning & Plumbing plumbing team has the tools, experience and knowledge to determine the problem and solve it right away. We use a video drain inspector to obviously see what’s occurring within the pipes, and multiple methods to clean them, depending on the type and intensity of the blockage. If the problem is the 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, get in touch with 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 happy. 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.