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 see a tiny creature buzz up out of the drain. Is that a gnat? Then you notice more of them zooming around your kitchen. These annoying little guys are actually fruit flies. And if you’re wondering 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.” Since they’re lured by moisture and decomposing food, they’ll head for your trash can, your old fruit and the kitchen drain, which is filled with moisture and little pieces of food. In some cases you’ll watch them appear up out of the drain. This can be particularly frustrating if you have a partially clogged sink or disposal that clears out slowly. This preserves more moisture and food particles that appeals to 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 bring germs with them. This may include listeria, salmonella and even E. coli. All of these bacteria can cause serious cases of food poisoning. 

What Can I Do About Them? 

Owing to this bacterial risk, keep your surfaces clean at all times. Use a kitchen surface cleaner that kills bacteria. Don’t reuse sponges that can attract, retain and transport germs. It’s cleaner to use paper towels and throw them away. 

Bug sprays can kill the adult fruit flies but won’t destroy the eggs. And you likely don’t want to spray insecticide all throughout your kitchen. Instead, pour boiling water in your drain. Before bed, close up your drains with clear packing tape. Each morning, you can see some fruit flies attached to it. 

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

• Wine—Pour an ounce of wine in the jar. Make a hole in the lid so the fruit flies can enter. You can also use a funnel or paper cone rather than a lid. 

• Old fruit—Same as above, but use rotten fruit instead of wine. 
• Apple cider vinegar—Same as above but with apple cider vinegar. 
• Apple cider vinegar and dish soap—Same as above with dish liquid as well, which makes it harder for flies to get away. 
• Yeast—Pour in two or three ounces of water, one packet of activated dry yeast along with a teaspoon of sugar. 

To avoid attracting fruit flies: 

• Wash your produce immediately after bringing it home. Sometimes they can possess fruit fly eggs or larvae. 
• Refrigerate whenever you can. 
• Don’t keep overripe produce in your kitchen. Buy only what you’re going to eat. 
• Empty your kitchen trash often, and keep it closed. 
• Keep your surfaces clean and disinfected. 

• If you like to keep windows up, install well-fitted screens. 

If the listed methods haven’t resolved 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 drifting up into your home. It also keeps flies from hiding in your pipes and flying up from the drain. If your pipe has a leak and has no water seal, this can produce a fruit fly infestation. Run the water and search below for a leak. If you find one, get it fixed promptly. Leaky pipes can encourage mold and structural damage to 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 breed fruit flies, but over time the sink drain can fully clog and become unusable. The Service Experts Heating, Air Conditioning & Plumbing plumbing team has the equipment, experience and knowledge to determine the problem and resolve it quickly. We use a video drain inspector to plainly see what’s going on within the pipes, and multiple methods to clean them, depending on the type and severity of the blockage. If the problem is the garbage disposal, we can repair or replace it at a price you can afford. We also fix leaky pipes. 

If you want 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 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.