Mum would like to do her bit to lessen the drought in England so she's commissioned me to connect a water butt to our drain pipe to collect water. The problem is that the bathroom sink (and I suppose the bath) also connect to the same drain pipe. All manner of detergents and other herbicidal products are liable to make their way down the sink or bath drains so I don't want to collect this water. I can think of a number of possible solutions but not necessarily the smartest. What would you suggest?
Collecting rain water for water butt
- Thread starter ToolbeltDandy
- Start date
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I would cut the downpipe above the butt and take a bend into it. Then use a hopper to feed the wastes into.
It may look a little odd but not if you hide it a little behind the butt. Remember you still need an overflow to the gulley for the butt anyway which can discharge into the hopper.
It may look a little odd but not if you hide it a little behind the butt. Remember you still need an overflow to the gulley for the butt anyway which can discharge into the hopper.
I'm no expert, but bathroom sink waste shouldn't be feeding into the top water drain anyway. They should be going into your soil pipe.
If you correct this, your problem will be solved.
Seems to me the OP is more concerned with the contents of the water rather than the mechanics of how to actually collect it. Things like washing up liquid are bio degradable and was commonly used as a treatment for greenfly.I'm a little unsure of the "herbicides" that he says will be coming from the bathroom water, what does his mum wash her hair in???
Simplist way would be to follow r896neo's advice and couple it with using only bio degradable products else other than that you'll need some sort of filter bed or switchable flow
Simplist way would be to follow r896neo's advice and couple it with using only bio degradable products else other than that you'll need some sort of filter bed or switchable flow
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Yeah, let's ignore the fact that they're breaking the law by putting waste into the top water drainage system
There's probably a million house in this country that don't empty the sink and bath waste straight into the soil pipe, mine doesn't it goes straight out of the wall and then down to the drain and I could , like the OP, tap into this to collect the water if I so wanted.Either way does it really matter it all ends up in the same place.
I would hazard a guess that the drain your sink emptys into is not the top water drain.It will actually run into the sewer.
The drain pipe drain should run into the top water drain.
As for it all ending up in the same place, you would need to take that up with the Water Companies - I'm sure they would disagree.
Probably the confusion here is that the OP has called this thread "collecting rain water for water butt" but is then talking about actually collecting used domestic water and it isn't clear where this is discharging but I'm assuming it isn't the same place that the rainwater down pipes run into. I think he wants to collect and store at least some of it before it downs down into the sewer which if his mum's house is anything like mine is quite possible as the bathroom waste and soil pipe enter the sewer at different points.
My understanding of the OP was that he wanted to collect rain water from a guttering downspout, but that a bathroom waste was connected to it.
This I believe is against building regs and would be a real problem if the rain water from the property was feeding into a storm drain and not the main sewer or even worse if it were connected to a soak away.
Some systems do put rain water into the main sewer and this is allowed in certain circumstances, but the reverse, i.e; putting waste into rainwater is not.
I doubt the 90% figure.
This I believe is against building regs and would be a real problem if the rain water from the property was feeding into a storm drain and not the main sewer or even worse if it were connected to a soak away.
Some systems do put rain water into the main sewer and this is allowed in certain circumstances, but the reverse, i.e; putting waste into rainwater is not.
I doubt the 90% figure.
Please try and educate yourself, its embarrassing. For new builds or extensions in the very recent past this is indeed not allowed except where approved by BC and/or the water company. For the vast majority of existing dwellings no such rules or regulations apply and whatever system has historically been adopted is fully legal.My understanding of the OP was that he wanted to collect rain water from a guttering downspout, but that a bathroom waste was connected to it.
This I believe is against building regs and would be a real problem if the rain water from the property was feeding into a storm drain and not the main sewer or even worse if it were connected to a soak away.
Some systems do put rain water into the main sewer and this is allowed in certain circumstances, but the reverse, i.e; putting waste into rainwater is not.
I doubt the 90% figure.
[quote="freddymercurystwin";p="2324248 [/quote]
Please try and educate yourself, its embarrassing. For new builds or extensions in the very recent past this is indeed not allowed except where approved by BC and/or the water company. For the vast majority of existing dwellings no such rules or regulations apply and whatever system has historically been adopted is fully legal.[/quote]
How could I educate myself when you weren't available until now ???
[/quote]Please try and educate yourself, its embarrassing. For new builds or extensions in the very recent past this is indeed not allowed except where approved by BC and/or the water company. For the vast majority of existing dwellings no such rules or regulations apply and whatever system has historically been adopted is fully legal.[/quote]
How could I educate myself when you weren't available until now ???
Yes, even I am amazed by my own brilliance on a regular basis.
My apologies to all, I honestly thought that had always been the case.
You're not allowed to let waste into the water course though are you ?
That was my confusion
You're not allowed to let waste into the water course though are you ?
That was my confusion
My apologies to all, I honestly thought that had always been the case.
You're not allowed to let waste into the water course though are you ?
That was my confusion
no need to apologise, everyone makes mistakes some even say freddy makes a few
As to the confusion , most has been caused by toolbelt dandy's lack of concise information, naughty boy
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