Post by huskeric on Nov 9, 2016 20:55:49 GMT -5
I know this has come up on the boards a number of times, and I haven't seen this "system" in use, so I thought I'd just share it. When I first started, I just did my cleanouts out in the back yard, and dumped the slurry along the bedlines in our landscaping. Then I started using Borax, and reading more about all of the yuck that's in slurry, and thought it best to not do that. I try to keep all of this contained within this system, and it seems to work well for my small "operation."
When I am ready to clean out a batch, I use a litter box, a bucket and a Winco metal sieve (got it from Amazon, like it pretty well, you can see the edge of it in pic 1). I start by straining everything over the litterbox (I use disposable liners in the litter box).
IMG_20161107_081842290 by Eric Irwin, on Flickr
IMG_20161107_081759979 by Eric Irwin, on Flickr
IMG_20161107_081421268 by Eric Irwin, on Flickr
When that's done, and as much of the sludge is through as will go with some shaking, I immerse the sieve in a bucket of water which is about 1/2 full. The sieve finds a "seat" in the bucket which leaves my hands free to swish everything around and let the plastics float up to the top. Then I use a second sieve to fish out as much of them as I can because they are a PITA to work around. I will then just clean about 90% of the muck off from the rocks in the bucket and put them into another container temporarily. Once I have them all cleaned out, including ceramics, I will take my container of rocks and my sieve outside and hose them off the rest of the way. There is very little residue left on them at that point, so not really any left-behind mess to speak of.
Then I just let the bucket settle down in my back room in the basement. Some of the water will evaporate off, but mostly, I just use a measuring cup and dip out the "clean" water at the top as much as I can without stirring up the muck. Eventually, the bucket fills with more slurry, and ultimately, I will get as much water off from it as I can and then dump it into the litter box. I usually let that dry out a bit more, then throw in kitty litter to absorb the remaining liquid. Then I just pull the liner up out of the litter box and put it into a plastic shopping bag.
It works for me, maybe it can work for you. Thanks!
When I am ready to clean out a batch, I use a litter box, a bucket and a Winco metal sieve (got it from Amazon, like it pretty well, you can see the edge of it in pic 1). I start by straining everything over the litterbox (I use disposable liners in the litter box).
IMG_20161107_081842290 by Eric Irwin, on Flickr
IMG_20161107_081759979 by Eric Irwin, on Flickr
IMG_20161107_081421268 by Eric Irwin, on Flickr
When that's done, and as much of the sludge is through as will go with some shaking, I immerse the sieve in a bucket of water which is about 1/2 full. The sieve finds a "seat" in the bucket which leaves my hands free to swish everything around and let the plastics float up to the top. Then I use a second sieve to fish out as much of them as I can because they are a PITA to work around. I will then just clean about 90% of the muck off from the rocks in the bucket and put them into another container temporarily. Once I have them all cleaned out, including ceramics, I will take my container of rocks and my sieve outside and hose them off the rest of the way. There is very little residue left on them at that point, so not really any left-behind mess to speak of.
Then I just let the bucket settle down in my back room in the basement. Some of the water will evaporate off, but mostly, I just use a measuring cup and dip out the "clean" water at the top as much as I can without stirring up the muck. Eventually, the bucket fills with more slurry, and ultimately, I will get as much water off from it as I can and then dump it into the litter box. I usually let that dry out a bit more, then throw in kitty litter to absorb the remaining liquid. Then I just pull the liner up out of the litter box and put it into a plastic shopping bag.
It works for me, maybe it can work for you. Thanks!