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Post by fernwood on May 20, 2018 5:49:47 GMT -5
Thought I had everything figured out for easy disposal of grit and cleaning equipment. Ran into a snag.
I had plans to set up the utility room for working with rocks. There is a large utility sink on legs there with hot/cold water. It is what my washing machine drains into.
The sink has a PVC pipe running from the bottom. Then an elbow and another pipe which runs outside. The outside pipe sticks out about 1 foot from the house. Another elbow and a pipe running down. Yet another elbow and 20 feet of pipe. Water comes out the end into the yard.
The original first elbow had a trap at the bottom. Planned on placing a pail under the opened trap to catch water with grits/polishes. Checked yesterday and when this elbow was recently replaced, one was used without a trap. Dang!
On the outside of house, the first elbow is easily removable on both ends. I could remove the first outside pipe that runs down from the elbow and place a pail under the elbow. So, if I am careful to flush with warm water after each cleaning, will the grit/polish clog the small length of pipe running from the sink? I would also clean the outside elbow.
Yes, I have a hillbilly house in many ways, purchased from a couple who did a lot of “homeowner specials”. Eventually I will have to replace the inside elbow with one tht has a trap.
Thank you.
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Post by grumpybill on May 20, 2018 7:34:03 GMT -5
Take this for it's worth: exactly what you're paying for it...nothing.
I spent most of my working years in masonry construction. As can be imagined, a LOT of dust, grit and actual cement came home with my clothing, hair and body...and ultimately was washed down the house drains. Never had any clogs other than the occasional normal hair and grease buildups in P-traps.
A while back I ran a (rather unscientific) test to see if rock polishing grit/mud would clog drains as badly and quickly as the literature makes it seem.
I thoroughly dried out some mud from both a course grit stage and from a polish stage. I put some of each in separate bowls of water. The cake from the course stage turned back into mud almost instantly. Not so the polish cake...after soaking in water for about a week, it was still difficult to mash it up with my fingers.
This leads me to believe that the only buildup would occur at traps and any joints that have a gap between the adjoining pipes, allowing grit/mud to settle there. And even this shouldn't be a problem in a drain that is used frequently and the fine grit/mud never dries out completely. Any grit/mud that protrudes above the edges of the pipes or fittings would wash away, and a P-trap should never dry out.
Even so, I'm careful not to run grit/mud down the slop sink in my laundry area when I do cleanouts during cold weather. Better safe than sorry. But in your case, especially since any clogged pipes are easily replaced, I'd do it without hesitation.
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Post by opalpyrexia on May 20, 2018 11:21:32 GMT -5
FWIW, the drainage piping for the sink that I use for disposal of cutting wastewater has at least a 15 foot run of very minimal drop (because it runs alongside an enclosed heating duct). Concerned about this, I installed a Gleco trap under the sink. It works very well for me, capturing even fine material in addition to the bigger chunks. glecotrap.com
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Post by pauls on May 20, 2018 12:44:50 GMT -5
That sounds like the ideal setup fernwood, nothing much to clog up there and all accessible anyway, go for it. Maybe stick a trap in the thing some time just to stop the stinks and spiders coming up the pipe.
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kskid
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Member since July 2014
Posts: 98
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Post by kskid on May 21, 2018 0:13:03 GMT -5
I don't think you'll have any problem with the drain clogging. It's my understanding that the purpose of a drain trap is to prevent sewer gas from entering the structure. If I follow the OP correctly the sink simply daylights into the yard, in which case there's no need for a trap at all (no sewer gas). With no trap to hold sediment, there shouldn't be any accumulation of sludge - assuming the line has sufficient slope to keep the waste moving along. The suggestion that a trap might be useful to keep out bugs or cold air is plausible, but unlikely. It's a near certainty that such a trap won't be vented, so equally certain that it won't maintain a complete seal (though you could easily add a vent since it wouldn't have to go outside like a normal vent). Of course this all ignores plumbing codes/ordinances that might apply to daylighting a greywater drain.
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Post by orrum on May 21, 2018 7:46:49 GMT -5
Do not put rock snot and grit down the drain. It's a story of each tiny piece adds up until it's a problem. The stuff will stick and harden into concrete. How do you break a camels back? By adding one grain of sand at a time!!! It will lay in the botTom of the pipe and build up. If you disconnect part of the pipe then the remaining pipe even if vertical will retain snot and grit and pass it on down a miniscule piece at a time. Just saying....
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
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Post by jamesp on May 21, 2018 8:46:52 GMT -5
Aquatic Sagittarius growing in 100% slurry. clay/fertilizer on left, slurry on right. did a dozen pots of slurry from various loads and they all out performed native soil. if tumbling high copper or other poisonous rocks expect death of plantings. No additives like Borax or soaps, just clay slurry thickener and from coarse grind. note advances root development on right side, thicker branch development Soil amendment per excellence. At an earlier stage, various slurries are at lower left w/discolored soils. Plants far accelerated in slurry.
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,561
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Post by jamesp on May 24, 2018 7:19:40 GMT -5
fernwoodPlanting in clay for 30 years growing aquatic plants many drains were plugged from similar-to-slurry clay. Learned to increase(triple plumbing specifications is a minimum) the drain's slope and make it as short as possible. Short enough that a garden hose could be snaked down it to clean it out too. And draining openly into an open ditch requiring a sloped landscape. No traps or bends best. Slurry from agate is worse than clay though. Glass slurry is probably 10 times worse than agate slurry. It will concrete tumbles to the bottom of a rotary tumbler barrel when coarse grinding in 60 seconds after stopping causing damage to the tumbles concreted when starting back up. No problem with finer abrasives, just well into the coarse grind where a lot of glass mud has been generated. The tumbles are concreted to the wall and the others bang against them when restarting. Power outages a problem when rolling glass in advanced coarse grind stage. I try to run over and do a clean out to remove concretion to avoid described damage before power comes back on, about the only way. Cleaning the water reservoir of a tile saw after sawing a large amount of glass requires a strong flow of water. Very stubborn to remove.
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Post by 1dave on May 24, 2018 9:10:48 GMT -5
But I like LOVE the idea of the Gleco removable bottle!
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Post by johnjsgems on May 24, 2018 10:52:30 GMT -5
Kind of related, I guess, but I am building a walk in shower. Have advised people for years not to wash out tumbler slurry in sink. Was up to my wrists in tile mortar (thinset) and washed my hands in the sink. Ran lots of water. Drained slowly after and found trap half full of thinset. Had to chip it out. Also have a Lortone 12 lb drum someone gave me. Told me "you'll have to clean out some old grit". It is like cement and I can't get it out. Even filled it with gravel/water and ran it a few days, couldn't chip it out either. When I put a laundry sink in my garage that drains outside I put a trap mostly to catch any small items I may drop in there. The piping runs along the inside of the wall and I ran a vent pipe above sink just to help it drain better. Mine is used only for hand washing, etc. Hard to beat 5 gallon buckets for washing out slurry. Then put the slurry on your plants.
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madflowskizzy
off to a rocking start
Member since June 2018
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Post by madflowskizzy on Jun 17, 2018 8:15:29 GMT -5
You could also use High Pressure Water Jetting, we use it all the time for our blocked drains! Other methods you could use to find out exactly what's blocking your drain up could be; CCTV Drains Survey, Which would tell you exactly what's blocking your drain and how far along your pipes it is, or if it's a local blockage it might be time to break out the yellow gloves and go fishing yourself. Hope this helps! Kieran
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Mark K
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Post by Mark K on Jun 17, 2018 14:57:55 GMT -5
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Post by arghvark on Jun 17, 2018 18:11:42 GMT -5
I've worried about clogging,so always rinsed in a bucket. Got tired of bending over. Built this from a $5 garage sale sink, some pallet wood, and a couple of scrap 2x6s. Fed from a garden hose to the faucet. A length of pvc slips perfectly into the drain hole, and drains into a bucket. I have a total of like 18 bucks into it, most of that for a couple of fittings. Fugly, klugey, but effective and saves my back! flic.kr/s/aHsmnwn2mc
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Post by Pat on Jun 17, 2018 18:20:01 GMT -5
I don’t throw any rock stuff down any sink.
I know next to nothing about plumbing etc.
I dump all the rock water near thirsty looking plants that look like they need minerals. So far, so good. Good luck.
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Post by Peruano on Jun 18, 2018 6:12:13 GMT -5
And remember, its all good for the plants except borax which will kill apricot trees and . . . everything else.
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Post by fernwood on Jun 18, 2018 6:14:40 GMT -5
I use Borax mixture as a weed killer.
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Post by Pat on Jun 18, 2018 9:04:12 GMT -5
And remember, its all good for the plants except borax which will kill apricot trees and . . . everything else. Yikes! Is borax an ingredient in any rock?
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Post by fernwood on Jun 18, 2018 12:18:16 GMT -5
Good question.
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NRG
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2018
Posts: 1,687
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Post by NRG on Jun 18, 2018 21:58:29 GMT -5
And remember, its all good for the plants except borax which will kill apricot trees and . . . everything else. Yikes! Is borax an ingredient in any rock? Not any common lapidary rock. Keep doing what you have been doing. Its been working!
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Jun 19, 2018 8:22:14 GMT -5
And remember, its all good for the plants except borax which will kill apricot trees and . . . everything else. Yikes! Is borax an ingredient in any rock? NRG Funny fact Flubber "A rubbery polymer sometimes called Slime, Flubber, 'gluep' or 'glurch' (or erroneously called Silly Putty, which is based on silicone polymers), can be made by cross-linking polyvinyl alcohol with borax. Making flubber from polyvinyl acetate-based glues, such as Elmer's Glue, and borax is a common elementary-science demonstration.[21][22]"
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