[garagefela]

Hello everyone,
I am in the process of reusing the waste water from my laundry into the garden.

The problem I have is that my house sits on a concrete slab and all the laundry plumbing is inside the slab with no access to it. The only option is run a pipe directly from inside to outside. The only way I can do that is to drill a hole in the window and run a 2" pipe through it.

Through the window is the only way as the whole laundry wall to the outside is glass (door and window roof to floor) No actual wall is there.

This will be a one off so I am looking for a solution to get through the glass. The pipe is actually 50mm and will want to drill it a bit bigger to fit in a rubber grommet.

I have not yet looked for grommets but lets say I find one that is 60mm for the sake of this exersize. I am thinking that this might work, turn up a section of solid PCV into a 60mm pipe and on the other end 1/2" to fit my drill.

On this tool use valve grinding paste to slowly drill through. I realise that diamond compound will be the best but it is just the one off and as long as I can get through it without busting the window I will be happy.

All comments for and against welcome,
Cheers M

[braidmeister]

You can use a dentil drill with diamond bit to cut the glass....a bit tedious, but doable if you are very patient. Otherwise, break the window & replace with plexiglass. Cut hole with 2" hole saw. Seal pipe with silicone.

-B

[ger21]

Take it to a glass shop and let them do it, if it's removeable. Shouldn't cost much.

[garagefela]

Hi,
Yeah unfortuntely I can't (really,really don't want to) take the window out as it is about 4 feet wide and 7 feet high.

Replacing the window is a bit out of the question as it the cost outweighs the benefits, if it was smaller, yes I would do it. Good suggestion though.

Diamond dental bit or similar hmmmm might do I will hunt around, thanks.

M

[Geof]

Just a thought...are you sure it is not tempered glass? Big windows sometimes are for safety reasons.

[garagefela]

If I had to say I would say it is just normal old glass. Have accidently broken a window in the past and it was normal glass. Thats not to say that this window isn't toughened but am leaning towards it not being.

Thanks for the replies,

Obviously diamond bit will work but will my way work at all just wondering?

M

[ZipSnipe]

DO NOT DRILL IN THAT GLASS. Any glass that runs from the floor to ceiling should be tempered glass and that will shatter if you drill it. Your best bet is to find a different way to route it, like through the wall next to the glass wall and use an offset bend in your two inch plumbing or call a glass shop have them fab ya a glass with the hole and have it sent to be tempered. When installing watch the edge of the glass as this is very fragile and can shatter when in contact with concrete or steel. Good Luck!!

[derekj308]

Hi garagefela

I found this website

http://australianglasstools.com/Glas...ids.html#G1901

and they are in Scoresby which isn't your neck of the woods but they may sell to glaziers in Hoppers or know of a glazier in Hoppers that could do it for you.

Does your grey water system look as proffesional as this (its the prototype)?



Cheers

Derek

PS See ya at the next BBQ

[garagefela]

Derek,
Your setup is a piece of garbage. Get it.

Due to the setup of my block I need to run my water outside and collect it in a sump and utilising a sump pump, pump it direct to the garden or a holding tank with another pump to use as I see fit.

Sump pump with a tank is preferred, at this moment getting the water outside is the hard bit.

Cheers M

[braidmeister]

I had no idea the glass was that large...I would definately think of doing something else...If you are in a basement, that means that you have a floor above you & joists...you should be able to run something along the ceiling/floor and get it outside. Worst case, you drill into the corner of the room above, run the pipe out the outside wall & just make a cover to go over the plumbing on the 1st floor.

-B

[derekj308]

Hey garagefela

I forgot to mention that all of the fittings for doing irrigation type connections are best purchased from a plumbing supplier NOT from Bunnings. Bunnings range is SH_T and all of the the time you spent FAing around trying to find what you wanted could have been better spent at a plumbing supplier. I used Reece down in McIntyre Rd in Sunshine and they have got EVERYTHING you could possibly want in fittings so I reckon you won't have to make your own grommet. Their prices are fair and for the convienience of one stop shopping quite reasonable. Friendly staff too.

I got sick of looking at my old wheelie bin grazing in the back yard so I put it to good use.

Cheers

Derek

[garagefela]

Yeah been doing my own plumbing bits and pieces since forever, since Dad taught me all those years ago anyway. He was not a plumber either just a fitter that knew how to do everything.

Shhhh don't tell all those registered plumbers out there or I will go for a row.

Reece and Bentons are down our way and I always ask for trade price and have never been knocked back yet, asking never hurts.

Spent some of the afternoon lifting out the bathtub, need to get a 50mm pipe out of the brick wall and off to the sump.

Makes me mad when I go to some peoples houses and the pipes are all on the outside of the wall. Oh well I am stuck doing it the hard way.

Cheers M

[greybeard]

M - if your going to use a sump pump outside to move the water, why not use the pump inside, up through the roof, then outside etc.

John

[Megahertz]

I thought the detergent in clothes washings was harmful to plants. Would catching rain water off your roof be better?

[greybeard]

I suspect that all modern detergents break down in the soil fairly rapidly.

To be on the safe side, and to conserve the water for longer simply use it as a trickle feed onto the ground near the plants that need it, rather than spraying it over them and losing a lot through evaporation.

John

[Geof]

... Would catching rain water off your roof be better?

Problem is these days it seems to have stopped raining in Australia.

[derekj308]

Hi Guys

I cant speak for all clothes washing detergents but I can say that lawn and plants LOVE 'Cold Power' and 'Radiant'. My father in law has been dumping his laundry water on his lawn and plants for years and is often asked how he keeps his lawns so green.

Your right Geof, the rain has stopped and what we get is not of much use. I was recently driving to the countryside and drove through torrential rain which I was certain would add something to our reservoirs. When I checked they looked the same. All the run off which should flow into the reservoirs gets sucked up by the dry soil like a big sponge.

While we're off topic since our family started managing our water use we have realised just how wasteful we were. We now stand in 60 litre tubs in the shower to catch our 'grey water'. We can easily use only 20 - 25 litres of water to shower each adult and the 3 kids can be done in 40 litres. If you daydream in the shower that 60 litre tub can overflow real quick. A bathtub with only 8 inches of water in is around 70 litres. Our Fisher & Paykel 7kg 'Intuitive' washing maching can use up to 240 litres of water (heavy load of clothes) each load and that machine has a 4 star water rating. Each sink load of dishes we do uses around 20 litres of water. It all adds up. The 'grey water' we collect keeps our plants and front lawn green and enables us to not have to use our allocated 15 minutes every 2 days to water plants. Why do we as a society always get the motivation to do something at the last minute?

Cheers

Derek

[greybeard]

Nice to get a reality check now and again.
Thanks Derek.

John

[derekj308]

BTW we just ordered a 4500 litre (1000 gallon) tank to catch our rain water.

[garagefela]

Ok everyone, a bit of a run down as to what I am trying to do and therefore the original question regarding the hole in the glass.

We have 2 bathrooms at home and a laundry all running down one side of the house.

Plan is to get as much water out of these areas as possible for reuse (excluding the toilets of course, never had Cholera, don't want it) One bathroom is an easy fix as this is the only pipe that is on the outside.

The other bathroom has the pipes in the concrete slab, dammit, what I am having to do here is lift out the bathtub and after the U trap repipe the drain out of the wall from inside the bathtub box/enclosure, will need to bust out a brick. Shower in this room is a lost cause.

The laundry has a sink/cabinet that is 6" away from the glass window I am referring to in the original question. Plan was to sneak a drain pipe out of the side of the cabinet at the bottom and run it out of the glass right next to it.

No oppurtunity to go out of an actual wall, well ok there is but this means breaking into the bedroom wall behind and getting into the wall cavity, just repainted that room for one of my daughters and don't want to go there.

Yes I could have a sump under the sink with a pump inside and direct it up along the wall and into roofspace then outside but after consultation with the home boss that is a no go, don't want an ugly pipe running up the wall.
(I know, I know lost his balls years ago I hear you say, yeah well you too buddy )

In Australia it is would be very few people who would have a basement and I am no different, laundry is on the same level as everything else.

Once I had/have all 3 pipes to the outside I can then run together to a common sump with a submersible pump to do whatever. Obviously the sump will have an overflow back to the original sewer.
Why not gravity drain I hear you say, well this side of the house is the lowest in relation to the garden, therefore the sump.

I have seen a lot of comments regarding grey water on gardens, low phosphurus detergents seem to be way to go. When you consider that this laundry water will be diluted to some extent by the shower and bath water I don't think it will be a problem. About half the time my kids have a bath they don't want bubble bath in there anyway.

I suppose we have to look at it hurting our gardens, well if we don't do anything they are well on the way to it dying off anyway.

With this whole setup I wanted it to be, look and behave like normal, what I mean by that is I want all the water to just dissapear down the drain and be collected.
Running hoses out the door from a washing machine, buckets in the shower and settting up syphon hoses from the bath outside gets tired real quick.

I do understand that this is not set and forget thing, it will need maintenance sludge in the sump as well as pump screen blocking up to name a couple but I am ok with that.

Rain water is a seperate issue and can not be run into the same tank as one is connected to the sewer and one to the stormwater and never the twain shall meet.

(Only heard about this, urban myth?? The water board sticks a smoke machine in your sewer system and looks for smoke coming out of your roof gutters to see if people have been cheating)

I really want a long term solution that will be used for years on, not just this summer when the water restrictions are freaking people out.

Yes Derek it craps me off that I did this really much too late and should have done it as part of the house when we built it 10 odd years ago. Should have been saving water cause we could, not cause we have to.

That all for the moment.