This In the Pipe is, again, a Tool Time tale. It’s also a tale featuring a new product of the tool manufacturer mentioned in the last post (but not the first of its kind) plus some of the author’s observations on earlier versions of this tool type. This time, instead of a basin wrench (Photo 1, below) it is a tubing cutter. And again, the featured object is a re-hash of a previously marketed widget. (In the present case, last seen at Will-CALL counters when Ronald Regan was President.) One of the widgets (Photo 2A & 2B, below) had/has been a long-time successful member of their product line. And again, the author’s respect for this tool line causes him to pause, before making a thumb’s up or a thumb’s down decision on the newest offering, too soon... But, I do wanna tell you a few things about other related offerings too. The new featured widget, the Ridgid “2-in-1 Close Quarters AUTOFEED® Cutter,” (Photo 3, below left), the author used as an earlier design, in a slightly changed form, thirty-years ago when manufactured by a different firm. At the time of first spying it on the Will-Call-Counter at a plumbing supply, the author thought: “Better than sliced bread.” Well, it didn’t turn out that way. Prior to the arrival of the first incarnation of this tool, plumbers had only limited means to cut copper tube ‘in-wall’ and under floors and other “hard-to-reach” locations. All of which pose dangers to the knuckles of the hand that is operating. Although, there did exist an already jiffy little soldier (just mentioned above) to employ for this task. In his books and writings the author has referred to this little warrior as a/the “knuckle-buster.” (Photo 4, below right) My tool bucket has at least two knuckle busters aboard, and I could probably find more if I dug to the bottom. The bucket does not contain a new Ridgid, (Photo 3, above left). Why? It has to do with the necessary design of the tool. (I already tried out the original progenitor and after initial use found that I rarely did again.) To accomplish, with one hand, what it takes two to do (operate) the knuckle buster, the newest offering accomplishes more with fewer one-hand movements, but takes significantly longer to do its job. The author remembers countless occasions where he’s cut and or abraded his knuckles making repairs to copper pipe in walls when using a knuckle buster (Photo 4, above right). It’s not the tool that causes the injury. It’s the operator’s limited/compromised vision and/or inattentively operated hands (including knuckles). Sharp splinters, wire lath, old wood lath nails, gashes in heads of hand driven, set nails, and sheet metal edges of carpenters’ specialty ties are some of the adversaries awaiting the repair/remodel plumber when cutting pipe in existing structure. And that is what I initially hoped this “long handled” design would spare me. What it advanced on one front it fell short on another. I will tell you about it following. Silver Knight? One look at the new Ridgid close quarters tool and I think most people would see that at its heart it is a knuckle buster inside an additional, ratcheting housing. The two biggest drawbacks of this design (as experienced) are these:
Also, Photo 5 below left, AutoCut, is what has successfully challenged the original Ridgid knuckle buster, the heart of the new offering. It is not made for equal longevity but the now attitude: “use-and-toss the cheap,” entrenched by Big Box Store trade has vetted it. This ‘newer-comer’ design works surprisingly well and is six times faster cutting than the conventional knuckle buster or traditional cutter shown in Photo 6, below right. Our cheapie in Photo 5, below left has no knob to hang up on obstructions. You can use slide-jaw pliers to rotate, in-wall, when the going gets tough. It cuts quickly with automatic cam action. And, at big box stores so much cheaper than a US or Japanese made knuckle buster like Ridgid’s ‘Sherman Tank’ C-Style models mentioned and illustrated, downstream. Big Improvement It might sound a bit improbable to many of you but there has been a marvelous, SIMPLE improvement in Ridgid’s Model # 104, the basic work horse knuckle buster. Look carefully at the next two photos, Photo 8A & Photo 8B, below. Everything at first looks exactly the same. One picture is one of my old 104’s and the other is the new version. When your eyeballs land on the adjustment knob of the new version, wa la. Original is round. The newbie is oval. Might you ask why such a small difference makes such a big difference? It made a huge difference. The round knob of the original #104, at times, cannot be tightened enough with fingers alone (especially on Type L copper tube) so a small pliers is applied. If the knob were square (Pete’s recommendation to the company 30 years ago) a small Crescent wrench would have made it much easier to use. The round knob is knurled and many times, under perfect conditions, only fingers do fine; but, you will run into the need, sometime, to add a gripper tool. Now, look at the oval knob of the new #104. Just this little tweaking of shape eliminates the need for an added tool. That extra out-of-roundness gives stout thumbs tremendous advantage. With time of use, there would be measurable labor savings too. For “new entry” plumber/participants, this old man would tell you to buy the Ridgid models C34 (Photo 7, below left) and C10 cam action close quarters cutters and a Ridgid 151 Quick Acting tubing cutter (Photo 9, below right). The C34 does ½-in. and ¾-in. tube and the C10 does 1.0-in. I would recommend these to ‘first timers’ even over the simple, slow but dependable action of the familiar (Photo 6, above) time-tested design. One especially appreciated (Photos 10A & 10B, below) is a German designed small tube cutter. Its cutting wheel all but disappears into the handle and allows the operator to cut ¼-in. and ⅜-in. copper refrigerator “reefer”tubing, all the way up to and including 1½-in. Type M and Type L copper pipe. It’s a product of Germany and on my particular one the name Rothenberger lies on the twist knob. The author has no recollection as to where he procured it, but he knows that it’s the second one he’s owned. Well, stay ‘at it’ long enough and you’ll discover it’s best to have a ‘collection’ of certain tool designs, and this area of tubing cutters is a good example. (Larry Weingarten’s best collection is that of his pipe wrenches.) If you have the $$$ to fritter, PtP would have to say the new Ridgid AUTOFEED® would ‘round out’ a collection. Until Next Time…(don’t accept any wooden Nickels)… P t P
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Visiting a wholesale plumbing supply recently (it was a Friday and they had free hot dogs, chips galore and salads), a tool vendor had a display table set up. (That’s how these things work: The vendor foots the grocery bill and the supply house provides the venue and the plumbers are their ‘mark’. Some tools and widgets are bought by the plumbers and the plumbers get a free lunch.) This happens invariably on Fridays, most often during the summer months. But, sometimes an impromptu event goes live at an unpredictable date. On this particular pig-out (PtP has a hella appetite), the Ridgid Tool Rep was displaying. The author has always trusted Ridgid brand tools. They’re tough stuff. I prefer their pipe wrenches over all others. This day my eye was snagged by two items, a copper tubing deburring tool and a new ‘version’ of their famous and industry best, basin wrench, model #2017 (Photo 1, below left). The author has owned the original version wrench (Photo 2, below right) for 30 years or more. It’s indestructible and it’s the best one out there. Of course my curiosity was instantly piqued. For 40 years yours truly has been installing new, and replacing existing faucets. The “re-invented” Ridgid #2017 “LED” Basin Wrench on display that day, (Photo 1, above left) had two features which differentiated itself from the original #1017 that had served yours truly, faithfully, for decades: 1) an LED light, and 2) a ⅜” socket at the handle base which hosts a “gimbaled” slide-bar handle. (PLUS: the ability to remove this handle and attach a ⅜” ratchet or breaker bar.) PtP confesses that when extra leverage was required to unthread “stubborn” valve “lock/mounting nuts” and an adjustable Crescent™ wrench was applied to the bottom of the SQUARE shaft of the original #1017 telescoping basin wrench, getting the adjustable wrench installed WITHOUT losing the purchase of the spring-loaded ‘claw’ (Photo 3, below) of the original #1017 on the valve’s (usually lavatory or kitchen sink) lock/mounting nuts, sometimes required more than one or two attempts at this task. Did my original #1017 ever fail me? I can’t remember one “specific” case. (Though PtP DOES recall several occasions where he had to grind the teeth (on one side) of a good quality reciprocating saw blade (Lennox) so he could “saw off” a faucet body (and not harm the vitreous surface of the bowl) when the lock/mounting nuts of the defunct valve were too corroded (majority cases: ‘pot metal’ see “Brass Is Best” article) to allow conventional removal of the valve. (This also extended to valves on legged tubs.) After this late opportune ‘feast’, PtP sent an ‘inquiry’ to Ridgid Tool Company asking if they would provide yours truly with a “loaner” so he could use their new offering in ‘real world’ situations. The company ignored PtP. Surprising? Not really. How many individual plumbers can get the attention of these big, major league manufacturers? (The author DID recommend them however in his best selling, original Taunton, “Plumbing A House” book.) (Home Depot, Borders, Barnes & Noble, etc.) PtP DOES, though, have a few comments to make on this new tool offering:
P.S. The cost twixt the LED #2017 and the original #1017 is a good time in a Berkeley bistro. But, if you are so endowed ($$$) the author, trusting in Ridgid Tools, would say: Go For It! Until Next Time, PtP Back in September of 2017, PtP posted to In The Pipe a discussion titled: “A Newish Pipe For In The Pipe”. This article dealt with a piping material (CSST) that has been around for some time but has been slow to become a serious competitor for rigid steel for fuel gas lines. In the article the author jokingly asked when and what would be the situation in which he employed this material for his first time. Well, that situation recently occurred and I thought it worthy of another In The Pipe. CSST (Corrugated Stainless Steel Tube) was developed in Japan, a very seismic location on our Big Blue Ball. Large earthquakes and rigid fuel gas piping make for a scary combination. (Seismic Automatic Gas Shut-Off Valves were also popularized in Japan.) After the Kobe earthquake and fire of 1995, California took notice. (Can anyone guess why?) Operating in a dangerously seismic California metropolis, yours truly well remembers what a pain-in-the-a** the first models of automatic gas shut-off valves were to reset when activated by vibrations of heavy trucks and equipment. They became code requirements in some California jurisdictions soon after the quake. Well, the author’s impetus to employ this flexible (CSST) piping material (although he was installing it in earthquake country) was not for ‘shake’n bake’ concerns. The old man had two reasons. One was ulterior and the second was quite honorable. The situation was not a replay of my first blog article, ‘A Newish Pipe…,’ crawling on his belly. On the job where the author employed this newish pipe he had good access, full standing height and good lighting. Yours truly chose to use CSST, first, out of concerns for the static integrity of the structure. And secondly, because the author just hates threading pipe. (How do sprinkler contractors remain sane?...or do they?) Pete needed to run a new gas line to serve a new, standing wall furnace on a ground floor remodel and also serve a full-standing kitchen range on the first floor, above. This meant boring 22, 2”x 10” floor joists with 1⅜ in. dia. holes. Because of the generous working-height yours truly could have run this ceiling line in individual short nipples and couplings. (The joists, due to their number were not deep enough to consider notching). (Maybe on 2 x 12’s or 2 x 14’s). To the author, short steel nipples represented too many joints (couplings) and possible future leaks. What to do? This was the perfect case for using CSST. Photo 1 The existing basement sited furnace for the home was already served by CSST (though the author saw no special reason for not using rigid pipe for this application. There was no need for boring of any holes in the framing.) He believes that that previous installing plumber’s calculations suggested the added cost of CSST tube and fittings were justified when considering the labor time for using the time consuming, cheaper steel pipe and fitting option. This previously installed CSST was a product of the same manufacturer of the material that the author used for his new job. However, during the time between the two installations, the outer sheathing of the tubing had been modified. The pre-installed tube (Photos 2 & 3) has a yellow sheath. The newer offering has a black sheath (Photos 4 & 5). What’s the difference?
There are two differences. The yellow sheath is: A) more flexible, and B) subject to failure by lightning. It was discovered the hard way that homes plumbed with the yellow (other colors by other manufacturers) developed pin holes in the stainless tube when charged by lightening, resulting in losses of structures by fire.
The blackness of the newer sheath material is the result of added carbon which makes the CSST act like a lightening rod. The carbonized sheath carries the charge to ground. No more fire worries. But, the carbon addition markedly reduces the degree of the CSST’s flexibility. With sloppy hole-boring on longer runs, this carbon sheathed material could be difficult to impossible to thread. Also, the author ran into some difficulty by using an offset in his pathway that proved to be at near the maximum the CSST could be flexed. Hence it required three pairs of hands tugging and pushing to thread the material through the bored holes in the joists. If you need to make a tight 90 degree bend, use a wrought steel 90 with two steel nipples and two CSST to steel adapter fittings as shown in the photos. The author ‘delegated’ the hole-boring to a trusted assistant who was ‘schooled’ on the importance of accuracy. Even so, due to the fact that the material is shipped in coils, and to some degree resists straightening, it was a three man job threading the tube from gas source to appliance stub-out. Time: maybe an hour plus a little. How much time would have been spent on installing threaded pipe? Maybe half a day, or more. The carbon sheathed CSST the author ran was 1-in. diameter. Bored holes were 1⅜ inch. All of the corrugations do cause a higher frictional loss than rigid piping. You can figure the CSST delivers 1/3 less CFH (cubic feet per hour) than equivalent diameter smooth bored rigid steel piping. For the smaller diameter ¾ in. CSST, threading it through bored framing (if done accurately) would be a considerably easier task. And, the more flexible non-carbon sheathed tube is still widely available by other manufacturers. (Use discretion.) The author advises that you have a helper and follow the manufacturer’s recommendations when employing CSST. It is a material which, when conscientiously handled and installed, can be a huge boon to solving difficult and or excessively time-consuming gas line work. Until Next Time, PtP Many years ago, in Berkeley, I met a plumber newly arrived to the U.S. from Israel. Over our brown bag lunches the topic of packing mediums arose. Full Service plumbers “need to pack it”. My favorite, from R&D steam vehicle plumbing days in the mid-1970’s was graphite foil ribbon. (Photo 1 is Grafftech’s version, named Ribbon Pack™. This type of stuff is very pricey and never traded in plumbing supply outlets or hardware stores. (See: AmericanSealandPacking.com) This material lays flat on valve stems and one could get it into tight spaces and it crushed well and easily under packing nut pressure forming superior seals. The ubiquitous round Teflon (PTFE) packing (Photos 2 & 3) works in some cases where it can be compressed in place (a cuticle tool or small screwdriver). This stuff though is just not marketed in small enough diameters (3/32” and 5/32” being most common). It is quite dense and difficult to compress into tight recesses. One thing that PtP has done often (keeps your wrists, hands and fingers limber) is braid strands of Teflon (PTFE) tape. By increasing the number of strands you can achieve a desired bulk for your purpose (gap size around valve stem and inside of packing nut). (Photo 4) Braided Teflon tape will lay flat on stems allowing you to poke it down in tight places. It is not quick to produce but it’s easily accomplished while parked in a comfortable chair, watching TV, preparing for a future need. The only trick is to use quality full thickness/density (See Teflon Story blog post) USA manufactured tape. If you don’t and try to use the cheap imported stuff, you’ll break down the tape before you can complete a braided, inferior performing length. Looking through a general plumbing supply brochure recently I saw what I have used a lot of over the years which performed well in most circumstances: coils of graphite cotton/flax string/cord which can be stripped of individual strings resulting in just the right thickness to fit in tight spaces. (Photo 5) At the end of the day the Israeli plumber handed me a ball of flax string (un-graphited). He said it was the most popular packing choice in his home country. It was about the thickness of kite string. PtP tried it and in many instances it was just what the doctor ordered. Eventually the ball was all used up and my plumber acquaintance had moved on. Pete the Plumber found a facsimile of this flax string at a local weaver’s supply. You might do the same. Yours truly thinks it would be wise to have a ball stashed somewhere on your truck for contingencies. LASCO Company’s graphite yarn packing (Photo 6) can also be stripped for individual strings for tight places, or used full thickness where it applies. Black Swan also sells the round Teflon (PTFE) in the 3/32” and 5/32” diameters as does Danco Faucet Parts & Repair (Photo 7) sold through Home Depot. You should be ‘packing’ an assortment if you are “full service.” Time to ‘pack it in”… PtP The name/term ‘line’ means a lot of things to a-lot of people. Bottom line. Water line. Line of credit. Line of sight, and on and on. The term has numerous ‘homes’ in the construction business also. The one Pete the Plumber is wary of is: ‘snap line’. Snap lines are thin, strong, woven strands of various fibers that have lots of stretch quality and builders use them in various capacities. When snap lines are strung on ‘batten boards’ governing a building’s foundation shape, if it be a slab foundation type, those strings (lines) are especially nettlesome. At the last step of excavation and form work (both foundation types) just before the phone call for the redi-mix trucks, lies the ‘silent question’: are the lines still true and nobody moved them? The fact is that the strings do get moved on occasion, for a few legitimate reasons, but are always conscientiously put back to true. Another fact: on rare occasions, whether slab or ofg (off the ground) when the plumber arrives to set finish, it can be painfully learnt that your toilet, tub/shower or lav wall is up to maybe four (3 & 5/8ths) inches out of place. Your twelve inch rough toilet bowl; your 5ft. tub or T/S; and/or your lav plumbing is up to four inches from where they want to be. Or better, where you, the plumber, wanted or hoped to find them. This is why the author always disliked slab jobs when he was assigned the job of “stringing the lines”. When the hopefully (rare occasion) “who done it” event occurs, it’s one, big hick-up for the owner and contractor, and especially a plumber sub. On off the ground construction, the building contractor creates a shell of framing and calls the plumber to come to work. If something “isn’t right” rectifying the situation is greatly less of a problem. In this post PtP will share his expertise in dealing with this most unfortunate situation. Time Out! The author wishes, here, before we get going on-topic, to share a horror story dealing with un-true lines. In his youth, and still an apprentice, he and Tiny (Me and Angie) showed up at a job site where they were soon to go to work. The new house was a “hillside” build. (T’was 100 ft. off the ground on the downhill side.) The “foundation” was composed of twelve 40 ft. deep “dead men” connected with grade beams. These vertical, steel reinforced dead guys were 24-in. diameter, with anchor bolts ready to accept a prefabbed steel beam support structure. The horror: when the erectors arrived and tried assembling the structure, the bolt holes in the steel frame mounting plates did not match up with the bolts protruding from the dead guys. Talk about a conundrum. ‘Somewhere’ in the lay-out process, a string-line was moved and not replaced to true. End of story. I was reminded of that discomfort recently when I was walking past a construction site down in the big city: Some plumbers chipping up the slab, in a new-construction, framed-in room of a new development. They were chipping in front of the 4-in. closet stub-up. It was obvious to the observer what and why they were busy there that day. A ‘string line’ had been moved and not replaced or improperly strung to the point of now freezing below slab plumbing in their now improper locations. On slab, it’s a great deal more painful for the plumber having to move the pipes to accommodate re-positioned bottom plates than this feat causes when on off-the-ground foundations. Wild Card If you ever find yourself in this predicament, especially in slab, and the fixture involved is a closet, there is only one specially designed fitting that can save the day, for both the plumber and owner. It’s the least labor intensive solution, when installed conscientiously. It’s called an “offset closet flange”. Most time-tested designs are offered in either a 1- & or 2-inch offset model. (This allows you to install a 12-in. toilet bowl when there’s only room for a 10-in. bowl.). This means you can also shift the centerline to either length (back and forward), (and even be able to ‘swing’ the flanged fitting latterly to the best fit.). There are many manufacturers of these fittings. They have been made for many years. At PtP’s first encounter with one, they were only offered in cast iron to be joined with oakum and poured-lead. (Caulked Joint). (Photo 1) Today that poured lead method is not legal in my State, but there remain other options. I’d like to give you a glimpse into the author’s opinions. Both the “hot lead” (caulked) cast brass and cast iron offset flanges are still available. Though where they would be sanctioned is question Number One. And, is that particular talent needed to perform this hot-lead caulking process, well, presently swimming in your plumber’s pool? The author believes working this old, outdated hot-lead joinery was least labor intensive when facing a closet flange replacement, on slab. If I were to be living on slab, and it involved my bathroom, and I still had the needed yarning and caulking irons, and there was enough oakum and ingot, I’d probably do that last, one, joint…that way. Done properly, this method provided optimal joint strength that the toilet bowl, on ‘finish’ installation, could be held sufficiently rigid and water tight on the finish floor by the strength of this poured lead method, alone, without the need of flange-to-floor fasteners. (That is no longer an option.) With ‘that’ no longer being reality, and now being governed by fewer choices, I’ll think out loud about some of our options. Iron Pipe If you’re faced with installing an offset flange on an iron pipe (slab and ofg) then the compression no-hub flange is an option (PHOTO 2). This design of fitting can be found composed of iron or a combination of iron and brass, with stainless bolts. These cast iron and cast iron/brass compression flanges may be used with both no-hub iron pipe and with some tweaking, Schedule 40 plastic DWV pipe. The outside diameter of Schedule #40 plastic pipe is a slightly larger diameter than the no-hub iron pipe. By taking apart the flange and warming up the rubber gasket in hot water for a few minutes you can fit most of them to plastic. The only situation where PtP needed to employ a no-hub compression fitting (offset flange) on #40 plastic pipe was for slab. (Before you do this I recommend you consult my book: Installing and Repairing Plumbing Fixtures.) Band Seal Design A big concern of the author is: how securely can the flange be attached to the pipe? The above mentioned cast iron/brass compression flange, when conscientiously installed with sufficient torque on the stainless steel draw-bolts, has the required strength to maintain a water tight seal with a wax ring on finish floor. The gripping strength of a compression flange though, is not equal to the strength of a no-hub offset flange (Photo 4) secured with a BandSeal (Photo 5). However, this combination uses so much altitude that it is relegated solely to ofg construction in most cases. Altitude Altitude, as a concept for plumbers, was discussed also in both of my books. For those installing an offset flange, in slab, this issue of altitude (how much of it are you using up?) is more critical. Here, the farther you can offset latterly in inches, using the fitting requiring the least depth (of hole), the easier your chore will be. In slab, the plumber chips away the concrete to accommodate not only the circumference (outer shape) of the fitting, but also the depth into the crete necessary to get flush with the floor. The less this height (altitude) factor is, the easier on you. Compression flanges (Photo 3) are your “shallowest” option. If ‘chipping-out” ended up making a hole all the way through the slab, all around the riser (past the edge of the flange), when re-pouring the new crete, you have the opportunity to use the 3 or 4 factory screw holes in a cast iron/brass flange rim. By employing brass closet bolts, threaded tightly to the flange, flats up, bolts down (Illustration 1), with nuts and washers under, the new crete has anchor points to grip. In ofg it’s usually sawdust in the eyes but more options of flange (size/bulk) you can employ. Also, in ofg, you can achieve a better/stronger flang-to-floor installation by screwing the flange to a wood sub-floor. (Photo 4, above) is a 2-in. offset no hub flange. This is my favorite but usually not suited with the shallow dimension of slab. It is attached to pipe with a no-hub style coupling, which wraps around the outside circumferences of pipe and flange discharge. When I employ a Mission Rubber brand Band-Seal Specialty Coupling (Photo 5, above) to join the no-hub flange to pipe, I’ve got the strongest connection I can make in a tight spot. Plastic versus Plastic Both plastics and politics begin with the letter, P. We cannot escape the fact that our choice of DWV pipe and fittings is politically driven. Two powerful lobbies. ABS versus PVC. When the plumbing you are trying to save is PVC or ABS, when installed and inspected, whatever existed most likely was the piping material choice for that bailiwick. When called to rectify the “string line mistake” yours truly has no plastic versus plastic political affiliation. If Schedule #40 PVC were sanctioned for DWV in my bailiwick, my below-slab choice (now no hub iron) would switch to that PVC. But, as that is not my present option, one of the several following choices of offset closet flange suffices compression cast iron or iron/brass (as mentioned), solvent weld PVC, solvent weld ABS, and Push-In designs (Photo 11). Let’s take a look at our options. Solved by Solvent The solvent used in conjunction with the cemented PVC process, in numerous ways, is a big minus in the calculation for which plastic (ABS vs. PVC) to employ for DWV in above grade framing, if there were a choice. The vapors of the PVC primer and solvent cement are extremely potent and should not be breathed for long. (Once ruled a plumber’s biggest occupational hazard). This primer also melts many of the plastic gloves found in the construction materials dealers’ inventory. Yet, Schedule #40 PVC is so much stronger than ABS in both chemical resistance and pipe wall integrity that I think meeting responsible ventilation concerns merits its application especially for below slab piping. Finding both ABS and PVC offset flanges to cement onto 4 inch diameter pipe, via hub, is rare. (Photo 6) Is one of those rare, full throat 4-inch, hub (over pipe) ABS offset flanges. 3-in. PVC and ABS versions that are called: 4 x 3 are far more common (Photos 8 & 9). What this means is that the fitting will cement to a three inch pipe, via hub (over the pipe) and glue into a 4-in. pipe bore. Without needing a tape measure, these 4 x 3 fittings usually give themselves away because they do NOT have raised letters and identification marks on the outside of the hubs, like all other standard fittings. This allows you slide this hub into a 4-in. pipe, after both have been properly treated with solvent and/or cement, and result in a good, watertight joint. Having this two pipe size option is handy but the author prefers not to reduce the inside diameter of a 4-in. pipe by using this 4 x 3 choice. ABS welds (melts) the pipe and fitting together. (A skilled plumber, with considerable experience can sometimes salvage a pre-welded ABS fitting.) PVC pipe and fittings are of much tougher material than those of ABS. But they are considerably heavier than ABS and require closer spacing of supports when hung from off the ground framing. There is a specially blended {pink or green colored) transition cement for joining PVC to ABS. This allows you to cement flange and pipe of the different materials, ABS/PVC. When used, depending on ambient temperature, long cure times (8 to 12 hrs.) can be required before a water test or use. As a homeowner, you might find a plastic offset flange that best fits your physical circumstances but is not the same as your pipe. You can fly under the radar and use the transition cement but be sure to follow the cure time requirements, to the letter. Push Ins The majority of these flanges are either PVC or ABS and not iron. They have an elastomeric, external bottom seal, usually one or more grooved rings. (Photo 10) The underwritten versions of these beauties are for use with 4-in. pipe. Their only means of being secured in place requires screwing to sub or finish floor, which makes them a poor choice for slab retro fit. (However, with a large, thru-slab cavity around a riser, and with inverted closet bolts as discussed above (Illustration 1) the author would consider this flange for a slab. But their downside in the author’s eyes is the choked-down passageway due to the space taken up in the pipe by the seal/s. I would also feel uncomfortable employing, on this flange, anything but a (great flushing action) high efficiency toilet like a Toto or like performer. In past writings the author has made known his opinion of 3-in. drain pipe. (In his mind, aside only vertical closet drops, it doesn’t exist but for shower and laundry lines, AND for this, rarest of occasions.) Flanges and Screws Photos 7 & 9 above, depict a 3-in. (over pipe) ABS offset flange with an adjustable, steel, powder-coated rim (in this case a handsome red/orange). Because of the raised letters and I.D. on the hub of this specimen, it would not be warrantied to insert into 4-in. pipe. (Not perfectly sized like a 4 x 3). The author installed countless plastic flanges with these powder coated rims. I suspect the vast majority to still be on the job. However, since steel corrodes much faster under a toilet than iron does, I have also seen countless failed plastic, powder coated steel flanges. I suspect improper installation to be the number one cause. However, now that these plastic flanges are available with adjustable stainless steel rims (Photos 8, 9, & 10, above) I strongly recommend them over powder coated versions As far as screws, you would be foolish to employ any but stainless or brass. If you have six holes or four, fill them all and never scrimp and size their length accordingly. Play Ball!
Whatever material and size of your offset closet flange, it must be able to pass a 3-in. diameter rigid ball. This is a late requirement. Many which could not meet that requirement have been installed. The mere offset of the flange is already impacting the quickness (and efficiency) of the flush. Why impede it an iota further? To my knowledge there is not yet a plumber’s 3-in. test ball for offset flanges, but you should inquire from the supplier if the ones they sell, do meet this criteria. I’m sure it’s been given a definite ASTM. The H Grail With all the choices of flange we have there are still situations where none of them adequately covers your need. What would be the Holy Grail of offset flanges? ANSWER: a 4-in. (with bushing, fits 3-in) telescoping/compressing, with a 360 degree swivel and fully adjustable rim, adaptable to all piping choices, with a wider than standard, non-corrodible rim with 6 to 8 countersunk screw holes. All of you mechanical engineering students…Get Busy! PtP Whoa, Ooooops! Pete the Plumber finds himself in a precarious situation (doo-doo). Darned forest fires. He can’t get back down to The Big City where he commiserates with plumber friends to get the very latest in the biz. (Not sure when that will next be.) (Please Mother Nature…Please CalTrans, COOPERATE!...) With a packed bag at the door, yours truly thought it was as good a time as any, then, to think and talk about doo-doo…while being in it. (My blog “Power From The People,” upstream, were earlier thoughts.) As climates change and population increases, one by-product of life, our doo-doo, is going to become an increasing concern to everyone, for myriad reasons, here on planet earth. It could be a bane or a bonanza. In this post I’ll tell you about some facts you might not know and give some links to companies and articles you can further pursue on the subject, if you wish. High Up Sh”t We’ve even got doo-doo on the moon! Yep. On one Apollo Mission, the astronauts, leaving the moon were just like my kids on the last day of a holiday. Always, when yours truly was packing the car (their Mum was too wise and remained in The Big City) to leave after camping ten days in the forest or on the shore, the kids invariably wanted to take home even more favorite rocks. (PtP had to worry about driving at night because of the the extra weight in the trunk blinding on-coming drivers…Pete’s low beams were too HIGH!) Well, US astronauts once wanted to ‘take home’ 96 pounds of moon rocks. The ‘car’ (space capsule) was already fully packed. (I can attest to this scenario.) So what do our ‘Spacemen’ do? What every hero in filmdom has done when their balloon or aero plane starts losing altitude: start chuck’n! What did our Spacemen have to ‘chuck’ from their craft in order to successfully get ‘air-borne’? Double that weight, in doo-doo. When the moon is finally an International Park, I hope the ‘rangers’ send NASA a bill (and a citation). Rude Americans. But thanks to another American, Bill Gates, we still have some esteem in the conscious world. One of Mr. Gates’s funded developments in the sanitation context, aside his waterless toilet (see references), is a ‘machine’ that can make pure drinking water from doo-doo. Fresh water from doo-doo? (Doo-doo is 75% water.) His machine produces that water primarily for electrical generation. Now if he would team up with Professor Bruce Logan at Penn State, maybe someday we’ll be able to have both electricity and drinking water produced from our poop, in a cabinet outside our house in the middle of nowhere. And enough ‘water-to-air’ generator capacity might allow us to live almost anywhere. PtP acknowledges the thought of drinking water made from your doo-doo turns most people off. Mr. Gates drank a glass from his machine just to demonstrate that the technology is here, now, and safe. (Matter of fact, the doo-doo water from Mr. Gates’s machine is actually safer than some wells and flows from municipal suppliers.) About 25% of this 75% figure is outgoing bacteria. Can you imagine the billions and billions of little bugs that represents? Bugs that worked hard to keep you healthy that you’ve put on your ‘sh”t list.’ Book Work Doo-Doo One of the strangest facts about poop (if you happen to be a bibliophile) is a phenomenon nicknamed ‘the bookstore urge.’ Many readers may need no more words spent on the topic. It is well documented that not long after entering a bookstore you may be told by your bowels that it’s time to head to the bathroom. Many guesses why this is, but it is named the Mariko Aoki Syndrome, after a woman of the same name. PtP recalls the days that he was installing espresso machines and public bathrooms in bookstores. This even accelerated the ‘need to go.’ It is/was a known fact that caffeine can start contracting the end of your intestine. The author wonders if he was putting in those machines and facilities just because the owners thought it was the ‘cool’ thing to do in those hippy times, or were those caffeine howitzers trained on the passerby to ‘aromatize’ them into the store and then ‘rush’ them into a choice and to the cash register? In time it was discovered the food business was best not mixed with books and the coffee fad faded. Gold of Fools? Now it’s not just the possibility of extracting fresh water and electricity from doo-doo that excites Pete the Plumber. Having fallen victim of the ‘gold bug’ as a youngster and still fighting to suppress it, it’s tantalizing to read that there are valuable precious metals in our doo-doo. (Yours truly has a battery powered gold pan with a self-contained water source.) The American Chemical society heard from scientists that gold, platinum, silver and others were present in doo-doo at commercially viable amounts. (At one of Pete’s old mining claims he could get 2.67 ounces of gold and 4 ounces of silver in one ton of concentrates…at a time when it was commercially mined for twenty-five cents per ton.) It has been estimated that the doo-doo from one million Americans can contain $13 million in metals. Another: about $13 per person per year. This gives Pete hope. Capital knows no bounds on demand and greed. Might we experience another golden wave of ‘49ers’ by 2049? Both Feet On The Ground Back in 2015 the United Nations called for an end to open defecation by 2030. There are still about 950 million people doing it. Of that, some 650 million plus are in India. Will the goal be met? Know a bookie? Mahatma Gandhi urged his countrymen to clean up their act, this, before their independence from Great Britain: “Sanitation is more important than independence.” Why wait though. Right now there is a research institute that will pay you $15K for all of your poop, for one year. Collection and two types of paperwork are a monumental consideration though. But the bottom line (yes, that was a pun) is… The direction that Big Capital might take for the demand of high tech treatment systems is already resulting in some ingenious stealth. There is a bull market in exotic play places for the very wealthy. Some of the most fabulous locations for these around the globe are in places with no infrastructure but growing government concern about pollution. A few smart companies are offering snap-together container contained treatment plants and similar snap panel versions (see references) which can make any place in the world a possible party place (dependent upon ‘fertile’ government stability.) As For Going For the Gold Who’ll be going for the gold? Or who might go for it? The author can’t stop thinking that with all that precious metal in our doo-doo, good old human greed is powering a lot of research right now on how to get it out. If we could get water, electricity and MONEY…Whoa! We need more Professor Logan’s and Mr. Gates’. Hey, the term ‘crowd sourcing’ could take on a whole new meaning, yeah? Did I hear a knock on my door?… References: Bill Gate’s revolutionary waterless toilet, BUSINESS INSIDER, Chris Weller, Dec. 1, 2016 https://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gates-waterless-toilet-2016-11 Some companies offering advanced portable/extendable treatment answers:
Articles:
PtP This In the Pipe is a short one but close to Pete’s heart...
In a BBC’s: capital e-news issue, of May 2nd: “One Surprising idea to help solve a water crisis,” by Amanda Ruggeri, Pete the Plumber read and saw things that gave him goose bumps. Actually more. As a classroom plumbing instructor the biggest reward is seeing that ‘light bulb’ in someone’s eyes when I have managed to show them something new. If you’re a plumber and you view this article and are not deeply nudged, there’s something deficient in you. Yours truly appreciated this story especially because he remembers the moment when his plumbing light bulb was switched on, and how the world was an altogether different experience thereafter because of it. And, equally enjoyable was witnessing this: the documenting of empowering women in a famously repressive social structure, through a shared life experience. Go Ladies Go! Check out the article: www.bbc.com/capital/gallery/20180501-in-jordan-female-plumbers-fighting-a-water-crisis PtP In this post Pete the Plumber wants to address a topic which, on the surface, appears so straight forward; but, which under the surface can present you with much future agony. This subject is Kitchen Sink Basket Strainers. Contrary to past posts where I excused plumbers from the class, this time around PtP has something to share with even plumbers who might not yet have (as the song goes): “…learned your lessons well.” As we all know one can purchase a basket strainer from the ‘cheap’ to the: “sucks in your breath.” Between flagship brands to those unfamiliar ones with import-car-sounding names, it’s a head spinning number of choices. Of late the extra deep designs with large, deep strainers have met with some popularity. There’s three basic methods employed to secure three basic basket strainer types to the sink, and depending upon the material of which your sink is made, one design type will be more suitable than the other type possibilities. The old dictum we all know: You Get What You Pay For applies to this situation, in spades. Aside the type differences, materials used to manufacture the product are other distinguishing factors to consider. If you are uninformed on this subject you can inflict upon yourself or customer much headache pain and degradation ($$$$) to cabinets. Yours truly remembers all too well the numerous occasions where he had to employ Sawzall and grinder to extricate a failed piece of junk basket strainer which was leaking and corroded-in-place, where the possible need to replace the sink itself was a succinct possibility. Then, at a Braer Fox labor rate (dollar a minute) to rectify the predicament, where was the economy in purchasing the cheap versus the more expensive but quality made product? This is the focal point of …”learned your lessons well.” If you are the unfortunate plumber who is faced with this headache, or a homeowner faced with paying a plumber to rectify this situation, it will be a lesson you’ll never forget. Pete the Plumber prefers quality, enameled cast iron sinks, whether single or double bowl, drop-in (self-rimming) or under-mount. The drain holes in cast iron sinks have a defined radius. There is no such radius with stainless steel sinks. There are basket strainers which have huge advantages for each of these applications. We can find varying quality with each type sold. As PtP mentioned in an upstream blog titled: Brass Is Best, dealing with toilet hardware and tubular brass trim, the same holds true for this subject. With just a little effort at comparisons you will note that the price of basket strainers (BS’s) is directly in relation to what they are made from. A solid brass basket (regardless of trim electroplating) with solid brass ring-mounting nut and solid brass tailpiece slip-nut can be up to seven times the price of a cheap stainless steel basket with Die Cast nuts or a plastic BS with plastic fastening hardware. Pay very close attention to the word: die cast wherever you run across it. (And hopefully become able to recognize it). Another name for it is misery. Die cast has no MORAL business in the plumbing realm. Wherever you find it, you eventually find failure and agony. It is a false economy, period. As for plastic versions in this application (even some so-called “designer” ones), maybe in my duck blind, but not for friends or business. Choices Number One The author will now discuss how the three most popular types of baskets mount to the sink. The first and oldest design is the cast brass basket with external male threads on its side which is fastened to the sink with a large, threaded, female ring-nut, sealing gasket and friction gasket. (Photos 1 & 2) Number Two The second most popular basket type employs a “nesting” bowl. (Photos 3 & 4) This nesting bowl is slid up from under the sink and secured to the in-sink basket’s 1½-in. running thread discharge, with a “lock/mounting” nut. This type usually has a basket formed of stainless steel and a nesting bowl (outside one) of electroplated mild-steel. (Photos 4 & 5) It is possible to find this design with a nesting bowl also of stainless steel (Photo 6) but, a chore to find one with basket and bowl both of stainless and the lock/mounting and slip-nut of solid brass. Given the choice the author would recommend the stainless basket/bowl with separate purchase (if necessary) of solid brass lock/mounting and slip-nut. Though this Number Two type is easier to install than the Number One Type (solid brass basket with exterior male threads and large ring-nut first mentioned), but be cautious. Don’t be trying to do this in a hurry. Unless real care is used in the installation, a leak from under the in-sink lip of the basket will collect inside the lower nesting bowl, and if it’s a plated mild steel one will rust/corrode in a relatively short time. If your model also has die-cast lock/mounting and tailpiece slip-nut you may need a lot of patience to see you through a replacement. Such is the reason you find the models with both stainless basket and nesting bowl. If there is a leak from under the in-sink basket lip, the water will not corrode the SS nesting bowl. However, if you have a die-cast lock/mounting nut (Photo 7 ) not a solid brass one, in spite of stainless nesting bowl, you can still be in deep doo-doo for future corrosion leaks and when attempting removal. (See Installing And Repairing Plumbing Fixtures to learn how to get rid of this nut.) Take a look again at the BS in Photo 6. This is a stainless basket and bowl. But look at what the lock/mounting nut and supplied slip-nut are made of: Die-cast. Unless you replace these die-cast nuts for solid brass ones you could be shooting yourself in the foot: paid extra for the stainless bowl but still got junk nuts and future leaks. Take a good look at the slip-nuts in Photos 8 & 9. Aside the fact that you can see they are made from solid, un-plated brass, notice they have wrench flats around their circumference. These are wide and oval shaped. Now look at the slip-nuts (Photos 10 & 11). Aside from being electroplated, they have rectangular wrench flats; some, separate by short scallops like these. Photo 12 shows another die-cast wrench shape with rectangular wrench flats, without scallops. These shapes should set off warning bells! Ninety-nine percent (99%) of the nuts that are of these shapes, regardless of finish, are your enemy. Notice the die-cast nut in Photo 13 has a brass resembling electroplating. Some hardware stores will sell solid brass slip nuts but rarely, also, the standard 1½-in. running pipe thread lock/mounting nut. If this is your case, go to a large, professional, plumbing supply and show these pictures to the Will-Call clerk and tell that person Pete the Plumber said, that because they (the plumbing supply) were the only source (you’re only bothering them for this reason), that if you paid cash (and did not request the bother of a receipt), they would probably agree to sell it or them, to you. Number Three Type (on offer) This Number Three type (Photos 14 & 15) is less common but has been around for a long time and in part borrows its sink attachment method from one of the popular garbage (food waste) disposer mounting systems. Unfortunately this design, other than the stainless steel basket, is comprised from plated steel parts and of course is offered with die-cast tailpiece slip-nut, sure to corrode fairly quickly without the utmost care. Also unfortunate: if this type were to be offered in all stainless (including screws), it would be the simplest and best one for the new learner to install, requiring only a good quality pair of blunt nose pliers.* In this Number Three type, the sides of the stainless steel basket have two or more protruding lugs. Think of them as little lumps. Once the basket is set in the sink hole, a circular, u-shaped ring, inverted, is slid up from underneath to the sink bottom. Usually residual plumber’s putty squished out from underneath the basket lip oozes out also under the sink hole. This is handy at sticking the u-ring in place long enough to align the lugs of the basket with the corresponding notches in the screw plate. Then, the plate is lifted and rotated above the lugs on the basket sides. Now it’s merely screwing the three mounting screws (alternately) in the plate until the whole apparatus is very snugly in place. *If a manufacturer were to offer this Number Three type of BS, with a quality, cast brass basket (extra deep), with two, lug height positions, in conjunction with an ALL stainless screw plate; and, using SS Allen screws (studs) shipped with a quality fabric reinforced neoprene sealing washer, plumbers (of a quality trade) would so quickly adopt this fool-proof design that their product would corner that high-end market within a decade, or less. Which One Where ‘Tis time to talk radiuses. As the author briefly noted upstream, enameled cast iron sinks (and composite ones also) will have a radius around the drain hole. Depending upon manufacturer, it is possible to find this radius carried to a slightly projecting ring on the bottom, underside of the bowl. The thicker this dimension is (from finish, flat surface around the hole at the inside bottom of the bowl) to the underside of the sinks raised (ring), the greater the length the threaded exterior of the first mentioned Number One type (Photo 16) basket must be. We need sufficient protruding threads to host the two flat gaskets (one rubber, one fiber), Photo 1, and the large threaded ring nut. As a rule of thumb, the less expensive the basket strainer, the shorter this dimension is. It is quite common to find yourself with a BS that is too “short” to install in usually higher quality, enameled cast iron sinks, like Kohler’s line. The author used to ask Ragnar at The Sink Factory (http://sinkfactory.com/) to hunt me down a quality, longer one whenever I ran into this predicament. However, for the vast majority of cases, my favorites, McGuire and Kohler, had me covered. (SS) Stainless Steel Sinks Stainless steel sinks pose a bit of a challenge to install Number One type BS’s, for two reasons. The first is because there is no radius on a SS sink drain hole. What you find here is a slightly tapered flat, running around the hole in the sink bottom. This flat tends to be wider than the lip on the basket and when the Number One type’s threaded ring-nut is threaded all the way up, the BS still has a tendency to creep because it is not being held in place by the shape of the drain hole. This is not to say that you cannot/should not attempt to install a Number One type in a stainless steel sink. The author installed quality (solid brass) BS’s in a café’s NSF sinks back in the 1980’s and they’re still on the job.* Besides the SS sink holes flatness, we see that when the BS ring-nut is threaded all the way up, that if it were a perfect world, due the sinks thin thickness, we would surely appreciate a few more threads. Also, when the installer ‘goes’ for that final snug, the rubber sealing washer tends to squish out of place and you’ve failed. Is it your fault? Yes and no. It’s not the same case for a many year vet and a newbie. But there is a way which almost guarantees success. * To achieve such decades longevity of leak free service demands fabric reinforced neoprene sealing washer, good quality fiber friction washer, solid brass ring-mounting nut and conscientious workmanship, mentioned below. It’s the Threads In an upstream In The Pipe, titled Brass Is Best, the author brought up the tag: Old World Quality. That applies to the situation you maybe find yourself in presently. Many years back that flat rubber sealing washer that is (now) too soft for the duty required of it, used to be made with layers of cloth (threads) reinforcement (or backing) which retarded creep wonderfully; and, you could ‘go’ that extra, success attaining ‘bite’ without squishing out the washer. Today we find that extent (fabric reinforcement) of ‘thoughtfulness’ and thoroughness of manufacturer as rare as living dinosaurs. The fabric layered, neoprene, gasket material is alive and well, on the web. A cardboard pattern and a sharp X-ACTO will solve your dilemma, if you can find a supplier offering the material in a ‘small enough’ purchase amount to merit the effort. (Thickness of the gasket material is also of concern. On SS sinks, with Number One type baskets, it is best to have a ¼-inch thick fabric reinforced gasket. (Merely stacking two, thinner, un-reinforced gaskets most often spells failure.) Benefit of the Number Two type Basket/Nesting Bowl BS Because Number Two type BS’s secure themselves to the sink with MUCH less rotational force than Number One types, the flat, un-reinforced rubber sealing gasket has less tendency to creep (squish out) to failure. (On Number One types, that cardboard or POLY flat washer installed over the rubber one is very important. The theory behind this cardboard/POLY washer is that it lets the large ring-nut slide (relieves friction) and keeps the compression force more of straight-up instead of twisting (rotation) which creates squishing out. If you leave it off or don’t have one, you’re dead-in-the-water. Thus it has always fallen under the description: friction washer. If yours is fiber/paper and in poor condition, you can purchase a new one or make one from a ½-gallon poly milk container.) With Number Two types (Photo 4) this fiber/friction gasket/washer can be left off and sometimes it is not even shipped with the BS because the cheaper, un-reinforced rubber gasket usually suffices (until you move, if you’re lucky), when carefully centered and sufficiently, but not over torqued. Nit-Pick Is it the Virgo in me that causes an itch when I see, on a lip of an expensive, Number One type’s finish, a name or logo set at anywhere but 12 o‘clock? Or, sans logo, looking down onto the cross in the bottom of the basket, and not finding it almost perfectly vertical/horizontal? Two Final Thoughts If you have an aversion (due to allergy or psychosis) about reaching down to the strainer knob to drain a full sink bowl (especially a deep one) you might look at a pop-up drain. (Via internet or restaurant supply.) A restaurant/commercial version (Photo 17) has a lever or a knob which activates a linked internal stopper for dry hands operation. Of course these actuators will be located under the sink. Versions designed for residential use (Photo 18) use a cable, or lift-rod (Photo 19) actuated by a pull/lift knob mounted on top of the sink. But hey! you might find them worth the extra cost (purchase and installation) to spare you from your willies. Well, one last note. That is: what medium to use under the BS’s lip. Pete the Plumber has always advocated good quality, new, plumber’s putty. (See Installing And Repairing Plumbing Fixtures.) My Good Buddy plumber friend Larry (https://www.larryweingarten.com/) swears by Silicone Sealant. Whichever method you use, if your work is conscientious and methodical you will probably be successful. Try to make it a pleasant chore. Tell yourself that the longer no one gives a thought to the performance and longevity of this basket strainer (actually this applies to all of your work) the better plumber you were/are. This pleasure is rarely achieved with less than top quality components. Until Next Time, PtP Photos made possible by Bayley Lumber: bayleylumber.com/ The author takes more than a little pleasure in this post, announcing to the reader that scientists can now generate electricity from human sewage and grey water (without additional input of energy) at the same time treating it. It has been known for a little over one-hundred years that they could do this with the earth’s soil. Now, therefore, designers and planners of future municipal sewage treatment infrastructure envision their designs as power plants in an addition to being sanitation facilities. Downstream PtP made reference to an additional process necessary to accomplish this feat with human sewage that was not necessary with just earth’s soil. This extra step is explained in a (mentioned) YouTube video (last paragraph, Page 2), titled and dated, which those readers who want the fullest explanation of this ‘miracle’ are urged to take the time to view. Launch As the author admits, his ‘mentions’ in past writings concerning future human waste treatments are now perhaps sorely burdening your ‘ears’? My apologies. I’m a plumber and some plumbers worry about such stuff, maybe second only to world health officials. The planet, now though, has a laboratory to demonstrate a potential ‘lifestyle stoppage’. We may soon see a dense, utility-supplied, major-world metropolis struggle with horrendous public health and infrastructure/lifestyle decline due to insufficient flow of fresh water supply. That does not imply not having enough fresh water to drink, but rather insufficient supply to flush toilets, fill tubs, take showers, clean clothes, and more. (Whoa, what fun life will be then.) “Water is perhaps the most natural vital resource on the planet. It is necessary for human survival and a critical input to our food, manufacturing, and energy systems. It also sustains the ecosystems and climates upon which both our built and natural world rely.” (Cora Kammeyer, Pacific Institute Insights, October 19, 2017: “The World’s Water Challenges (2017)” Note For Thought: Our present sewage/wastewater infrastructure is based upon a past, ample precipitation status quo. That’s changing! A second admission (confession): as a plumber, whatever transpires is of keen interest (macabre?) to yours truly, and to Dr. Waterheater). However, the author is not mortally/morally defeated by the human nature of humans. Me think’s there’s a glimmer of hope. And that is what this post wants to bring to your attention, in case you were not aware, or conversely, you were a ‘bit anxious: it all has to do with ‘bugs’ (micro) in human waste, and automatic washing machines. (It’s a Whirlpool World.) The Status Quo A municipal wastewater/sewage treatment plant uses LOTS of water (and energy), not only to carry what’s arriving 24/7, but to treat it while it’s going through all the settling, straining, aerating and other functions that make the end product eventually “safe” (but not potable) reclaimed water. (This treated water is now the source of fierce competition among cities and counties for ‘further’ treatment which does make it into potable water, in some cases purer than what many communities have for original supply. This present infrastructure requires generous precipitation. Will it continue? It’s very dubious. There’s also an energy consumption price to pay for this standard of living. According to Kevin Westerling, Editor of Water Online, and Professor of Environmental Engineering at Penn State U: …this service costs most communities “approximately one-third” of their energy bill. And there are those researchers who see future wastewater/sewage treatment infrastructure as power plants. Now, what I next want to recount to you gets really interesting, both chemically and philosophically. Badlands to Bangor…and Bombs Away As a child (among four other siblings), in the mid- ‘forties, ours was a family that took pride in its summer car camping vacations, both in the number of states visited, and their respective number of State and National parks enjoyed. (The author recalls that in those days it was also custom to purchase (or get them for free) window decals in the various States and Parks you visited and, plaster them on all the cars windows but the windshield, until your vehicle resembled a traveling Tiffany lamp.) Window decals were The Captain’s (Dad’s) campaign ribbons. This mode of transportation/camping brought its adherents into close contact with nature in all her glory and diversity, including many detours and most of her “bugs”. In the ‘literature’ we read that the average adult American hosts about 5 lbs. of “bugs” (bacteria) needed for good health. Now, it’s not without a morsel of regret that I remember how many hundreds of aerosol bombs, of then highly deadly pesticide, my dad, singular handed, applied to the planet in preparation to setting-up camp (and nightly re-applications just before sliding into our sleeping bags). (And pulling the top over our heads when we heard/smelled that assault on ‘the bugs’.) But as society has learned in recent generations, not all bugs are bad, and many do great service to mankind. However, we are now most fortunately (in one area at least), entering a brand new relationship with ‘the bugs’. The facilitator of this revolutionary paradigm is the MFC. No, that’s not the stuff you termites make into cabinets and tops, but rather Microbial Fuel Cells. It so happens that good ole Mother’s skin (soil, in most places), coupled with the harnessing (think: Christopher Columbus) of the bacteria therein has proven to be ample supply for this magical MFC reaction. The idea surfaced in 1911 as noted in (Water Online, Feb. 12, 2018). We’ll touch upon the mechanics a bit downstream. But, what I can’t wait to tell (to possibly many of you) whom haven’t lately learnt, that, for the first time in human history, mankind is poised to GENERATE ELECTRICITY, directly from our POOP! By coaxing ‘the bugs’ into a mutual annihilation mode, this miracle can be made a 24/7 event; but, only in conjunction with: 1. (one) additional process. A third admission/confession (volunteered without duress) is: in previous writings, Pete the Plumber admittedly played a lot of hooky from Dr. Louderback’s chemistry classes, and explaining this ‘one extra process’ is best left to someone else: Professor Bruce Logan. Dr. Logan, also of Penn State, has produced a YouTube video titled: ‘Bruce Logan/Microbial Fuel Technologies’, August 20, 2017. (What an amazing amalgam of intellect and personality! PtP wishes he had enough money to just pay him for private conversation.) If you want to know ‘The Straight Poop’ on this topic, watch this video by clicking the following link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1ElYtTAq9A. A search on YouTube for Bruce Logan/Penn State will reveal this among other of his videos. Maytag Mania Now, yours truly foresees a societal ‘left turn’ as drastic as solar energy and heating is having (and has had) on the planet when the MFC revolution comes to fruition. Every month there is more news about advances this MFC process is undergoing. Research at Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania, just recently shed-light on a method producing a 20 percent efficiency gain. And, the author believes not unlike installing solar on your house and getting hot water and Watts, the richer world will, in the near future, see washing machine sized ‘processors’ (think outside appliances, like heat-pumps, residential HFC (Hydrogen Fuel Cell vaults), water softeners, and soon, at each? dwelling, the MFC ‘vault’. In San Diego, California, on March 28, 2012, at the 243rd National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, scientists described an innovative device the size of a home washing machine that converts the bacteria in municipal sewage to electricity “…and cleans up the sewage at the same time.” Dr. Oriana Bretschger, of the J.Craig Venter Institute also gave an encouraging address at the 243rd. American Chemical Society National Meeting held in San Diego, California, on March 28, 2012, discussing MFC’s. You may want to read her delivery at the following link: www.wateronline.com/doc/two-in-one-device-uses-sewage-as-fuel-to-make-0001. This ‘Miracle Maytag’ that the (future?) living unit’s human, liquid, and solid waste enters, produces electrical energy, and results in an end-product (a small amount of garden-friendly by-product), which itself will have commercial applications (urban high rise farms?). We are poised to witness a worldwide mega-achievement: generating electricity from our poop without using heat energy, letting ‘the bugs’ do it for us. And, sunlight is not required! How cool is that? This really neat feat is only in its infancy though, requiring a lot more bucks of investment, but it could prevail just as the Green Revolution arrived in the nick of time. The first objective is to get sewage/wastewater treatment plants to generate enough electricity to power their own requirements. Even when that is accomplished, considering the flow needed for today’s plants to operate, drought can and looks to be considering “pulling the plug”. The $ 64,000.00 Question: Can/will cities be able to effectively and safely process their human waste at individual living units rather than trying to maintain a municipal pond system. Only time will tell. However, global application of this ‘miracle’ would definitely demonstrate a pinnacle awareness achievement of, and conservation of, our most precious resource (fresh water). Yet, probably only plumbers and Public Health Staff will be fixating on the problem as long as droughts are not too many, too soon. One philosophical viewpoint: the dense, big cities which need this new technology the most can probably generate the financial means to make the transition when existentially challenged. We/us “hay seeds” (Hay Fork, CA) will be watching (nervously), from a safe distance, learning and waiting (and glad we haven’t caved-in Gramp’s old outhouse). Next To Final Comment MFC as stated above stands for: microbial fuel cell. Another way of saying it is: biological fuel cell. And, it is an electrochemical process that creates electricity using microbes and bacteria in a way much like Mother does. The first published report that bacteria can do this, with soil, surfaced nearly a hundred years ago. (Search: cellular respiration.) It was discovered that microbes interacting with bacteria produce an electrical current. (Dr. Logan in his videos demonstrates this very elegantly.) In addition, new hi-tech materials, which are themselves in constant evolution, and which are part of the process, are accomplishing big strides in the efficiency factor. This old antique PtP will not see the day but If you keep your ear to the ground you’ll discover a lot of new, exciting advancements ‘coming down the pipe’. (Hopefully enough to allay some of your human near trait: anxiousness.) Second and Last Bet? Pray for GEPC. (Generous Eternal Precipitation Cycles); invest in perfume companies; and, have a personalized bucket for each member of the family. Until Our Paths Cross Again, PtP |
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Peter Hemp is a San Francisco East Bay residential plumber and plumbing author and former R & D steam vehicle plumber. His hobbies are ocean kayaking and touring the Left Coast by bicycle. Archives
September 2021
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