waste disposer for sale anyone? UK guys!
- Thread starter whirlpolf
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Just make sure you install it correctly. Most British and Irish drains aren't suitable for them as they really need a direct connection to the sewage system.
UK & Irish drains are a little bit unusual. The plumbing typically runs into a gulley trap (outdoor drain). For some reason, we don't tend to like the idea of sinks being directly connected to drain lines. The risk with a disposal is that food may end up sitting on the gulley trap's grating (filter) and this could be a health risk as it may attract rodents and insects.
You need to change the setup so that the drain runs directly into the side of the gulley trap underground if you're planning to use a disposal .
Also if the drain uses funnels on the exterior walls don't even think about using a disposal as you will cause a total mess with bad odours and bacterial build-up!
UK & Irish drains are a little bit unusual. The plumbing typically runs into a gulley trap (outdoor drain). For some reason, we don't tend to like the idea of sinks being directly connected to drain lines. The risk with a disposal is that food may end up sitting on the gulley trap's grating (filter) and this could be a health risk as it may attract rodents and insects.
You need to change the setup so that the drain runs directly into the side of the gulley trap underground if you're planning to use a disposal .
Also if the drain uses funnels on the exterior walls don't even think about using a disposal as you will cause a total mess with bad odours and bacterial build-up!
mr_sparkle
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American Drains
Wow I never knew this!
So kitchen sink drains in the US are plumbed direct into the sewer line? Thats amazing, I just always thought drains would be like Britsh ones. I guess ours are like that to stop sewer water backing up into our houses if there is a blockage - does that ever happen in the US due to the direct connection?
With refrence to the disposal, it should not be a problem as long as the pipe goes under the screen, which I think most drains do - all the places I have lived are certainly like this. The only thing I find with my drains is that maybe once a year I have to manually empty the tea leaves from the outside drain as they do not flow over the baffle system our outdoor drains have.
I really think that the UK needs to re-think its attitude to disposals with the amout of waste thats dumped at landfill. With many of our councils only collecting rubbish once a fortnight, and the flys and maggotts that it brings I think disposals would be a better way to go for many now.
I thought I read about water companies using the goodness from the disposed food for power or something, maybe fertilisers?
Personally I have 13 chickens that eat everything and a food digester in the garden for bones and anything the hens will not eat!
However if I were to ever live back in the city I would get another disposal in the blink of an eye!
Wow I never knew this!
So kitchen sink drains in the US are plumbed direct into the sewer line? Thats amazing, I just always thought drains would be like Britsh ones. I guess ours are like that to stop sewer water backing up into our houses if there is a blockage - does that ever happen in the US due to the direct connection?
With refrence to the disposal, it should not be a problem as long as the pipe goes under the screen, which I think most drains do - all the places I have lived are certainly like this. The only thing I find with my drains is that maybe once a year I have to manually empty the tea leaves from the outside drain as they do not flow over the baffle system our outdoor drains have.
I really think that the UK needs to re-think its attitude to disposals with the amout of waste thats dumped at landfill. With many of our councils only collecting rubbish once a fortnight, and the flys and maggotts that it brings I think disposals would be a better way to go for many now.
I thought I read about water companies using the goodness from the disposed food for power or something, maybe fertilisers?
Personally I have 13 chickens that eat everything and a food digester in the garden for bones and anything the hens will not eat!
However if I were to ever live back in the city I would get another disposal in the blink of an eye!
Waste disposals actually cause major problems for sewers as they attract rats. It's also much more difficult for the sewage plants to cope with the type of waste that might go down a disposal which just makes them more expensive to run. If you're in a rural area, it also means that the waste is quite likely going into some kind of septic tank, or less complex treatment system. That's not ideal either.
We have a "brown bin" where we can dispose of any compostables i.e. non-meat food waste along with green waste from the garden. That's composted by the city council and used as fertiliser for parks, flower displays etc and even sold to the public. It saves having to deal with compost at home!
There isn't much you can do with meats and bones other than feed the meat to the cat/dog and dump the bones in the normal trash.
Our bins work like this:
Purple Bin - General waste (Charged per KG when the truck lifts the bin. There's a microchip in the handle of the wheelie bin!)
Green Bin - Paper, plastics, cardboard, cans
Red Bin - Glass
Brown Bin - "Green Waste" - compostable items i.e. grass clippings, hedge trimmings, other garden waste, and plant-based kitchen waste e.g. vegetables, peelings, etc.
We have a "brown bin" where we can dispose of any compostables i.e. non-meat food waste along with green waste from the garden. That's composted by the city council and used as fertiliser for parks, flower displays etc and even sold to the public. It saves having to deal with compost at home!
There isn't much you can do with meats and bones other than feed the meat to the cat/dog and dump the bones in the normal trash.
Our bins work like this:
Purple Bin - General waste (Charged per KG when the truck lifts the bin. There's a microchip in the handle of the wheelie bin!)
Green Bin - Paper, plastics, cardboard, cans
Red Bin - Glass
Brown Bin - "Green Waste" - compostable items i.e. grass clippings, hedge trimmings, other garden waste, and plant-based kitchen waste e.g. vegetables, peelings, etc.
In most countries other than the UK and Ireland, drains go directly into the sewage system and not via a gully trap system. They have properly regulated systems to ensure that water / gas doesn't come back up i.e. pretty much the same setup that we have for toilet connections (which we also sometimes connect sinks and baths into in newer buidlings).
In most of the US and most of Europe you couldn't run drains in the same way as the UK and Ireland i.e. external plumbing and gullies as they would freeze solid in winter.
Quite a lot of non Irish/British people find the way we do it quite bizarre with pipes on the back of buildings etc
In most of the US and most of Europe you couldn't run drains in the same way as the UK and Ireland i.e. external plumbing and gullies as they would freeze solid in winter.
Quite a lot of non Irish/British people find the way we do it quite bizarre with pipes on the back of buildings etc
mr_sparkle
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I'm on septic tank as live in the middle of nowhere - and you should see some of the stuff I put down! LOL I have taken the cover off before to find mice floating and earplugs! LOL
Water flow is fine but with a disposal you just need to have it emptied more often.
Oh and I use a Green Cone for bones and anything the chickens cannot eat, its a big green cone you just empty plates into, and it digsts everything underground! Very efficient, fuss free and eco friendly!
Water flow is fine but with a disposal you just need to have it emptied more often.
Oh and I use a Green Cone for bones and anything the chickens cannot eat, its a big green cone you just empty plates into, and it digsts everything underground! Very efficient, fuss free and eco friendly!
mr_sparkle
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MRX, after doing some research into waste disposals and views from councils, it seems here in the UK they are activly being encouraged now as a way to tackle landfill waste, create energy and fertilizers.
I cannot see why they would be doing this if waste disposals created such problems at water treatment plants, like I said before I thought that water boards were in favour of them as they were looking at ways to use the bio mass that they can collect.
This is from a council web site:
Food waste disposers complement the compost pile. Composting is an environmentally-friendly way to use the space in their yards to slowly break-down organic matter such as food waste. Composting with food waste is not an option for many people who have neither the necessary space nor the time to tend to a compost pile. Additionally, protein food waste such as meat, fish, dairy products and many cooked foods should not be put on a compost pile. The decay process is different from that of green waste and can produce harmful pathogens, noxious smells and be an obvious attractant for rodents and insects.
Many councils/local authorities recognise the benefits of sink waste disposers and offer grants to help with the cost of purchasing an unit.
Residents of Herefordshire and Worcestershire can claim up to £80 cashback from the Council when purchasing a Food Waste Disposer. Click here for details www.sinkyourwaste.com
If you live outside this area, contact your local council to see if they operate a similar scheme.
I cannot see why they would be doing this if waste disposals created such problems at water treatment plants, like I said before I thought that water boards were in favour of them as they were looking at ways to use the bio mass that they can collect.
This is from a council web site:
Food waste disposers complement the compost pile. Composting is an environmentally-friendly way to use the space in their yards to slowly break-down organic matter such as food waste. Composting with food waste is not an option for many people who have neither the necessary space nor the time to tend to a compost pile. Additionally, protein food waste such as meat, fish, dairy products and many cooked foods should not be put on a compost pile. The decay process is different from that of green waste and can produce harmful pathogens, noxious smells and be an obvious attractant for rodents and insects.
Many councils/local authorities recognise the benefits of sink waste disposers and offer grants to help with the cost of purchasing an unit.
Residents of Herefordshire and Worcestershire can claim up to £80 cashback from the Council when purchasing a Food Waste Disposer. Click here for details www.sinkyourwaste.com
If you live outside this area, contact your local council to see if they operate a similar scheme.
Not quite the case
In older houses it was the case that the kitchen sink waste pipe terminated above the gully trap, but this is not the case now. Sometimes the arrangement is rather similar except that pipe exit is below the grill so that there is still venting but the grill does not trap any food particles. This appears to be the arrangement where it is not possible to locate a bathroom or shower room above the kitchen, where they can share the soil stack pipe..
However it is very common now to have a direct connection into the sewer where the kitchen IS below the bathroom. The soil stack pipe is located (usually in a corner) inside the house boxed in with plasterboard (dry wall) and everything goes down that one pipe - its a much more cost effective - indeed I have such an arrangement myself.
I have known waste disposals in use in both arrangements with no problems. I might add that I work in the catering supply industry and we are installing waste disposal systems all the time.
Al
In older houses it was the case that the kitchen sink waste pipe terminated above the gully trap, but this is not the case now. Sometimes the arrangement is rather similar except that pipe exit is below the grill so that there is still venting but the grill does not trap any food particles. This appears to be the arrangement where it is not possible to locate a bathroom or shower room above the kitchen, where they can share the soil stack pipe..
However it is very common now to have a direct connection into the sewer where the kitchen IS below the bathroom. The soil stack pipe is located (usually in a corner) inside the house boxed in with plasterboard (dry wall) and everything goes down that one pipe - its a much more cost effective - indeed I have such an arrangement myself.
I have known waste disposals in use in both arrangements with no problems. I might add that I work in the catering supply industry and we are installing waste disposal systems all the time.
Al
The local councils in Ireland have various policies on "in-sink macerators" as they like to call them, but in general they're pretty opposed to their use.
Many of them have completely banned the use of commercial-scale version in commercial kitchens as they are simply choking up sewers with food debris, particularly fat.
They're not banned for domestic use, but they advise against their use and they also put a proviso into your planning permission for new construction that you do not install one!
It seems that different local authorities have taken very different views of their use.
There's a typical local council advisory on their use:
Many of them have completely banned the use of commercial-scale version in commercial kitchens as they are simply choking up sewers with food debris, particularly fat.
They're not banned for domestic use, but they advise against their use and they also put a proviso into your planning permission for new construction that you do not install one!
It seems that different local authorities have taken very different views of their use.
There's a typical local council advisory on their use:
There's even a report on them!
The Irish EPA even did a report on disposals and seems to come down fairly negatively against their widespread use as they seem to lead to blocked drains and risks from older sewers blocking and resulting in discharges to the surface water drains and possibly into river systems etc etc.
The Irish EPA even did a report on disposals and seems to come down fairly negatively against their widespread use as they seem to lead to blocked drains and risks from older sewers blocking and resulting in discharges to the surface water drains and possibly into river systems etc etc.
mr_sparkle
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This line got me:
"Food Waste Disposers use goes against the EU Waste Hierarchy1 by not encouraging waste prevention and minimisation"
Its typical of the EU, so if I do not have a disposal, I am going to what? - eat all the food scraps like chicken bones from my plate rather than put them into a garbage disposal unit!
LoL
"Food Waste Disposers use goes against the EU Waste Hierarchy1 by not encouraging waste prevention and minimisation"
Its typical of the EU, so if I do not have a disposal, I am going to what? - eat all the food scraps like chicken bones from my plate rather than put them into a garbage disposal unit!
LoL
Well, because of pay-per-weight waste charges and ever-increasing efforts by local authorities to reduce waste output under the "polluter pays" philosophy, waste disposals are probably more popular here than they are in the UK.
It's pretty clear that there are no official statistics, but from what I can see, almost every new kitchen installed in the last decade here seems to have one.
The recent housing boom also saw vast numbers of them installed.
They're widely available from electrical retailers, kitchen places etc etc particularly the ISE (Insinkerator) versions and they are widely used.
So, despite all the hand-wringing by local authorities and the EPA, they seem to have had no impact on their use
It's pretty clear that there are no official statistics, but from what I can see, almost every new kitchen installed in the last decade here seems to have one.
The recent housing boom also saw vast numbers of them installed.
They're widely available from electrical retailers, kitchen places etc etc particularly the ISE (Insinkerator) versions and they are widely used.
So, despite all the hand-wringing by local authorities and the EPA, they seem to have had no impact on their use
The waste hierarchy is more about reducing the volume of waste that is disposed of into either landfill or sewage. So, they prefer the idea of composting either at home, ore preferably centrally where the waste contractor collects a brown wheelie bin full of garden and food waste every week and takes it off to a facility where it can be composted correctly and the resulting gasses are collected and used to power the plant / generate electricity.
The EPA here seems to favour "MBT" (Mechanical-Biological Treatment) for most of those types of waste streams. It's just a fancy terminology for composting done on an industrial scale.
The EPA here seems to favour "MBT" (Mechanical-Biological Treatment) for most of those types of waste streams. It's just a fancy terminology for composting done on an industrial scale.
