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  • From: Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] Brainstorming about kitchen waste
  • Date: Mon, 21 May 2007 20:43:43 -0700

The P-Trap goes after the disposal. And if the line will drain like a normal
waste line it will work fine. I'd definitely want the p-trap to keep all
sorts of "crap" from coming up through the drain. I could see a draft effect
taking place, where your sink would draw the aroma of your compost pile,
chicken house, and waste line directly into your kitchen.

What homesteader does not love all those aromas? Seriously, I use a different design. A P-trap takes up room under a sink and is a potential drain obstruction and leak source. My design is a screened vent riser outside, as near the exit wall as possible. Any odors traveling up the pipe toward the house go up and out the four-inch riser pipe. Mind you, I am working with an old shack that never had plumbing until I arrived. So, typical up-through-the-wall vents would be very hard to build and would provide potential roof leak sources.

1/4" per foot is the standard fall for waste lines- steeper and the water
runs off leaving the solids, less and it won't drain properly. I might
"flatten" the pipe a little as it passes by the birds to give them a better
chance at catching a bite.

That is my thought, also. Happy to find agreement. I may also provide low roosts on either side of the pipe or run a stretch of eight-inch pipe so hens would more likely make poop deposits into the pipe. That will make for a very happy compost heap.

All in all, if logistically feasible it sounds like a great idea.

Thanks. An issue that will likely only be resolved with experimentation is the exit design at/above the compost heap. A soggy heap does not compost well, so a pipe that dumps all nutrient-rich waste water in one spot would make a nasty, rotten center area with dry outer area. I seek a design that does not demand moving the outlet pipe. Maybe a pipe ring or square, with drilled holes large enough that food particles do not clog. I seek a fast-composting pile, which is what led me to thinking of using a garbage grinder to make food particles small.

One more step toward low-maintenance permaculture.




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