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| Ot: Dishwashers |
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| madires:
Over here we have a separate trash can for bio-waste (brown trash can). Based on the municipality the bio-waste is used for bio-gas (to run power generators) or for compost. And people with a garden and living in rural areas usually also have a compost heap or box. |
| janoc:
--- Quote from: JohnnyMalaria on December 30, 2020, 05:39:16 pm ---I'd rather my food scraps go through the sewage system and end up as viable biomass for creating energy etc than into my household trash and end up in a landfill. I dump a bowel load of my own material into the sewer, a few vegetable scraps that didn't make it to my dinner plate isn't any different. --- End quote --- I don't think it is anything to do with the sewage system as such, more the style of plumbing that is common in the houses. The diameter of the pipe in the kitchen and toilet is different. Kitchen sinks are often connected to much smaller diameter pipes that the ones in the toilets, so they clog much easier, especially if there is any sort of bend or poor gradient somewhere. And I can tell you, having to clear a clog somewhere deep in the wall because some idiot keeps pouring grease or food leftovers down the drain is not fun. That's why you will find removable filters in most kitchen sinks in Europe that are meant to catch that. Most European houses don't have plumbing dimensioned for solid waste except in the bathrooms. |
| JohnnyMalaria:
FWIW, the first generation of lower volume flush toilets in the US were aptly described by their intended function. i.e., full of sh!t. 2 out of 3 times all the ones where I used to live would not flush my "efforts" away and would block. I had to fill a large saucepan full of hot water (with some soap) and pour it in from a height of about 5 feet TWICE at least to clear the toilet. Since I was on a septic system, I couldn't keep using chemicals. And the shape of the bowl meant that plungers were useless. *This* is a toilet... |
| JohnnyMalaria:
--- Quote from: james_s on December 30, 2020, 01:09:17 am --- --- Quote from: tom66 on December 29, 2020, 10:09:21 pm ---A colleague of mine has a washing machine from Bosch with six cotton presets: the standard 30C, 40C, 60C, and 90C ones, then two ones with the 'eco tag' symbol next to them, 40C and 60C. The 'eco tag' ones are the ones compliant with the EU standard and the machine will achieve its greatest efficiency in those modes, but one wonders how many customers really know the difference between those settings and just use the plain setting, thinking the tag means something 'bad'? (In some senses, their instinct may be correct, as the eco profile likely isn't as good as cleaning as other profiles...) --- End quote --- Probably most of them. My washer has a bunch of settings I never touch, and my dryer has a fancy continuous temperature adjustment slider I never mess with either, except when it burned out and I had to replace it. On that note, it's a rather stupid design. I assumed it did something like measure the temperature of the air flowing through the dryer and cycle the heating element accordingly with an electronic control but no, it's nothing more than a potentiometer connected directly to mains voltage that is in series with a power resistor attached to the bimetal thermostat that regulates the element temperature. Turning down the slider increases the current through the resistor which heats up the thermostat, indirectly reducing the heater temperature. :palm: --- End quote --- The nice thing about US washers (older ones, anway) is you can literally get inside to repair them: |
| thm_w:
--- Quote from: tooki on December 30, 2020, 05:28:37 pm ---Ummmm... what? Bosch dishwashers work like pretty much every European dishwasher: filter screens of various mesh sizes are placed ahead of the recirculating pump, such that debris is trapped and doesn’t clog the spray arms. Then, when draining, water back-flows across the screens, releasing the debris into the wastewater, where it is pumped out. Only massively large debris like stays behind. Nothing to do with siphons. (Stuff like paper jar labels will sometimes be caught on the outer mesh strainer.) The fine mesh filter needs to be cleaned periodically, definitely far more often than yearly! I do it about every two months, since I live alone and don’t need to run it super frequently. --- End quote --- Not sure what the confusion is. Yes the filter needs to be cleaned often, most people in north america would hate a product designed in this way, which is why they tend to sell the "grinder" style more here. --- Quote ---That is not a hypothetical. The wiki article mentions a Swedish town that is encouraging people to get garbage disposals to improve the yield of their new biogas wastewater treatment plant. It being Sweden, I’m pretty sure they already have robust organic waste recovery. And there’s no correlation between fatbergs and disposal waste, as far as I’ve been able to find. In my experience, most people only use them for vegetable waste, not for greasy meat scraps, since you can’t but bones into them anyway. --- End quote --- We have constant ads locally about not pouring food, specifically fats like yogurt, down the drain as its causing problems for the local water department. Using a garbage disposal encourages putting all kinds of food types into the sewer system (but you are right, it can be lower fat). Its probably not a good idea to dump a bunch of grease in the dishwasher either, better scrape it into the compost. Perhaps the swedish sewer system is better built, and their residents are better at not flushing non-flushable material? https://niagarafalls.ca/city-hall/municipal-works/fat-oil-grease.aspx https://sustain.ubc.ca/sites/default/files/2018-27%20Estimating%20the%20impact%20of%20residential%20fats%2C%20oil%20and%20grease%20on%20wastewater%20system_Vazquez%20Perez.pdf https://www.baltimoresun.com/citypaper/bcp-grease-patrol-the-city-steps-up-enforcement-on-restaurants-dumping-grease-in-the-sewers-20150317-story.html --- Quote ---Results of data analyzed show that the residents of Metro Vancouver introduce an estimated 1019 tonnes of FOG per year into the sewers of the region. From that figure, 27% comes from dairy products, mainly milk, cheese, and egg; while cooking oils and animal fats contribute with 20% of the total mass. The food waste disposed of ‘down the drain’ usually includes a liquid or semi-liquid component, like milk, dressings, sauces, and yogurt. Most than half (56%) of the total FOG loading comes from single-family detached houses. 58% of it is introduced in the wastewater system through the sink. Foods disposed through food grinders contribute 32% of the total FOG mass, although it is noted that residents mostly used food grinders to dispose of fruits and vegetables, i.e., food with low-fat content. --- End quote --- --- Quote ---Fats, oils, and grease are a major factor in sewer overflows. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has estimated that they cause as many as 47 percent of reported sewage blockages. --- End quote --- |
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