Thursday, June 03, 2004
Oh boy a broyeur
Saint Kévin
My friend and I went to give someone a hand to install a broyeur (mashing toilet) in their bathroom. Ian is a bit of a plumber and I do electric's and we both wield a mean cordless screwdriver. They had a bit of a strange arrangement in the bathroom. The was a bath, a hand washbasin and a bidet, but no toilet. The toilet was down on a lower floor ! I can only assume that if you needed to use the bidet you had to waddle up the stairs with your trousers round your ankles. Rather an odd arrangement.
The cunning plan was to remove the bidet and replace it with a broyeur. Instead of the large 100mm waste normally used for toilets it mashes then pumps the waste out of a 40mm pipe. The normal size pipe for a bath or handbasin. Because it pumps I think you can also evacuate uphill.
Plan going perfectly, electric's in, water off, old bidet out, hot water capped off, cold water supply to broyeur connected and finally 40mm waste connected to existing bidet waste pipe. The only slight complication was that the current waste pipe was only about 38mm and made of lead. It's an old house. So a bit of inventiveness, sealant and jubilee clips got the thing connected up.
The first test run was uneventful. A bit of water filled the bowl, the pump kicks in, but not alot happens. The second run and the bowl fills up with water almost to the top then the pump fired. KAAPOOWW, water everywhere. We'd spent so long on the lead to plastic joint we'd forgotten to tighten the jubilee clip on the toilet and now the powerful pump had been primed it shot the water out, and over us. It was extremely funny, especially when you consider what might have happened.
| 8:32:12 PM
Oh boy a broyeur
BBQ
Saint Blandine
BBQ party tonight. Really good party with guests from the gites and a few local friends.
I built the BBQ from an oil drum cut in half with a few bits welded on for legs.
We also had the Daily Mail come and take a few photos and an interview about us moving to France. It should be published in the Mail on Saturday 19th June 2004.
| 12:10:49 AM BBQ
