Along with toilet flushing, baths and showers are responsible for the majority of domestic water usage. In every home gallons and gallons of potable water are washed straight down the drain and effectively wasted. In our articles Watergreen Syphon Pump and WaterTwo we looked at a couple of products which can be used to collect greywater (water which has been used, but can be put to a secondary use) so that it can be used in the garden, and for car washing etc. In this article we will look at a new product, the 2Way Bath Waste.

2Way Bath Waste

Unlike other devices designed to divert used bath and shower water from going down the drain, the patented 2Way Bath Waste is a product which is a direct replacement for the existing bath waste. It is made to fit in any standard (1 1/2 inch diameter waste) bath, and can be fitted during a house build or bathroom refurbishment, or used to replace the existing bath waste if you can access the underside of your bath.

Insead of a plug hole with an old fashioned plug on a chain or a more modern pop-up plug, the 2Way Bath Waste has a rotating plug with three positions. In position 1 the plug hole is closed and the bath will hold water. In position 2 the bath empties out through the recycle outlet. In position 3 the bath empties straight down the drain.

The visible portion of the waste which can be seen inside the bath has a high quality chrome finish, and the rest of the waste is very well made of metal and ABS plastic, and includes the necessary flexible washers and locking nut.

The plug in addition to its three usage positions, can also be removed by hand to enable the waste to be cleared of any trapped hair and gunge when necessary.

Installation

Installation of the 2Way Bath Waste is only a little more involved than fitting a standard bath waste. Fitting the the waste into the bath itself and connecting the overflow inlet is exactly the same as with a standard waste. Any plumber could install the device without any problems, or if you have the DIY skills to plumb a standard waste, you could also plumb in this device.

The 2Way Bath Waste simply has an extra outlet on the waste (the recycle outlet) which is a 40mm ABS plastic diameter pipe. This can be connected to standard 40mm waste pipe with any of the enormous range of cheap and easy to find compression or solvent weld fittings – flexible pipe, bends, tees, joints, and straight pipe. A new hole then needs to be drilled through the exterior wall of the property and a 40mm pipe run down to your greywater holding tank at ground level.

Buy 2Way Bath Waste

The 2Way Bath Waste offers a very elegant way to give yourself a permanent way to collect greywater for re-use, and it is fully controllable from within the the bath itself – very useful if for example you have a shower over the bath and want to divert shampoo and other products down the drain while recycling the majority of the water used. The product has been awarded Waterwise accreditation.

The 2Way Bath Waste is available for under £40 direct exclusively from the 2Way Waste website.