Welcome diversion from pipe blockages
Tubular pipe inserts – attached to down drain pipes to divert water to water butts – tend to result in blockages, both in the pipe inserts and in the drain pipes
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Now former building contractor Peter Marsh of Hastings, West Sussex, has came up with a solution to the problem. His ‘Pipe Diverter’ constitutes an inclined vane running round most of the inside circumference of a pipe to form a vortex, so that clear water may be taken off from the side, free of any rubbish and detritus passing down the centre.
His solution, arrived at by experiment, is to employ a C-shaped vane, inclined about 40 degrees from the vertical axis of the drain pipe, with the end tips adjacent to the aperture. The vane itself consists of a strip that is slightly twisted, so its flat surface is about 10 degrees upwards from the horizontal all the way round its circumference.
The idea has been prototyped, thoroughly tested and patented. As well as preventing water butt take-offs and drain pipes becoming clogged, it should also be of interest to those engaged in waste water treatment and water-based mineral processing. The idea should also work with liquids other than water, although it has not been tested on any of these and the optimum angles might well be different.
