Water Two Greywater Diverter Review
Water Two Greywater Diverter Review
The REUK review of the Water Two greywater diverter.
water | shopping | energy efficiency
The
Water Two is a
Greywater Diverter Valve designed in the UK by Lincolnshire company
Water Two UK Ltd. Designed to be fitted into the exterior waste water pipe from a bathroom,
Water Two is used to divert used water
(aka
greywater) down a standard hosepipe into a garden water butt or directly into a
porous pipe irrigation system.
Water Two Greywater Diverter
Pretty much everything you need to install the
greywater diverter is provided in the Water Two kit (pictured below):
Printed
fitting instructions
are also provided. These were disappointing with no illustrations/photographs, and at times they were difficult to understand and short on details. However the installation process if fairly simple and intuitive so this is not a serious problem.
Installing the Water Two
The property used for this trial required a tall
ladder to gain access to the bathroom waste water pipe. This should be considered before attempting a DIY installation.
Cutting a 120mm section out of the
plastic waste pipe with a junior
hacksaw (purchased for £1 from B&Q) was quick and easy though somewhat precarious at the top of a ladder. Selecting the appropriate pair of
waste pipe adapters to match the diameter of our waste pipe was a quick case of trial and error.
In order to mount the diverter valve unit on the wall everything is first put together without adhesive and the three
diverter valve fixing points marked on the wall. A
power drill is required with a 7mm masonry bit (not included) to drill the suggested 44mm deep holes in the wall.
To ensure you drill to the correct depth wrap some tape around the drill bit as shown above and stop drilling when you reach the tape. The provided wall plugs could then be pushed into the holes by hand, but required a tap with a hammer (aka back of the power drill) to get them fully in.
Since the drill was plugged in and up the ladder, we drilled and plugged the two last holes required for the
vine eyes through which the cords used to control the Water Two pass. Only 4 metres of cord was provided which, when cut in two as per the instructions (one length for each side of the Water Two), left just 2 metres for each pull cord - way to short to be reachable by someone stood at ground level. It would be nice if a few more metres of cord were provided - we had to purchase a longer length elsewhere.
No adhesive is provided (nor the type of adhesive recommended) in the instructions. So-called
solvent weld plastic waste pipes are usually glued together using a solvent based contact adhesive, so this is what we used - a
PVC Solvent Glue from a local hardware store for £3.50 for 150ml. It smelt terrible, but it was simple to use and the glued joints proved to be watertight. Any mistakes made at this time would have been pretty permanent so we were very careful.
Attaching A Hosepipe to Water Two
With everything installed we were ready to attach the hosepipe to the outlet. There was no mention of this step in the instructions, however it was simply a case of pushing the end of a standard 3/4 inch diameter length of hosepipe onto the
greywater outlet. This wasn't a particularly tight fit, so we decided to make sure everything was completely secure using a 16-25mm zinc-plated
hose clip (pictured above). Extra cost: £1.
The publicity photograph of the
Water Two at the top of this page shows the hosepipe attached to the wall by some kind of metal
pipe clip. These are not provided with the kit however, they really are necessary or the hosepipe moves around a lot and looks a bit unsightly sticking out from the wall.
We were unable to find suitable
3/4 inch pipe clips at the time of the review, but we found the
3/4 inch tool clips (pictured above) to be perfect for the job - and they cost just 15p each plus one screw and one wall plug. Five of these used along the length of hosepipe held it closely to the wall.
Installation Summary
The whole
installation process took around
30 minutes of actual work. It would have taken less time had the ladder not been involved, probably around 15 minutes as claimed by the manufacturers of the product. Having to go out and pay for extra parts was a pain. Had the kit included a clip for securing the hosepipe to the Water Two, some clips to hold the hosepipe against the wall, a small tube of
contact adhesive, a longer length of cord, and some spare screws and wall plugs, the kit would have felt complete.
Using the Water Two
Having got the
Water Two installed, everything worked perfectly. Pulling one cord down opened up the valve sending waste water down the hosepipe. Pulling the other cord down sent the waste water off to the main drain. When sending water to the main drain no water at all came down the hosepipe which is important. The
Water Two is a very solid well made device which should last for decades.
The one annoyance was having to
go outside to control the
Water Two. This could be avoided by directing the two pull cords through the bathroom window through another
vine eye screwed to the exterior wall. This would have the added benefit of letting you know (if you label the end of each cord) whether waste water is currently being sent to the main drain or down the hose pipe without having to go outside and check.
Overall Conclusions
This is a fantastic, simple to use product which does exactly what it is supposed to. It is indeed "
invaluable to households with fitted water meters" from a purely financial standpoint, but it is also wonderful for anyone who cares about
saving water. Installation is do-able by anyone with basic DIY skills and the benefits can be felt immediately.
Water Two is well worth the
£35 purchase cost (including delivery) and will pay for itself in one summer.
On a negative point, the provided printed
fitting instructions are very poor. However, a
helpline phone number is available:
01507 610600 for advice and assistance on installing and using the Water Two diverter valve. Further information should really be provided on using and storing*
greywater safely, but no printed
user guide is included with the kit.
*
Information on filtering and/or disinfecting greywater can be found in the REUK article: Sand Filters for Greywater.
Buy Water Two Diverter Valve
NEW Water Two is now available for sale in the
REUK Shop -
buy Water Two for £29.95 plus £1.95 for delivery. The Water Two diverter valve is sold with a full
14 day money back guarantee if you are not satisfied with the product.
Article Last Modified: 14:41, 6th Jan 2010Comment on this Article
If you have any comments on this article, please email them to
neil@reuk.co.uk.
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