On my first visit to Ukraine, I stayed in an apartment in Kiev. When the toilet was flushed in that apartment, soapy water came out. I came to the conclusion that it was recycled bath water, not from the kitchen sink as that would have foodstuffs. This was the first and only time I saw this.
Does anyone have any idea how this works? Is this done in other places in Ukraine and FSU? It would be an idea to save water.
Doubful that the plumbing is that complex in an apartment and in a area where water is not at a premium. Let me guess, you live in southern California. We are all a result of our own environment.
Okay, so no one knows what I am talking about. I have read that water was hard to come by in Ukraine. The ladies that I corresponded with back then were indeed impressed at a picture of the swimming pool at my apartment complex that I lived in back then.
In Yalta, there is no water late at night and it is turned on again early in the morning. I think that is backwards. I would think that the water would turn off at its peak use in the daytime. My gf did not know why.
"We are all a result of our own environment."
I don't know what Rodan meant by that. I am what because of the water shortage in California? It is not that bad. I can still water my lawn, but not in the middle of the day. The result of them telling us to conserve is water is pressure being built up in old water pipes. They burst and created floods in several dozen neighborhoods. I remember a couple of years ago, Atlanta was told they had two months of water left. I don't know what happened after that.
The water shortage here is politicized more than anything. I have noticed that the water shortage is used for to raise rates. Then when it rains a lot and we have plenty of water, they don’t roll the rates back. The environmentalists were also successful in shutting down a major water source by arguing that the Californa Smelt, a fish about two inches long, an "endangered" species was going through the drainpipes. Millions are out of work, major crops are not watered or planted, food is more expensive because of a small fish.
The apartment I am talking about in this thread is among several dozen about five miles from the airport and about half a mile from the bridge that goes over the Dniper River. I came back from Ukraine telling my folks how they conserve water by recycling bath water. Little did I know that was the first and last time I would see such a thing. or even non existent. I should have asked the lady I was with. But, I made a mistake of not learning even one word of Russian before my trip. I barely knew “da”, “nyet” and “spaciba”. She was the same with English. That was a learning experience.
One of the places I visited in Kyiv last month (totally by accident - "what's that building at the top of the hill?") was the Water Museum, in the old pumping station on the hill above Dinamo Stadium. If you want to find out anything about water in the city, from where it starts to what happens at the end, this is the place to go. Totally fascinating, and they have some English-speaking staff as well.
As for the soapy water? I highly doubt that it was anything to do with the municipal water supply.
I would conclude a soap dispenser in the toilet tank is most likely the reason then. I collect storm water and pump it into a large storage tank. I consider routing "gray water" for the same, but it is more complex.
heck, I live in the east and I am considering catching my gray water to use in the garden - but it would require a lot of effort and I couldn't store it, at least we use the dehumidifier water for all the house plants and some outside plants
I have been very lenient letting my wife take 'hollywood' showers since she got here. I have stressed not using the dishwasher unless it is necessary and a full load, strategic use of water for the garden - not just wasting watering the dirt... when she saw the last water bill she almost fainted. now realizes the water bill, gas, electric, taxes, insurance etc. etc. etc. it all adds up. she realizes that even a modest living is very expensive here in the US.
That can be complex as Rodan says. I am not a plumber, but as far as I can tell, the kitchen sink, bath and sink water, as well as the toilet all goes into one drain. That would mean rerouting just the water that comes out of the bathroom sink and bath.
You would then need a pump if the drains are lower in elevation than the garden. I once had a fish pond. Those pumps are expensive and they get clogged now and then because of the algae.
As I understand it in these apartment blocks there is one solitary gas, electricity and, indeed, water supply ..... i.e. if one apartment needs to cut of the water for a change of sink or whatever then the water supply to the entire block needs to be cut off for that period of time.
I'm used to one water supply, one, or two, water tanks, per dwelling, these ex USSR apartment blocks, I believe, have such for the entire block
I once had a discussion with a woman that had in her mind that a person should not drink from any source other than the kitchen. She was just sure that it was not Kosher. This was an American woman and before purple pipe. The complexity is in the need for layered drains and supply, compounded by storage of the used water until it is needed. If it is in a harsh environment it might be that the building had a layered drain and supply system for only the toilet. I never did see a garbage disposal in the Ukraine, so the only large solids would come from the toilet, there would however be tanks and pumping stations to pump water 10 floors
I don't believe the soapy water was added in to clean the toilet. If it was, I would think they would also add a fragrance. The smell and appearance was consistent with used bath water.
In many many apartments available for rent and in many homes you will see large plastic, often dirty and dusty, containers of water under every bathroom sink and under every kitchen sink. These large plastic were at one time purchased as bottled water - but have since been filled with tap water and kept in storage for the inevitiable time when somebody has their water worked on and the entire block is without water (as Ivor mentions above).
You'll find these in practically every old Soviet style apartment building and in a good many newer buildings - I guess out of force of habit.
I have no explantion for the soapy water that ragingbull found in his toilet.