Leave science to the water-wallahs: Ken Gibbs

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My wife and I were very fortunate to have studied at Cape Town University which nestles below Table Mountain in an architectural gem where we learned a lot - both in the lecture halls, and outside them.  We made a number of good friends with whom we still correspond – that is with those that are still alive, of course.

One of them, a maverick Namibian born of mixed Portuguese and Afrikaans heritage, whose command of English is startlingly good, started work with the South African Broadcasting Corp., and became the voice of ‘Woman’s Hour’ or its equivalent, for many years.  She has forthright views on many things and the correspondence between her and my wife, is never dull.

Since leaving university, she has been based in the Johannesburg area where, today, public services are not ideal.  Her writings often refer to them when she has electricity for the light by which to write and to operate her e-mail account.

Recently, the water supplies have been badly affected due to incompetent management and global warming and she has decided that her shower water – after washing her, that is - should be routed to her tiny garden outside the shower room window, to save the planet as it were.  The question is, “How?”

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Because she is not alone with this problem, she took advice and was advised to use a siphon which, if you understand the physics, is relatively simple. 

However, it seems that her training at university did not include physics.

We received a message from her, requesting advice on how to make the siphon work, given that the ground level of her garden outside her shower room is only about 5 cm lower than the shower floor.  She asked my advice on whether she should collect the shower water in a bucket to be perched on a stool in the shower, and siphon it that way ?  The mind boggles. . . .

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The message I sent back to her in South Africa:

“For a siphon to work, there must be no air in the pipe whatsoever;

“If you manage the physics of getting a water-full pipe out of the window and down on to the ground outside, then it should work OK, and the greater the height difference, the better will the siphon work, remembering that the end of the pipe in the bucket should remain on the bottom of the bucket, all of the time;

“The end of the pipe which is to go to ground outside the window MUST be sealed until the siphon is required to work; OR

“You can, of course, if you have fully functioning lungs, go outside, suck the end of the pipe until water starts to flow and, if you haven’t drowned by this time, you put the end of the pipe outside on the ground and your garden will benefit from a small flood of partly soapy dirty water.

“Having a full bucket of shower water is good, but how do you get the water into the bucket while at the same time, showering ?  I have visions of you requiring angels’ wings so that you can squeeze yourself between the shower head and the top of the bucket. . . . .

“If only, if only I were Heath Robinson, I would draw you a wonderful picture of you in the shower with bucket and hosepipe, trying to do the impossible.”

. . . .but, being a simple engineer, I would shower and fill the bucket however you manage to do that; finish your shower; dry off and dress appropriately; go back to the shower; pick up the bucket and carry it outside and tip it over whatever flora you feel is deserving.  This way has the added bonus that you will not risk drowning in soapy water when trying to set the siphon working.

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