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PROMISCUITY FOR THE MIND
Music to amplify (pun intended) your reading.
A. There are three concealed woes in 'modern construction': Concealed plumbing, Concealed Wiring and Concealed Gravity.
B. Your growth, at Work or Home, can be significantly offset by the implications of these three woes: Time, Money and sheer Will to Live.
C. Removing the word ‘Concealed’ is the everlasting, clearest ‘sunshine’ solution to these three woes.
A recent experience: A Solar Power system was being installed at home. The workmen drilled holes for concrete anchors to attach the panels. Two home wiring electrical conduits were drilled though! Every MCB at home tripped. It took me two whole days to locate the faults and rewire the system. Whatever free time I had, I spent in locating and fixing an upper-level bathroom leak that dripped water into the lower floor. With all my equipment, supplies, experience and the danger of letting in Asymptomatic Corona Positive workmen (I do not know ANY women plumbers/electricians), I still had to call the plumbers and electricians in finally.
Let’s get the Terms sorted out:
Concealed wiring: 5/15 A supply, single or three-phase, routed through fragile plastic conduits running through walls and ceilings. These terminate at various points in, very appropriately named, 'Gang Boxes'. These gang boxes metamorphose into plug sockets, switches, ceiling roses and other fittings which feed a variety of electrical devices: fans, lights, socket points, etc.
Concealed plumbing: Same as above for water. The conduits which are water pipes terminate as outlets into which are fitted an evergrowing family of paraphernalia all of which dispense water: direct, filtered, treated, heated, etc. The added feature is Ceramic Tiling or Stone, cladding the conduit and a substantial portion of the facade.
Concealed Gravity: The slope that is needed to allow water to drain from floors. This is often extremely gentle and is barely visible on rooftops, kitchen & window ledges and bath floors. In theory, this slope, angled in three dimensions conducts water safely to a collection point where it will be drained into plumbing. My use of 'concealed' with Gravity is because the slope is neither visible nor possible to feel using one's sense of balance. Try rolling a marble...
This family of "the Three Concealed Things" hold a magnetic fascination for people at homes and offices alike. In some low-cost housing projects, even suggesting that these three be avoided to reduce costs is to invite death threats.
The Woes of Concealed Wiring can broadly be divided into doesn't work and frustrating. The terminals are fed into gang boxes and sockets and 'modular' switch/socket units which either hold plugs loosely or not at all. If they do hold plugs tightly then they will come altogether off the wall when pulled. The wires are fed in using metal spring leaders and yanked in through hundreds of feet of conduit. What all this yanking does to the wires can be imagined. The lack of color coding and the deplorable tendency to patch in the neutral mean that fault-finding will be a huge challenge. And every electrician in sequence implements bodges which cumulatively end up looking like the Medusa the Gorgon's hair. It also has to be remembered that the conduits DO NOT run in some predictable way but can criss-cross rooms and partitions in very creative ways. The gang boxes and the 'modular' units are fragile and after a few rounds of opening and closing, refuse to hold tight and hang down looking despondent with surrounding plaster all chipped and masonry showing through.
The Woes of Concealed Plumbing can be divided into two: despair and utter despair. If there is a leak on a fitting, any attempt to dismantle it will result in the in-wall fitting breaking. Now the entire water supply will have to be cut off, tiles broken, chipping the masonry and brickwork deep into the wall. Then all this will have to be reversed with the new tiles never matching the adjacent old tiles. Besides, there are acres of 'white cement – grout' all over the place. How this is aesthetic is beyond comprehension.
The Woes of Concealed Gravity can be described as a well-designed conspiracy. How on earth, on a 1500 sq. ft. terrace will a three-dimensional slope averaging 1/32 inch per foot, be achieved without 3-D printing? It can't. So the result is a rooftop like a micro Martian landscape that collects water everywhere which then gradually seeps into the roof itself and its seams and then down below. Also, the skimpy little 2" drainpipe in the corner can drain little more than a sneeze and will be blocked by a single dead beetle's wing. The same situation is repeated with minor variations in the bathroom. If you disagree, show me one bathroom that does NOT have a swiper!
Each of these 'woes' breeds a lively, bustling, business ecosystem...encompassing specialist workmen, poorly designed spares, cement assortments, fittings, tubes, clamps, chemical compounds, applicators, glues, solutions, powders, fasteners, swipers, mops, squeegees, all having asynchronous lifetimes, thus leading to glorious work or miserable woe depending on the side you are on.
At a sociological level, these woes generate a home/office specific behavioral aberrations, severely enforced by SOP. How to use the bath from which side, which flush does not work, which parts to swipe dry, which plug to use for mobiles, which plug to use for the citrus juicer (the one in the veranda!), which switches never to use, which one gives a shock, etc. Over time, this list expands over the entire premise at which point the ‘craftsmen’ are called in to 'rectify' all faults together. This is a Karmic Cycle.
At my Studio/Workshop/Atelier, where I have far more leeway, I fight the tyranny of concealed plumbing, wiring and gravity with an obsessive vengeance and unrestrained glee. This is how I constructed a toilet at minimal cost and max utility. I call it:
Specs: The toilet must use Minimum hardware. Ultra lo-cost to install and repair. Need no highly skilled workers. Should be clean and dry. Hygienic. Bright lighting. Good ergonomics. Safe and slip-proof. Handwashing facility. Dependable Plumbing and Wiring - Not concealed. Unisex. Suitable for repeated heavy-duty use. User friendly.
The WASHlab: economics, physics, ergonomics, engineering and biology!
Low material usage. JUST TWO materials are used: Cement and one Orissa Pan.No other material are used. NO white cement, PVC solution, UPVC solution, PVC pipe, UPVC Pipe, Taps, bib cocks, flush cocks, toilet bowl, washbasin, flush bowl, Teflon tape…..none of these are used.
1. Ultra lo-cost to install and repair: Note that there are no tiles that need to be broken to access concealed piping; no fancy fittings that need repair, no sophisticated taps or flushes that can be corroded due to salty water. All this ensures that fault location and repair are easy and consume no time or skills.
Nothing is concealed: No concealed conduits whatsoever, electrical wiring, or water plumbing. This ensures that faults can be located easily and can be rectified without needing to break tiles or masonry for access.
Gravity Rules: The slope from the entry point to the pan/tub is more than 6 inches!! Water obeys gravity and this sort of aggressive slope makes sure that NO water is left stagnant anywhere. All the water used for washing the washroom floor rushes to the tub and does not linger.
Industrial Double Strength exhaust. The dual exhaust fans ensure thorough ventilation to ensure sanitation and hygiene. These are actually industrial fans which are much cheaper than 'consumer' exhaust fans available in the retail market.
ORISSA PAN: This type of toilet is technically called the Orissa pan. Advantages: Non- Contact, Easy to clean, Lower body exercise, The best position for body evacuation
Copper Strips everywhere: Today from medical science, we know that when touching copper, bacterial contamination goes down substantially. Please note the copper strips on the bucket, washbasin and belay handle (to assist in rising from the squat)
A chair: To sit and remove clothes comfortably without resorting to acrobatic poses increasing the chances of falls and injury
Single nail clothes peg: Makes sure visitors do not leave extra clothes behind to be retrieved later.
Bright Lighting: ensures good visibility and prevents slips and falls and encourages users to believe they are doing something natural and not shameful or embarrassing at all.
Super Hi-friction floor: The floor is raw unfinished cement which offers super grip. It is almost totally slip-proof. Vitrified tiles need specialist floor cleaners. This cement floor can be cleaned with a little water and mechanical scrubbing alone.
Lo-cost washbasin: It is made from scrap wood and aluminum. A specially contoured strip on the bottom directs the dirty water, without splashing, into the Orissa pan. This action is akin to the Coanda Effect in Physics.
1. Industrial Compressed air components – pipe and gun.Less chance of salt deposits clogging the pipe and gun. Also extremely strong. And most definitely, vastly cheaper, than consumer bath fittings.
Industrial Oil pump dispenses liquid soap: This inexpensive lubricant container accepts water and slivers of leftover soap and spits out perfectly acceptable handwash.
All Single units: A single electric switch. A single water pipe. The single electrical switch activates lights as well as the fans. The single water 'gun' doubles up for personal hygiene, washbasin inlet and general cleaning. These electrical and water points ensure less wastage and also conserve resources since one does not have to remember to switch/turn off multiple electric/water points.
Totally maintenance-free flush: It needs ONLY on gravity and has no moving parts that could rust from hi-TDS water and create problems. The bonus is that it cleans not just the tub but also the area/floor surrounding the tub.
Thanks to Durga Kavya for the photography and videography.
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