PET bottles for rain water spout, etc.

Recycling PET bottles can be fun, if only we have some plan for it. I had the need to turn the rainwater down spout to suitable angles which the ready 'L'bow, 'T' or '45 degree' units do not fit in.  So what I did?  I took my favourite 'black scissors' and cut the right size circular hole or openings at wanted places.  Of course, I had to mark the exact place and shape with the pen to cut.  I first cut well inside the line because the joint has to be 'unloose'!  The bottle must hold the pipe firmly.  Tight fitting, in simpler words. 

The greatest advantage with these bottles is that you can use it to the angle you desire.  I have used the bottle here because I did not want to cut the pipe length that was already there.  That way, even if it is removed, the pieces are not wasted.  If I had cut the pipe and took it to the edge, I could have used a ready L'bow but I did not want to buy a new one - I did not have it with me. The vertical pipe rests on a wooden piece on the balcony floor and so it is steady.  In addition I have also tied a piece of wire to the parapet to hold it firmly in place.

These bottles are very useful collection 'pots'.

I have used a bottle cut at both ends and a hole in the centre to fit the pipe to act as an L'bow.

Cutting the bottles is very easy, provided you are careful enough to make a neat and slightly 'inner measurement' cut so that a pipe can be properly inserted.

Here, the spout from the old balcony was of zinc and it had rusted away over nearly a century [that's how old the house is].  It was so brittle.  Connecting an 'L'bow or pipe to it was out of question.  So, I have placed a large bottle which was cut to custom requirement and placed there to collect and divert water through the pipe into the rain water filter. See picture below.

 Old asbestos pipe fitted to the balcony terrace, unusual size which is too large for the 75mm or too small for the 90mm 'L'bow. So, cut up a bottle.. 

 A large bottle to collect - like a funnel.  I had also put a piece of sponge into it, but it soon got clogged - too much dirt comes down from above our house which is on the main road which is busy with heavy traffic.  So, fugitive dust is too much load for the filters.  Removed the sponge as this rain waterwas collected only for flushing bathroom or toilet. 

Large bottle again, I used before. Crude methods, but it suited that place, which is now demolished and renovated.

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I have used the bottle for other purposes also.  I had to find a way to clean the dirt without removing the water from the large barrel.  So, I chose a 500ml PET bottle [soft drink] that has a smooth surface without ridges and squeezable.  Some bottle designs wont suit this purpose.  Cut a hole in the cap to tightly pass a semi-stiff pipe into the bottom of the bottle.  I use this to suck up dirt from the bottom without emptying the barrel.  First squeeze out some air, hold it squeezed, insert the bottle into the water, suck up the dirt from the bottom slowly releasing the squeeze.  We can make designs in the dirt also there!   In fact, this is like a laboratory wash bottle.

This is an old picture.  When the bottle cracks from repeated squeezing, replace the bottle!  I have replaced 4-5 in as many years. Some are durable.

This is the latest one in use.  See how dirt sediments at the bottom and how it looks when disturbed and shaken.

The bottom half of a cut up bottle can be used for many many things. I've used one to fold and store digital camera cables.  We can also make rings to hold in folded cables.

One of the most interesting applications of the bottle I came across is this 'Water light bulb'! Watch the two and half minute video. Another person somewhere has 'repurposed' a bottle into a broom. [click on link on how to make it].  'Repurpose' is a new word that has started to get popular!

This image did the rounds on e-mail - bottle slippers used by African tribals.

Necessity is the Father of Creativity!

Rainwater collection cup with filter

As an important part of my rainwater filter system, this unit is absolutely necessary to collect the huge flow of rainwater from the down spout while it [the mesh] filters the larger particles.  Others get it fabricated using zinc sheets and soldering the mesh to its brim.  Since my look around for such a fabricator proved futile, I started thinking ways of making one myself, at home.  

There was a stainless steel basin lying in the trunk.  It suited the size I desired.  Its bottom had to be cut up to fix a PVC pipe to allow rainwater downwards [into the filter drum]. Fixing the pipe to the cut bottom was tricky.  What I made was a centre point and a circle to match the inner circumference of the width of the PVC pipe.  I divided the circle into 12 parts.  From the centre point, I cut up the 12 parts up to the circumference and ended up in getting triangle-like shapes.  The pointed ends were carefully bent downwards.  I had sawed thin slits in the PVC pipe to insert these sharp-edged triangles. They were bent back upwards, neatly once properly in place while the PVC got secured to the basin bottom!  

Now the basin and pipe was ready.  I took SS Mesh and shaped it like a cone as you see in the image above.  Folded the bottom of the cone to prevent the wire being pricked and then placed it on the basin and folded it to the edging of the basin securely.  Now the filter is ready!  

The advantage of my project is that the mesh is removable for cleaning the basin's inside whereas the ready soldered mesh cannot be opened. The only tricky part was to fix the basin to a pipe.  Even this came out nice.

I am very happy with the use of this particular item as SS is easy to clean and non rusting, while it has a smooth finish. It was a little project, but a satisfying and a most useful one.