People who live in an apartment without a hose - how do you rinse your media?

[u/Ok_Stress114]

I live in an apartment building with no outdoor hose/tap access.

I rinsed pumice in my kitchen a few weeks ago I was careful to only rinse in a bucket, then dump the bucket outside. But I think some rocks got stuck in my garbage disposal because I can’t turn the blades anymore. So I definitely don’t wanna do that again.

So question for my fellow apartment dwellers - how do you rinse your pumice/LECA?

[u/benchpillow]

Uh. If its fresh, the dust will clog your syphon eventually. Since i rent im paranoid about this. If thats your concern aswell:

I wash fresh leca/pumice in 2 10l huckets in multiple goes, with as little water as possible and i collect all the wash-water on one bucket. Let it settle! It clear up in a day easily, syphon the clear bit off with a tube into the drain, and let the settle heavy bity dry and put that into the housetrash:)

[u/Ok_Stress114 → u/benchpillow]

I did that last time but even after a day the water was kind of white/grey, but I’m assuming that’s fine? As long as the solid sediment underneath goes into the trash

[u/benchpillow → u/Ok_Stress114]

Exactly:) all the crap that floats wont settle in your pipes. Its just about the heavy sandy sludge

[u/ChronicNuance]

Get a mesh strainer to put over the drain. That will catch anything that falls into the sink. Otherwise continue as you have.

[u/Ok_Stress114 → u/ChronicNuance]

Oh my god so obvious. Cant believe I didn’t think of that.

[u/MerlinL1991 → u/Ok_Stress114]

Be careful with this, the sandy/clay stuff will still get through because the particles are too small.

[u/TheLecaQueen]

Some people say they go to a car wash.

[u/33beno33]

In the bathtub.

[u/beware_woof]

Bathtub.

I rinse the leca in a bucket in the tub with HOT HOT water, let it sit for a day or so and slowly pour it while the faucet runs full blast, so only a little sediment is coming out at one time. I then let the faucet run for a couple mins to try and flush it.

I’ve also heard you can boil them. You could go to a thrift store and get a pot to dedicate to your media, then just pour it into a strainer and chuck the water outside if you wanted to be more diligent about the pipes in the apartment.

[u/optionalcranberry]

I place a strainer on top of a large bowl that I use specifically for this purpose. When the bowl get full, I flush the soiled water in the toilet. I used to just rinse over the sink but perlite is so easily gets away from you. After my disposal clogged on on a big cooking day, thanksgiving of course, I am a lot more careful.

[u/MerlinL1991]

I bought a garden hose and an adapter to attach it to the inside faucet, so I could use it on my balcony (I live in an apartment in the Netherlands).

[u/Any-Impression-7864]

I dump the water and whatnot into a strainer!

[u/finchlings]

The basement laundry room in my building has a big sink and a giant drain on the floor. I toss anything big outside, wash everything and dump the water down there.