I guess, since most people have a very low income, they don't have a choice between a good thing and a cheap thing. Their choice is a cheap thing or no thing!
Well, one of the problems with low quality, cheap things is, that they tend to break easily and quickly.
Today, we encountered one of these breaks at the restaurant.
There are two water supply pipes from the town-water network at the house that the restaurant is located in. And, on one of these pipes the PVC glue gave up the ghost, and the joint disconnected.
The consequence was, that there was a 1/2" pipe spouting water at full pressure!
Luckily, that pipe is located on the outside of the house, so we didn't get a flood in the kitchen or bathroom. However, that water had to run somewhere, too. And that somewhere was down the driveway of the neighbor, making a big puddle in front of their door. At times it looked like the water might enter their house.
What the heck to do in such a situation?!?!?
For the moment, we used two big buckets. When one was full we switched to the other one and emptied the full one down the toilet.
But, obviously, that is not a longterm solution!
In the meantime, Iris called the water guy, telling him about the problem. He went and turned the water off for the whole town.
That sounds like a terrible thing, but it isn't really. Why? Because the town-water is turned on usually only every other day, and only for a few hours. And our water break was past the typical turn-off time anyhow.
But, still, the water kept on running for another 3/4 of an hour!
Secondly, I tried to use a wet&dry glue to connect the fitting again to the pipe. On the other side of the fitting was a faucet. So, to reduce the pressure, I connected a garden hose to that faucet and opened it up all the way before trying to glue that piece back to the pipe. The idea was, to allow as much as possible of the water to run off. That, however, did not work, because there still was just too much pressure!
Usually, the glue is supposed to cure for 24 hours before pressure can be applied. 10 seconds just didn't do it. And holding these things together for much longer than 10 seconds is not easy either...
Finally, I ended up connecting a shutoff-valve to the pipe - with the valve completely open. That worked, and the joint stayed together. But, I couldn't close that valve as of yet, as the pressure would have just catapulted that thing off again.
Luckily, by then the pressure from the town-system had reduced by about 50%, so I was able to glue the fully opened faucet to the valve. The hose we ran to the kitchen sink, and Iris used that water for washing the dishes - so it wasn't all completely wasted.
And, most importantly, it was running down the drain, and no longer down the neighbor's driveway...
Here is a picture of end product. I'm hoping it will all stay together tomorrow or the day after when the town water is turned on again.
As you can see in the picture, different glues had been used over the years. The grey glue had given up - it is about 1/2 the price of the blue one.
Unfortunately, there is no primer to be found anywhere in Panama. So all glues are applied straight to the PVC. That might be contributing to the joints to be breaking after a while, too.
We'll see, if the blue glue lasts, despite no primer; or if it will break, too, at some time in the future...
Here’s another picture, that shows how adventurous the piping can get after a while…
So, Yeap, 1/2 price glue connects the pipes when you use it. Can't afford the full price glue? Well, for the moment the 1/2 price one solves the issue. When it breaks, well, then we'll deal with that then - and maybe it's somebody else anyhow who has to deal with it! So no problem today!
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