Can House Plumbing be Repurposed for Sustainable Living?

  • Context: Plumbing 
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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around a humorous incident where plumbing was repurposed to flow beer and wine into homes, prompting participants to explore the cultural implications and plumbing practices in different countries, particularly Australia and New Zealand. The conversation includes anecdotes and observations related to home brewing and plumbing configurations.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants express amusement at the prank of using plumbing for beer and wine, with references to similar incidents.
  • There are discussions about the accents of the individuals involved, with some suggesting they are Australian or New Zealanders based on their speech patterns.
  • One participant shares a personal anecdote about a home-brew club member's plumbing setup, humorously questioning the functionality of the plumbing.
  • Another participant notes the presence of crawl spaces in homes, comparing experiences from the US and Australia, while questioning their prevalence in the UK.
  • Some participants speculate on the building materials and styles in Australia and New Zealand, suggesting that climate and geography may influence plumbing practices.
  • There is a mention of a sporting event that may have motivated the prank, with references to rugby teams from New Zealand and Australia.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on the origins of the prank or the accents involved, with multiple competing views regarding the cultural context and plumbing practices in different regions.

Contextual Notes

Participants express uncertainty about the specific plumbing configurations and cultural practices in Australia and New Zealand, noting that assumptions about accents and building styles may not be definitive.

BillTre
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TL;DR
The Brits may be the World's Best at this.
 
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Those guys are nuts.
Beer on tap.
And cold too.
 
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What a great prank! It's a good thing they didn't test the toilets. That would have been a waste of good beer.
 
An Italian town has now topped this by causing ~1000 L of wine (Lambrusco Grasparossa) from a local winery to flow into the houseold plumbing of about 20 local homes for about 3 hours.
Screen Shot 2020-03-07 at 10.09.09 AM.png


CNN story here.
 
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Anachronist said:
What a great prank! It's a good thing they didn't test the toilets. That would have been a waste of good beer.

Cutting out the 'middle man.'
 
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BillTre said:
Summary:: The Brits may be the World's Best at this.
Surely these guys are Australian.
 
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Looks like it poured pretty well too!

Reminds me - I was at the home of a guy in our home-brew club, and he had multi-tap kegerator in the garage. He is a great brewer. Well, I go to rinse my glass at his kitchen sink, and his wife says "Oh, Billy put in the faucet and it's reversed, turn to the left for cold, right for hot". I said "If Billy plumbed it, I'm surprised beer doesn't come out of it!"
 
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Merlin3189 said:
Surely these guys are Australian.
Judging by the accents, Australians and New Zealanders.
The English would have plumbed it on the hot water side, to keep the beer warm.
 
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I did wonder about Kiwis. I went to a couple of sites with Aus/NZ accent coaches, but was still unsure.
I know in Aus they do have these crawl spaces under their houses, at least in Queensland.
I tend to think of Kiwis as more like us - a bit more uptight and not likely to do something like that.

I nearly just said antipodeans, but since many readers are not UK based, they might not know where that is!
 
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My house in Eugene, Oregon, in the US, has a very similar crawl space.
I have seen them in a lot of other places in the US, so does not seem definitive to me.
Although my house plumbing is older and therefore look different, the materials and plumbing fittings in the video are just like the more modern ones I have seen in supply stores around here.

On the accents, I defer to those who are more expert on the subject.
 
  • #11
Yes. I guess this (external access crawl space) maybe a common feature of wooden houses. So I've never seen one here in UK.
I was trying to discriminate only between Aus and NZ. NZ seems more like UK - cold and wet! - so maybe more solid brick building and concrete slab bases?
 
  • #12
Both countries span a large range of latitude, so climate will not identify it. Wood framed houses with weather board cladding are common in both. The NZ accents are mild which suggests Australia, but a reference is made to a nearby suburb which sounded Maori = NZ.

The vehicle rego would help. I didn't recognise the brand of beer logo, due to my lack of experience in that field.

Since a group were getting together for the “game”, I guess they were going to watch a sporting event on TV there later, which helps justify the effort by all involved. I would guess it was an international rugby union match involving the All_Blacks.nz or Wallabies.au, hence the plumbing conversion from R-718 to ale.
 
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BillTre said:
Summary:: The Brits may be the World's Best at this.
I missed this when first posted. That video is hilarious! What a great bunch of guys, not just to think of the prank but to actually see it thru.
 
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  • #14
I haven't watched the video but Tui is a New Zealand brand.
 

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