Comments on: DIY Tutorial: Make Your Own Diaper Sprayer

By: Ben the Plumber

Ben the Plumber — Wed, 02 May 2012 01:09:54 +0000

While it may seem absurd to you, and you may be so confident of your own assessment of your knowledge acquired by the old “gut feeling” test, it is in fact a hazard, and would not be allowed to pass any plumbing inspection in any first world country. Just because there is a retail version available that does the same thing does not indicate that it has been approved by any adopted code authorities for that function. A hazard exists – to state confidently otherwise is to admit to having absolutely no idea.

By: Ben the Plumber

Ben the Plumber — Wed, 02 May 2012 01:02:11 +0000

The likelihood is actually not as small as it may appear – the fact that a male peeing may miss and contaminate the nozzle that way is very likely, or what if it is dropped into the toilet during diaper cleaning?

By: Ben the Plumber

Ben the Plumber — Wed, 02 May 2012 00:58:51 +0000

You need this because fecal matter can get from the toilet bowl into the sprayer, since you are spraying fecal matter directly, and it can potentially splatter, or be accidentally dropped in the toilet. A pressure differential caused by using other fixtures while using this sprayer can cause backsiphonage into the potable water system. Yes, the toilet has backflow protection of a sort, but this is adding a separate water outlet and so has nothing to do with the means by which the toilet supply is protected from the contents of the bowl.

By: carrie

carrie — Tue, 01 May 2012 05:43:25 +0000

Thanj you for sharing my husband after several trips to home depot was abke to use tbis and put together my sprayer for my diapers. It cost us under $20, a great savings compaired to mail order.

By: Natasha

Natasha — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 02:46:23 +0000

Thank you for this tutorial. It was easy to follow and non-plumber friendly. Unfortunately, my local Lowe’s didn’t have all the exact parts your tutorial called for so I had to purchase extra parts here and there. It ultimately made the project cost about $46, but that might also be that I live in Alaska and most things are more expensive up here anyway. But it was worth making it myself — I feel like a champ!

A couple of notes about this project:
First, I made sure to flush the toilet after turning off the water line so that water didn’t leak out as much. Also, I used pipe thread seal tape at every connection because there were little leaks, but that might be that I had to use more connections since I didn’t have all the exact parts you called for.

Thanks again!

By: K-Jay's MOM

K-Jay's MOM — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 16:48:35 +0000

Cool will be talking the hubby into this!

By: Kevin

Kevin — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 03:30:40 +0000

I like this idea but as a plumber by trade I would like to add that the vacuum breaker on a hose bib is a complete waste. It was made a code because there is a one in a billion chance that if you had your hose on with a chemical sprayer attached under pressure (not in use, just under pressure); if someone were to turn on the kitchen faucet to get a drink, the chemical/poison would travel through the hose, through the pipe and out the faucet into your glass. You would win the lottery several times in a roll before the above happened.

By: gidget

gidget — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 22:00:10 +0000

Hi Jamie, I don’t use them anymore but when I did, I bought them online- diapers.com or maybe amazon even. I think Bummis makes them.

By: gidget

gidget — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 21:59:27 +0000

I do open/close it every time I use it. The shut-off valve does adjust the pressure a bit- open all the way for full-strength.

By: Larry Slotnick

Larry Slotnick — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 04:08:39 +0000

As Marissa said, that backflow preventer suggested by Matt is the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard. There is absolutely no need for that, as this DIY, or the retail version, is only taking tap water from the cold water piping in your home.
I’ll add that I assembled a diaper sprayer at my home a while back using “found parts” from my basement (I do occasional plumbing repairs around the house and I knew I had a kitchen sink sprayer) and, while it was a blessing to have this system, it did leak because it was really cobbled together and I never bothered looking for the appropriate T fitting. That was my laziness. Two weeks ago I found someone selling an unused “Mini-Shower” unit for $25 on Craigslist and jumped on it. They indeed are regularly $45. While I’m all about DIY, I must say that this is VERY well-made. Though I was first skeptical when I saw 1/4″ clear poly tubing instead of a kitchen-sink quality hose, the valve body is solid brass, chrome plated, with an integrated shut-off valve. There is a holder for the (plastic/chrome finish) sprayer that easily mounts on a wall next to the toilet, and the tubing/hose is around 4 ft, and can, of course, be trimmed if you’d like.
The only caveat, as on the system above, is that your water feed line to the toilet must be a flex hose — not rigid. Only tool needed – a 6″ adjustable wrench (plus a screwdriver to mount the sprayer holder.) Time – 5 minutes. You must be certain that the tubing is properly “seated” at its two connection points to have a non-leaking assembly. You have the peace of mind with the shut-off valve, AND, the entire assembly is hard-mounted to your 1/2″ plumbing, so that it can literally be a 1-hand operation to grab the sprayer, turn the valve to the “ON” position while holding the diaper in your other hand. Finally, the pressure issue is a non-issue with the Mini-Shower. Just open the lever valve all the way and the pressure is perfect.