Garchey

The Garchey System was an early refuse disposal system in the United Kingdom. Devised by Louis Garchey, a Frenchman, it was first installed in blocks of flats in France during the 1930s.^[1] It was first used in the UK in 1935 after the City of Leeds installed it in one of its housing blocks.^[2] A British firm holds the UK rights.^[3]

Similar systems were installed in various buildings during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. A more sophisticated system was installed in London's Barbican Estate in the 1960s and 1970s.

Methodology

The disposal system is distinguished for its water-borne method of refuse conveyance.^[2] Conventional waste chutes convey dry refuse from individual flats. With the Garchey system, refuse (ranging from potato peelings and ashes to small bottles and tins) is collected in a unit below the sink in each residential unit through a large plug in the sink. When the refuse has accumulated in the unit and was soaked with water, it is discharged into cast iron stacks.^[3] From there it is flushed with water to central tanks for periodic removal or treatment.^[1]

Some installations of the Garchey system (e.g. Spa Green Estate) caused complaints for its tendency to produce foul smell and "bubbling back" of the refuse due to poor maintenance.^[4]

Installations

In Britain

• London's Barbican Estate (1960s and 1970s)
• RAH Livett's Quarry Hill Flats (1941, demolished 1978)
• Chalkhill Estate in Wembley, London
• Park Hill Flats in Sheffield (Jack Lynn and Ivor Smith, opened 1961)
• Spa Green Estate, Clerkenwell, London

In France

• The French Garden city at du Plessis-Robinson.
• The Matrat-Voisembert property complex in Issy-les-Moulineaux (until 2005).
• Le Corbusier's Cité radieuse de Marseille.