Devised by Louis Garchey, a Frenchman, it was first installed in blocks of flats in France during the 1930s.
[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.
[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.