Building Utilities 1 (BU 1) - Plumbing and Sanitary Systems

HANDOUT # 6

Definitions

Plumbing System
The plumbing system of a building includes the water supply distributing pipes; the fixture and fixture
traps; the soil, waste and vent pipes; the building drain and building sewer; the storm water drainage,
with their devices, appurtenances and connections within the building and outside the building within
the property line.

Drainage System
All the piping within a public or private premises which conveys sewage, rainwater or other liquid
wastes to a point of disposal. A drainage system does not include the mains of public sewer systems or a
private or a public sewage treatment or disposal plant.

Sanitary Drainage and Vent Piping Systems

The sanitary and vent piping system are installed by lite plumber to remove the wastewater and water-
borne waste from the plumbing fixtures and appliances, and to provide circulation of air within the
drainage piping.

Stack
A general term used for any vertical line of soil, waste or vent piping

Soil Pipe
A pipe that conveys the discharge of water closets or similar fixtures containing fecal matter, with or
without the discharge of other fixtures to the building drain or building sewer

Soil stack
Any pipe which conveys the discharge of water closet, urinal or fixtures having similar function, with or
without she discharges from other fixtures to the building drain or building sewer.

Waste Pipe*
A pipe that conveys only liquid waste free of fecal matter because at fecal matter.

*A waste pipe is generally smaller than a soil pipe nature or matter being discharged into the system.

Branch
Any part of the piping system other the main, riser or stack.

Building drain/ House drain

That part of the lowest horizontal piping of a plumbing system which receives the discharge from soil,
waste and other drainage pipes inside building and conveys it to the building sewer/house sewer

Building/ House sewer

That part of the drainage system that extends from the end of the building drain and conveys its
discharge to (tie public sewer, private sewer, and individual sewage disposal system, of other
appropriate point of disposal.
Sewage
Any liquid waste containing animal or vegetable matter in suspension or solution, it may include liquids
containing chemicals in solution.

Drainage Fittings
A special type of fitting or fittings utilized in the drainage system, Drainage fittings are similar to cast
iron fittings, except that instead of having a bell and spigot, drainage fittings are recessed and tapped to
eliminate ridges on the inside of she installed pipe.

Dead end
A branch leading from a soil, waste or vent pipe, a building drain, or a building sewer, and terminating at
a developed length of 2 feet or more by means of a plug, cap or other closer fitting

Drain
Any pipe that carries wastewater or waterborne wastes in a building drainage system

Materials for Excreta Drainage System

1. Excreta drainage pipings shall be cast iron, ductile iron, galvanized steel, galvanized wrought
iron, lead, copper, brass, Series 1000 PVC DWV, extra-strength vitrified clay pipe or other approved
material having smooth and uniform bore.

2. No galvanized wrought iron or galvanized steel pipe shall be used underground and shall be kept
at least 152 mm above ground.

3. ABS and PVC DWV piping installations shall be used in high rise buildings, provided that its use
shall be the discretion of the Designer and also with the full consent of the owner.

4. No vitrified clay pipe or fittings for drain or sewer shall be used above ground or whenever
piping is pressurized by a pump or ejector. They shall be kept at least 0.30 meter below finish ground
level.

5. Drainage fittings shall be of cast iron, malleable iron, lead, brass, copper, ABS, PVC, vitrified clay,
or other approved materials have a smooth interior waterway of the same diameter as the piping served
and all such fittings shall be compatible with the type of pipe used.

6. Fittings on screwed pipe joints shall be of the recessed drainage type. Burred ends shall be
reamed to the full bore of the pipe.

7. The threads of drainage fittings shall be tapped to allow (2) percent or 20 mm/ m grade.
Changes in Direction of Excreta Drainage Flow

1) Changes in direction shall be made by the appropriate use of approved fittings and shall be of
the angles presented by a 22 1/2° or 1/16 bend, 45° or 1/8 bend and 60° or 1/6 bend or other approved
fittings of equivalent sweeps.

2) Horizontal drainage branch lines, connecting with a stack shall enter through 45 or 60 wye
branches, combination wye and 1/8 bend branches, sanitary tee or sanitary tapped tee branches or
other approved fittings of equivalent sweeps. No fitting having more than one inlet at the same level
shall be used unless such fitting is constructed so the discharge from one inlet cannot readily enter into
the other inlet. Double sanitary tees may be used when the barrel of the fitting is at least two (2) pipe
sizes larger than the largest inlet (pipe sizes recognized for this purpose are 51,64, 6,89,102,114,127 and
152 mm diameters).

3) Horizontal drainage lines connecting with other horizontal drainage line shall enter through
forty-five degree wye branches, combination wye and 1/8 bend branches or other approved fittings of
equivalent sweep.

4) Vertical drainage lines connecting with the horizontal drainage lines shall enter through forty-
five (45°) degree branches or other approved fittings of equivalent sweep. Sixty (60°) degree branches or
offsets may be used only when installed in a true vertical position.

Grade of Horizontal Drainage Piping

Horizontal drainage piping shall be run in practical alignment and at a uniform slope of not less than 2%
or 20mm/m towards the point of disposal, provided that, where it is impractical due to the depth of
street sewer or to adverse structural features or to some irregular arrangements of affected building or
structure to obtain a slope of 2% or any such pipe or piping 102 mm or larger in diameter may have a
slope of not less 1 % or 10 mm/m when first approved by the Authority.

Cleanouts
1. Each horizontal drainage pipe shall be provided with a cleanout at its upper terminal and each
run of piping which is more than 15 meters in total developed length shall be provided with a cleanout
and at every 15 meter length or a fraction thereof.

2. Cleanouts may be omitted on a horizontal drain line less than 1.5 meters in length unless such
line is serving sinks or urinals.

3. Cleanout may be omitted on short horizontal drainage pipe installed at an angle of seventy two
degrees or less from the vertical line.

4. An approved type of two-way cleanout fitting, installed inside the building wall near the
connection between the building drain and building sewer or installed outside of a
building at the lower end of the building drain and extended to grade, may be substituted for an upper
terminal cleanout.

5. An additional cleanout shall be provided on a horizontal line with an aggregate offset angle of
direction exceeding one hundred and thirty five (135°) degrees.
6. Each cleanout shall be installed so it opens in the direction of flow to allow cleaning of the soil or
waste pipe or at right angles thereto and, except in the case of a wye branch and end-of-line cleanouts,
shall be installed vertically above the flow line of the pipe.

7. Each cleanout extension shall be considered as drainage piping and each ninety (90°) degrees
cleanout extension shall be extended from a wye type fitting or other approved fitting of equivalent
sweep.

8. Each cleanout for an interceptor shall be outside of such interceptor.

9. Each cleanout, unless installed under an approved cover plate, shall be above grade, readily
accessible, and so located to serve the purpose it is intended. Cleanout located under cover plates shall
be installed to provide the clearances and accessibility required.

10. Each cleanout in piping 51 mm or less in size shall be installed so that there is a clearance of not
less than 305 mm in front of the cleanout. Cleanouts in piping larger than 51 mm shall have a clearance
of not less than 450 mm in front of the cleanout. Cleanout in underfloor piping shall be extended to or
above the finish floor or shall be extended outside the building when there is less than 0.45 m vertical
and 0.75 m horizontal from the means of access to such cleanout. No underfloor cleanout in any
residential occupancy shall be located more than 6.1 m from an access door, trap door or
crawl hole.

11. Cleanouts shall be provided for pressure drainage systems.

12. Countersunk Cleanouts plugs shall be installed where raised heads may cause hazard to passing
personnel or vehicle.

13. When a hubless blind plug is used for a required cleanout, the complete coupling and plug shall
be accessible for removal or replacement.

Table 4
Cleanouts
Size of Pipe (mm)
Size of Cleanout (mm)
Threads per 25.4 mm length
38
38
111/2
51
38
111/2
64
64
8
76
64
8
1 02 & larger
89
8

Sanitary Drainage Pipe Sizing

Fixture Drain Sizes

Fixture drain sizes can be obtained by referring to Table 1 (Minimum Trap and Trap Arm Sizes). These
values are pre-calculated, that is, sizes of fixture drain pipes were derived based on the actual quantities
of waste that pass through it. Drainage fixture units (dfu) are the basis by which these pipes were sized.
For example, a lavatory with 1 dfu value requires a drainpipe size of 32 mm (11/4 in.).

Table 5
Drainage Fixture Unit (dfu) Values for Fixture Drains or Traps

Fixture drain or Trap Size (mm)

Drainage Fixture Unit (dfu) Value
32
1
38
2
50
3
65
4
75
5
5100
6

Privy
– The oldest form of disposal of organic waste
– It consists of a water tight vault constructed of concrete for the collection of raw sewage and a
wooden shelter.– It must be 50’ to 150’ (15m to 45 m) away from the water supply

Septic Tank and Seepage Pit

In this type of sewage disposal, the cycle is completed below ground and within the property. Liquid
wastes are purified due to the action of anaerobic bacteria through precipitation in the digestion
chamber and effluent is discharged in the leaching chamber by natural percolation.
- Size of tank:
Residence
- 6 persons min capacity of 50 cu ft, and for larger
household 5-6 cu. ft/person
Commercial, industrial and institutional
- 2-3 cu ft/person

Parts of a Sanitary Drainage System

House Sewer
– It extends from the public sewer to the private sewage-disposal tank to the wall of the structure and is
entirely outside the building

House Drain
– The horizontal main into which the vertical soil and waste stacks discharge. It connects directly to the
house sewer.

Soil and Waste Stacks

– The soil and waste stacks collect the sewage from the fixtures through their branches.
- Supported at intervals of 10’ with stout wall hangers or brackets or on beams

Fixture Branches
– Connect the fixtures with the stacks
– Waste or soil branches are connected to the trap of each fixture
– Horizontal branch should not be more than 5’ (from the vertical inlet of the trap to the vent opening

Traps
– Traps catches water after each discharge from a fixture so as not to allow unpleasant ad obnoxious
gases in a sanitary drainage system to escape through the fixture
– Trap seal must have a min depth of 2” and max of 4” depth

Vents
– Vents are the extension of soil and waste stacks through the roof and a system of pipes largely
paralleling the drainage system for the admission of air and discharging of gases.

SPECIAL DEVICES
Interceptors
– device designed and installed so as to separate and retain deleterious, hazardous, or undesirable
matter from normal waste and permit normal sewage or liquid waste to discharge into the disposal
terminal by gravity

Sump and Ejectors

– A sump is a tank or a pit which receives sewage or liquid waste, located below the normal grade of the
gravity system and must be emptied by a mechanical means

Backwater valves/check valve

– A backwater valve closes to prevent reverse flow from a sewer to low facilities when there is a heavy
drainage load for short periods that can cause building up and over flow of wastes.

Roof Drain
– Is a receptacle designed to collect surface or rain water from an open area and discharge to a catch
basin.

Floor Drain
– Is any pipe which carries water or waterborne wastes in a building drainage system