10/15/2020 OneNote

Plumbing Vents
Thursday, October 15, 2020 1:39 PM

The Plumbing Vent System is a part of the building plumbing drain system and serves three basic functions:
1. Allow building drains to flow freely by allowing air into the drain system, avoiding the vacuum and slow drainage that would
otherwise occur at fixtures.
2. Allow sewer gases to be vented safely outdoors.
• May flow back into the building drain piping form a public sewer or private septic system, thus the plumbing vent system needs to
carry these gasses outside, usually above the building roof where they are disposed-of safely and without leaving unpleasant, or
possibly dangerous smells and gases inside the building.
3. To keep the water form siphoning out of the traps

Important criteria to remember when sizing a conventional venting system composed of individual fixtures vents, vent stack, and stack
vents.
• The minimum size of an individual vent is one-half the required drain size, the minimum size being 32mm (1 ¼ inch) diameter.
• The minimum size of the vent stacks and stack vents is on-half the size of the drain served.
• Remember the vent size is not based on the trap or fixture drain (trap arm) but the drain size that continues downstream from the
point where the vent and fixture drain connect.
The sizing criteria for stack vents and vent stacks are based on three variables:
• The developed length of the vent
• The size of the stack served by the vent.
• The total drainage fixture unit (DFU) connected to the stack.

How far can the plumbing vent piping be located from a plumbing fixture?
• If the horizontal distance between a plumbing fixture and the vertical vent piping is too great, the fixture may not drain properly,
producing slow drainage or gurgling noises.
• Poor drainage is not just an annoyance, it can be unsafe since there is also the risk that the poorly-vented plumbing fixture will lose
the water from its plumbing trap, then permitting sewer gases into the building.
• The distance allowed between a plumbing fixture (actually the fixture plumbing trap) and the vertical vent piping varies between a
minimum and maximum as a function of the pipe diameter.

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Direct Venting of Plumbing Fixture

• Basically, larger piping diameter allows longer distances between a plumbing fixture and its vent stack. If a plumbing fixture is located
too far from the main building vent stack, then its own drain pipe must have its own vent stack connection piping.
• If a plumbing fixture is close enough (five feet or less) to the main waste stack pipe (vent), the fixture does not usually require its own
plumbing vent piping, and it is considered a direct-vented plumbing fixture.
• This rule presumes that the drain piping between the fixture trap and the waste stack is properly installed and properly sloped.
• The usual slope on the fixture drain piping is 1/4" of slope per 12" (foot) of horizontal distance or "run" of piping.
•

• A wet-vented fixture requires a larger drainpipe diameter in its wet portion. This diameter increase helps assure adequate air flow
into the drain system if the sink basin happens to be draining at the same moment that the toilet is flushed.
• Also note that wet-vented fixtures (toilet, bathtub, shower, or floor drain) are permitted for bathrooms on the same floor level, not
between floors.

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Types of Plumbing Vents

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Non-Conventional Venting Methods

RELIEF VENTS-STACKS for more than 10-Branch Intervals

• This venting method requires a relief vent equal to the size of the vent stack it connects with for buildings exceeding 10-branch
intervals. A relief vent must be located at every 10-branch intervals, measured from the highest horizontal drainage branch, and then
calculated downward to the base of the stack.
• The lower end of the relief vent is connected to the soil or waste stack below the level of the horizontal branch that serves the floor
level within the branch interval required to have the relief vent. The location of this connection is intended to allow waste that might
get into the relief vent, including condensation, to reach a waste line.
• This connection is made using a wye fitting installed as a drainage fitting in order to not impair the flow.
• The upper connection of the relief vent is made to the vent stack and is to be located a minimum of 3 feet (914 mm) above the floor
level of the same horizontal branch. This connection is made using a wye fitting installed in an inverted position.

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