Plumbing System

Dr. Md. Jahir Bin Alam, Professor, CEE Department, SUST

 Introduction
The residential plumbing system is often taken for granted, but it is an
important part of the structure.

A complete plumbing system provides an adequate supply of water and

removes waste.

There are three principal parts:

1. Water supply system.
2. Water and waste removal system or sanitary system
3. Rain water management or Drainage system
Plumbing fixtures are used in all three parts. Fire safety system
should be included.
Plumbing Symbols
 Main rules of Plumbing
1. All premises intended for human habitation, occupancy,
or use shall be provided potable water supply, which
meets the other requirements. Such water supply shall
not be connected with unsafe water resources nor shall
be subject to hazardous of backflow.
2. Plumbing fixtures, devices and apparatus shall be
supplied with water in sufficient volume and at
pressures adequate to enable them.
3.Proper protection shall be provided to prevent
contamination of food, water, sterile goods and similar
materials by back flow of sewage when necessary ,the
fixtures ,devices and appliance shall be connected
indirectly with building drainage system.
4. The building drainage system shall be designed to
provide adequate circulation of air in all pipes with
no longer of siponage.
5. The drainage system shall be designed, constructed
and maintained to conduct the waste water with
velocities, which will prevent fouling deposition of
solids and clogging.
6. The drainage system shall be provided with an
adequate number of clean outs so arranged that in
the case of stoppage the pipes may be readily
cleaned.
7. Each vent terminal shall extend to the outer air and
be so installed as to minimize the possibilities of
clogging and return of foul air to the building.
(12) All fixtures and pipes should be designed and adjusted properly to
the fittings of buildings ventilation must be provided.
(13) Power requirement and using pump to withdraw water depend on
public demand, source condition etc.
Energy act -1992
Toilet flush value = 1.6 gph
Urinal flash value = 1.0 gph
Shower value = 2.6gph
(14) Every single family dwelling house have at least one water closet,
one shower, one lavatory and one wash basin. The presure and flow rate
at the point of use should be adequate.
A vertical drain pipe that collects waste from one or more fixtures is called a soil stack.
Soil stacks that drain water closets are called main stacks.

Every house must have at least one main stack, which is generally 3" in diameter.

Each bathroom must have a main stack.

Stacks that do not drain water closets are called secondary stacks.
Secondary stacks are 1-1/2" diameter.

Fixtures are connected to the stack using a branch main.

All stacks extend into basement and empty into the house drain.

All structures must have at least one house drain, but may have several.

The house drain becomes the house sewer once it is outside the house. The house sewer empties into the
city sanitary sewer or private septic system.

Gases from the system dissipate through the vent stack—12" above roof. The vent stack provides an air
inlet for the drainage system to operate properly

A trap is installed below each fixture to prevent gases from entering the house. The trap is always filled
with water. Water closets have a built-in trap.

Each stack requires a cleanout at the base.

TRAPS
The trap most commonly used with plumbing fixtures is the P-trap. The P-trap gets its name because of
its general shape-that of the letter P.

Traps are required because they prevent sewer gases from entering a building and causing serious
illness or death.

The term Trap Seal refers to the water being held in the bent portion of a fixture trap. The trap seal
forms a seal against the passage of sewer gases through the trap and into the building.
 Pressure release value

Valves : Valves are used to keep the flow of

water under control. They help maintain
pressure, prevent back flow, conserve water &
isolate segments of pipeline for maintenance &
construction.
 A check valve is a semiautomatic
device designed to permit flow in
only one direction. It opens under
the influence of pressure & closes
automatically when flow ceases

Gate valves
These valves permitting free flow of water
through their openings. They used to control
the flow & shut off the water for repairing. It
placed at lines intersect, so that only one block
would be cut. Used
widely. Operation: A gate valve consists of a
sliding, flat, metal disk that is moved at right
angles to the flow direction by a screw-
operated Stem.
In long pipe lines, air will accumulate in the high points of the line & may
interfere with the flow. Therefore, air valves are placed at those points. Each
valve is provided with an isolating valve for maintenance.
VENTS
To prevent the siphonage of a trap seal in fixture traps and allow gravity flow of
drainage, you must let atmospheric air from outside the building into the piping system
to the outlet (or discharge) end of the trap. The air is supplied through pipes called
VENTS. This air provides pressure on the outlet end of the seal equal to pressure on the
inlet end.

Plug
Plug is a component of plumbing component
which is generally used to close pipe opening
during inspections and repairs.
Uses of various fittings

1, For pipe extension and joining----- Nipple, coupling, union, reducer for reducing
pipe diameter.
2. Elbow: for changing the direction of pipe
3. Bushing:- Similar to reducer, but it have a hollow plug with threads to suit
different diameter.
4. Offset:-When pipe runs in a position parallel to but not I alignment with the
balance of the pipe and the distance between the axes of the two pipe lines is of
standard dimension.
5. Plug: Plug is used for closing the end of pipe.
Pipe Fitting
Pipe fittings are those devices attached to the pipes for following purposes:-
To alter the direction and diameter of pipe
To make branching in pipe
To connect two pipes, pipes with fixtures
To close an end
Coupling
A coupling is used to connect the pipes of same diameter
Union is a type of fitting, which functions as similar to coupling. But coupling cannot be removed
after fixing but in this case we can remove the union whenever we needed.
What is a Fixture Units Count?

The fixture unit concept is a method of calculating maximum probable water

demand within large buildings based on theory of probability. The method is
based on assigning a fixture unit (F/U) value to each type of fixture based on its
rate of water consumption, on the length of time it is normally in use and on the
average period between successive uses.
 riser
Direct method
Indirect method
Example: Suppose we have 24 floors & each floor consists of 4 flats,
2 of them having 3 bedrooms
2 of them having 2 bedrooms.
+1 Mad each flat.
Calculate F.U and daily water requirement.
Solution:
As a rule of thumb we take 2 persons/bed room.
Total number/floor = 2x 6 + 2 x 4 +4 = 24 person per floor
Total number of occupants= 24× 24 + 5 (labors+ concierges
etc…) = 581 Persons.
From table W-1 the daily water requirement is between 35-50 gal/ day (Residential
Building),
The daily water requirement for the whole building is: => 50×581 = 29000 gallons /day
≈ 110 m3/day

Note:

Based on Plumbing code , the daily water requirement is divided between the roof &
underground tanks as follows:
1 day's water requirement on the roof , overhead tank capacity = 100m3/day
2 day’s on the ground floor ( standard ), underground tank capacity = 220 m3 /day
Ex: Find out the frictional loss developed to lift water on a overhead tank of an
apartment having 12 story. Each floor is 10ft in height. The fittings of pipe line are
elbows, gate valve, check valve etc. The equivalent length is 100ft. (raiser design)
Solution: Total length = height of building + equivalent length + frictional length +
overhead tank head (12 ft) = 120 +100 + 20% of total head (220) +12 = 276ft
Note: Frictional length can be calculated based on

hL(m/m)= 32.875 (Q1.85/d4.87), Q in l/s and d in cm, then total frictional length
will be equal to hL(m/m)* (building height + equivalent length)
h = 32.875*(41.85/54.87)*(220/100) = 0.37psi per 100ft
According to BNBC, Q = 28 gpm ( but actual calculation depends on Fixture Unit of
pipe line system, total required FU will give demand of flow in gpm from graph)
Ex. Calculate the required pipe size for
developing water supply for 26GPM water
distribution system if the designed frictional loss
6psi/100ft. Given the longest pipe run is 200ft
and allow 50% extra as equivalent length for
fittings. Also find out total frictional loss.
Ans: 1.25 inch and 116.46psi
Head loss =32.875*(1.91.85/3.1754.87)*(300) =
116.46psi (1.1646 psi per 100ft)
Ex. Calculate the required pipe size for developing water supply in a apartment for the
following fixtures for water distribution system if the designed frictional loss
6psi/100ft. Given the longest pipe run is 200ft and allow 50% extra as equivalent
length for fittings.

Solution: flow rate = 3.8l/s corresponding pipe size = 2.5inch

Demand

Frictional loss
How do you calculate water flow in different
pipe sizes?

Multiply the pipe’s length by 8. With a

length, for instance, of 30 meters: 30 x 8 =
240. Multiply the answer by the fluid’s
viscosity. If the fluid is water, its viscosity
is 0.01, so 240 x 0.01 = 2.4.L/s
Equivalent length and total length
The acceptable pressure drop per 100 ft is around 2-6
Psi/100ft ,that, in order to avoid excessive pressure loss
and ,that, in order to avoid excessive pressure loss and the
need for higher pressure to maintain the flow rate. Low
velocity pipe less than 0.5 m/s can cause precipitation of
sand and others in the pipe and more than 2.5 m/s
velocity may cause erosion in floor system .
Find flow rate from graph
The acceptable pressure drop per 100 ft is around The
acceptable pressure drop per 100 ft is around 2-5 Psi/100ft
Psi/100ft ,that, in order to avoid excessive pressure loss
and ,that, in order to avoid excessive pressure loss and the
need for higher pressure to maintain the flow rate. the
need for higher pressure to maintain the flow rate. Low
velocity pipe less than 0.5 m/s can cause precipitation
sand and others in the pipe and velocity more than 2.5
m/sec is not desirable.
❖ There are five factors that determine the size of water supply piping:

✓ Available pressure
✓ Demand
✓ Length of piping
✓ Height of the building
✓ Flow pressure needed at the top floor
❖ The variation in pressure between the street water main and the outlet end of
the water supply pipe where the water is being used is referred to as pressure
loss by friction.
❖ It is impossible to use a pipe for the conveyance of water without encountering
a loss in pressure resulting from friction within the pipe itself, as well as in the
valves and fittings used in the construction of the building water supply
system.
Table 9.4: Allowance for friction loss in valves
and fittings expressed as equivalent length (ft)
❖ A column of water loses 0.434 psi of pressure for every one foot of elevation.
If a building is 50 ft high, the pressure loss because of head would be
0.434*50 = 21.7 pounds.
❖ Every plumbing fixture requires a minimum amount of working
pressure/flow pressure to function properly. (Flow pressure is the pressure
in the water supply pipe near the faucet or water outlet is wide open and
flowing)
❖ Minimum size of water pipe:
✓ ¾ inch pipe is the minimum size water
service for any building from the street to
water meter.
✓ ¾ inch pipe is the minimum size of the
building supply pipe.
✓ ¾ inch pipe is the minimum size to a sill
cock.
✓ ¾ inch pipe is the minimum size cold water
supply to a water heater.
✓ ½ inch pipe is the minimum size fixture
branch pipe.
✓ Individual fixture water supply piping may
be 3/8 or ¼ inch size.
✓ No more than three fixtures in the same
bathroom of a house may be supplied by ½
inch water pipe.
Sanitary Drainage System
A. One pipe system:
In a one pipe system both soil and waste fittings are discharged into a common stack
with the addition of trap ventilation pipes. It is economically sound. It can be used in
multistoried building if there is a very good public sewer system in a municipal area. In
this system all fixtures traps subject to risk of siphonage are fully ventilated.
B. Two pipe system
In two pipe system two separate piping and stacks are installed for conveyance of wastes
generated from a building. All fixtures which receive human excreta and urine are
connected to a drainage pipe called soil pipe and ultimately discharged into a vertical
pipe called soil stack. The soil stacks are finally connected to the sanitary sewer.
Following advantages are
Avoids danger of back flow of sewage in wastewater fixtures.
Enables use of separated wastewater for irrigation, gardening.
Reduce waste load for septic tank
Following disadvantages are
It is not economical ( more pipe)
Require more space for piping
Installation of more pipes needs more joints, so more maintenance is required.
 Q. Determine the loading of the main waste soil stack for five story motel having
6 WCs (flash), 8 bath tubs, 3 urinal lips, 2 laboratory (1--1/2 inch) on each floor
connected to single stack riser.
Solution
For each floor Type No DFU Total
WC 6 3 18
Urinal 3 4 12
Bath tubs 8 3 24
Lavatory 2 2 4
Total = 58 DFU
Horizontal loading = 58 DFU
Vertical loading = 5 x 58 DFU = 290 DFU
Connection of more joints will causes air wrapping, clogging.
DFU Flow rate, gpm

250 81 Corresponding to 290 DFU, flow rate

290 93 =93gpm = 0,0098m3/sec

380 105
Ex. Determine the horizontal and vertical waste and soil stack for five stories motel
having 6 Water Closet (W.C, flash), 8 bathtubs, 3 urinal lips, 2 lavotories (1.5inch) on
each connected to single stack (S.S.) system. Find the load on septic tank.
Solution:
Type of Sanitary fixture DFU=Drainag No of fixtures Total DFU
e Fixture
Units

W.C. (flash) 6 3 18
Urinal 4 4 12
Bathtubs 3 8 24
Lavatory 2 2 4
58 DFU

Horizontal load = 58 DFU

Vertical load = 5 x 58 DFU = 290 DFU
Load on septic tank = 290DFU
Note : Increase diameter of the vertical pipe of sanitary system for increasing load
vertically from 58DFU to 290DFU
Stack vent

Main
vent or
soil pipe

Vent stack
 Branch

For building A :
Branches are in 75mm
Stack is 75mm
Building drain is 100mm For Building C stack
Stacks are 75mm
For Building B: Drain is 100mm
Branches are 100mm
Stacks are 100mm Total load = 2*1*15.5 + 25*1*3 + 2* 24 =154DFU
Drain is 100mm
Building sewer size is 100mm
❖ A rainwater leaders is often referred to as a conductor or downspout. It is a pipe that
conveys water from a roof drain to the building storm drain or other point of disposal.
Rainwater leaders are usually vertical pipes.
❖ A rainwater leader must never be used as a soil or waste pipe for a plumbing fixture.

Building storm drain and rainwater leader sizing

❑ Size the rainwater leaders and building storm drain pipes as shown in figure.
Assume,
1. The building roof is 60ft.*100ft. is divided into 4 equal areas by roof dividers.
2. The building storm drain pipes are pitched 1/8 of an inch of the foot.
Solution:
From table 6-8, Pipe A= 8 inch (6000 square feet)
Pipe D (All branch pipe)= 4 inch (6000/4= 1500 square feet)
Pipe C= 5 inch (1500+1500= 3000 square feet)
Pipe B= 6 inch (1500+1500+1500= 4500 square feet)
Table 6-9. Size of vertical
rainwater leader

Roof
plan
From table 6-9. All the vertical rainwater leaders drain 6000 square feet
and are 5 inch-pipes.
 Water storage for fire fighting
For buildings , it is reliable that, water for fire fighting is
provided by gravity storage wherever possible. Using elevation
as the means for developing proper water pressure in water
mains risers & FHCs, not dependent on pumps that could fail or
be shut down as a result of an electrical outage. Storage can be
provided through one or more large storage reservoirs or by
multiple smaller reservoirs throughout the community that are
linked together .A reasonable rule of thumb is that water
storage for fire fighting should be sufficient to provide at least
one hour .For example, in a typical residential building with an
ordinary hazards, the storage for fire flow of 100 GPM for 30-
60 min may be appropriate.
 Design Hose Cabinet
Hose reel installation should be designed so that no part of the
floor is more than 6 m from the nozzle when the hose is fully
extended. The water supply must be able to provide a
discharge of not less than 33 gpm through the nozzle and also
designed to allow not less than three hose reels to be used
simultaneously at the total flow of 100 gpm for one hour
duration. The minimum required water pressure at the nozzle
is 2 bar where the maximum allowable pressure is 6.9 bar.
Hose reel installation should be designed so that no part of the floor is
more than 6 m from the nozzle when the hose is fully extended. The
water supply must be able to provide a discharge of not less than 33
gpm through the nozzle and also designed to allow not less than three
hose reels to be used simultaneously at the total flow of 100 gpm for
one hour duration. The minimum required water pressure at the nozzle
is 2 bar where the maximum allowable pressure is 6.9 bar. Adequate
system pressures is about 4.5 bars . Booster pump is used .Booster
pump is used for top roof flats. for top roof flats. The rubber hose reel
length is 32 m & could be 1” or ¾” diameter (British standard), or
1.1/2”(US standard), and the jet should have a horizontal distance of 8
m and a height of about 5 m.

Riser main pipe diameter D= 2.1/2” Branch

pipe diameter= 1.1/2” Rubber hose reel
diameter = 1” .
Municipal Fire Protection Requirements
Min. = 30L/s
Max. = 760L/s (single fire)
Max. added (130 – 500) L/s for simultaneous fires

Fire flow calculation:

Fire flow for a given area is,
F = 3.7C √A
Where:
F = fire flow, L/s
C = coefficient of type of construction, 1.5 for wood frame
1.0 ordinary construction: brick & wood
0.8 noncombustible construction e.g. Brick & Asbestos calcium silicate board, &
other new
materials
0.6 fire-resistive construction , e.g. concrete buildings
A = total floor area including all stories without basements ,m2
Required duration for fire flow. Required fire flow, L/s Required duration, h
≥ 610 10
580 9
550 9
520 8
490 8
460 7
430 7
400 6
370 6
340 5
310 5
280 4
250 4
220 3
190 3
160 or less 2
Pressure Fire flow, ( L/s) Min. average area/
Min. pressure with pumpers = 140kPa Hydrants ((m2))
Without pumpers = 500kPa.
≤ 70 49,000
100 45,000
130 4200
160 3900
190 3650
220 3400
250 3150

Standard Hydrants Distribution 280 2950

310 2750
Use F. S =2 for
Bangladesh, it means
for 760 l/s flow use
6000 sq. m for a
hydrant

610 16,000
680 14,000
760 12,000
Estimate the fire flow for a 60,000m2, single-story building of ordinary construction.
Solution:
_____
F = 3.7 × 1.0 √60,000
= 906L/s
900 > Max. fire flow for one story = 380L/s
Choose → F = 380L/s.
• Fire demand for community (design for a
reservoir or pokur in a community)
Flow rate Q = 65sqrt (p) (1 – 0.1sqrt(p))
Q in l/s and p = population in thousand
 Fire Risk Assessment
• The actual flow capability from each fire hydrant in the vicinity of fire
risk is limited by distance to fire risk as follows:
(i) 1000 gph from each hydrant within 300ft of fire risk building.
(ii) 670 gph from hydrant within 301 to 600ft of fire risk building.
(iii) 250gph from hydrants within 601 to 1000ft of fire risk building
Height Pressure , Hg, psi
0 14.7
1000ft 14.2
2000ft 13.7
Q1. If a 6in rise extending 100ft high on a gravity
tank is full of water, what is the pressure in psi at
base of rise?
Ans: P = 0.433 x 1 x 100 = 43.3 psi
Q2. Determine the discharge in gph from a
hydrant with a flowing 2-1/2 in outlet that has a
coefficient of discharge that is 0.9 and the
following pressure is 16psi.
Ans: Q in gph = 29.83 Cd * d 2 * p ½
= 29.83 x 0.9 x (2.5) 2 16 (1/2)
= 672 gph
• Standard Code for building design for fire safety
In a building fire exit should be placed under 25m
(100ft) ( it should be within 100ft from any spot of
floor)

Width of fire stair = 1m

Emergency lighting
Sprinkler system for basement
Fixation and Marking of evacuation route

Occupant No of exit Occupant No of exit

Less than 500 Min 2 exits > 1000 people Min 4 exits
people
500 to 1000 Min 3 exits
people
Determine the heater and storage tank size for an apartment building having the following
fixtures.
Item Qty
Basins: 60 no.
Bathtubs: 30 no.
Showers: 30 no.
Kitchen sinks: 60 no.
Laundry tubs: 15 no
An electric immersion heater is required to heat a 10 gallon tank of water. The initial
water temperature is 70°F and the final temperature required is 100°F. Water must
be brought up to final temperature in 1 hour and no additional water is added to the
system. The customer has an ideal system with zero heat loss. Calculate the wattage
required to heat the water.
For Electric Heaters Recovery rate = watts/ [2.42 x (temp rise, °F)]
For Gas Heaters Recovery rate = Hourly input (BTUs) / [11.0 x (temp rise, °F)]