4: DRAINS AND

TRAPS
Engr. John Lemar M. Tirao
Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Valenzuela
CE 9/9L: Building Design 2

1
Outline

■ House Drains – Type of Traps

– Determining the Size of House – P-Traps
Drain – Drum Traps
– Grade of the House Drain – Fixture Traps
– House Drain Appliances
■ Storm Drains
– Classification of Storm Drains
– Sizing and Grading of Storm Drains
– Roof Leader
■ Traps

2
HOUSE DRAIN

3
House Drain

■ The House Drain is the portion of the plumbing system that receives discharges of
all soil and waste stacks within the building, and conveys the same to the House
Sewer.
■ House Drain is sometimes referred to as the Collection Line of a Plumbing System. It
can be suspended below the floor or inside the ceiling. It can be installed
underground, or maybe suspended below the floor or inside the ceiling.
■ In large buildings, house drains are usually suspended from the basement ceiling to
avail of the gravity flow of waste to the main sewer.
■ Scouring action will not work effectively be increasing the size of the house drains.
The solid wastes are carried along the bottom of the pipe, and because the water
flow within the larger pipe is shallow and slow, they become separated by water, and
remains at the bottom of the pipe.

4
House Drain

■ House drains may be classified into four types: (a) combined drain, (b) sanitary
drain, (c) storm drain, and (d) industrial drain:
– Combined drain receives discharges of sanitary waste as well as storm water.
This is the oldest form of house drain when public sewers are of combination
design.
– Sanitary drain receives discharges of sanitary and domestic waste only. The
waste is then conveyed to a public sewer or ST by the house sewer.
– Storm drain conveys all storm clear water, or surface water except sanitary
wastes.
– Industrial drain receives discharges from industrial equipment that contain
some objectionable acid wastes.

5
Determining the Size of House Drain
Pipe Diameter Maximum No. of Fixture Units
that may be connected to
■ The Unit System, based on fixture units, mm in 2% slope 3% slope 4% slope
can be used to determine the size of a 32 1¼ 1 1 1
house drain.
38 1½ 2 2.5 3
■ If the purpose of the drain is for sanitary 50 2 5 7 8
waste, the fixture load discharges will
be based on a per fixture unit 63 2½ 12 13 14
computation. 75 3 18 18 21
■ Recall that: 100 4 84 96 114
– No water closet shall discharge 125 5 162 216 264
into a drain less than 75 mm or 3”
pipe diameter. 150 6 300 450 600
– No more than two water closets 200 8 990 1392 2220
shall discharge into any 75 mm 250 10 1800 2520 3900
horizontal soil branch, house drain
or house sewer. 300 12 3089 4320 6912
6
 Pipe Diameter Maximum No. of Fixture Units that may Kind of Fixture Fixture
Unit
be connected to
Bathtub 2
mm in 2% slope 3% slope 4% slope
Floor drain 1
32 1¼ 1 1 1 Kitchen sink 2
38 1½ 2 2.5 3 Residential sink 1.5

50 2 5 7 8 Lavatory, wash basin 1

Laundry tub 2
63 2½ 12 13 14
Shower bath 2
75 3 18 18 21 Slop sink 3
100 4 84 96 114 Sink, hotel/public 2
125 5 162 216 264 Urinal 5
Water closet 6
150 6 300 450 600
Combination fixture 3
200 8 990 1392 2220
One bathroom group consisting of 8
250 10 1800 2520 3900 water closet, lavatory, bathtub, and
overhead shower OR water closet,
300 12 3089 4320 6912 lavatory and shower compartment
For every 15 sq.ft. of roof drain 1

Determine the size of a sanitary house drain to serve 6 water closets, 5 urinals, 5 shower
baths, 6 wash basins, 4 floor drains and 3 combined fixtures. Assume 3% slope (Ans. 90 fu,
100-mm dia.) 7
Grade of House Drain

■ The grade or slope of a house drain has contributed much to the effectiveness of
the plumbing system. The house drain being a horizontal pipeline must produce the
necessary velocity and discharge capacity at a certain inclination to attain scouring
action.
■ A 2%-slope is maintained, however, there are instances where less than 2% is
adopted:
– When the depth of the sewer line in relation with the depth of the basement
floor is low.
– Long sewer lines would require lower pitch but should not be less than 1%.
– In case the sewer line slope is very slight, installation of the pipe should be
guided by levelling instrument for accuracy to prevent sags or trapped piping.

8
House Drain Appliances

■ House drain appliances include the following:

– House trap
■ House trap assembly
■ Back flow valves
■ Balanced valve
■ Unbalanced valve
– Area drain
– Floor drain
– Yard catch basin
– Garage catch basin

9
House Trap

■ House trap is a device installed in the

house drain immediately inside the
foundation wall of the building. It
serves as a barrier and prevents the
gases coming from the public sewer or
septic tank in circulating through the
plumbing system.

10
Backflow Valve

■ Backflow valve is a device used to

prevent the reversal of flow. It is installed
in a house drain or branches of the
house drain that are subjected to
reversal flow of liquid.
■ The backflow valve is installed on the
house drain, just near the foundation wall
or near the toilet room under floor.

11
12
Area Drain

■ The area drain assembly consists of a

running trap installed under the
basement floor to protect it from
freezing. The trap is equipped with a
cleanout.
■ The minimum size of an area drain is 10
mm or 4” pipe to drain basement
entryways, loading platforms, or
driveways.

13
14
Floor Drains

■ A floor drain is a receptacle used to

receive to be drained from the floor into
the plumbing system.

15
Floor Drains

■ An average residential is provided with two floor drains, one near a heating
equipment, and the other in the vicinity of the laundry. In most instances, one floor
drain is provided to serve the entire basement.
■ Every room where laundry equipment is used, shall be provided with adequate
number of floor drains.
■ The floor drain must be located where the overflowing water will not travel a great
distance over the floor before it enters the drain. It is recommended that the floor
drain be located at one end of the laundry tub.
■ Every floor drain shall be supplied with running water from a fixture located nearby.
■ Fixture drains which supply water to the floor drain should be connected to the
house side and never to the sewer side of the trap.

16
Floor Drains

■ The most common trouble experienced by homeowners is the water on the floor
being rejected by the floor drain.
– One of the causes of this presence of sand and other objectionable wastes is
the accumulation when cleaning the floor.
■ Reminders in Installing Floor Drain
– The floor drain is usually installed on basement floor, near the heating
equipment, below the kitchen sink, and vicinity of the laundry.
– A 75-mm or 3” P-trap is the recommended minimum size of floor drain. It
should be installed not more than 20cm below the floor line.
– The P-trap should be deep seal type.
– The low inlet hub pattern P-trap is commonly used as floor drain.

17
Yard Catch Basins

■ Yard catch basin is a receptacle used

to catch surface water drained from
cemented courts, driveways, and yards.
It could be a terminal for drain tile
installations used to drain water from
athletic fields.

18
Garage Catch Basins

■ Garage catch basin is a device designed

to convey wastes from garage, wash
rack, grease pits and repair floors into
the house drain. Wastes coming from
these areas contain objectionable
elements like grease, oil, grit, and
gasoline.

19
Grease Traps

20
Grease Traps

21
STORM DRAINS

22
Storm Drain

■ Storm drain is a fixture that conveys rain or storm water to a suitable terminal. Storm
water is normally discharged into street gutter conveyed by public drain system and
carried to some natural drainage terminals like canals, rivers, lakes, etc.
■ Storm drain is not permitted to discharge into a ST or the main sewer line. If not
properly diverted, it may create problems like:
– Settlement of the structure caused by erosion from the foundation
– Subjecting the basement floor and walls to unnecessary ground water pressure
and possible leakage
– Rundown water may create walls and window leakage
– Water may spill on people passing by
– Eroding the surrounding grounds and cause disfiguring of the landscape areas

23
Classification of Storm Drain

■ Inside storm drain is sometimes located under the basement floor or within the
walls of the buildings. This is commonly found in buildings constructed along
congested business district, or building that occupies the entire frontage of the lot.
■ Outside storm drain is installed outside the foundation wall of the building. This type
of drainage is possible on location where the lot is not totally occupied by the
building.

24
Size of the Storm Drain
Pipe Diameter (based Maximum Drained Roof Area (sq.
Size of the storm drain is determined under
the following considerations: on 20mm per 5 m.)
minutes interval
■ Gauging the rainfall over a given period. rainfall)
■ Considering the varying roof areas, the mm in 2% slope 3% slope 4% slope
slope and the distance of water traveled
before it reaches the conductors of the 75 3 114 142 170
roof. 100 4 242 315 388
■ Water drains faster on high-pitched roof, 125 5 438 566 694
thus, requiring larger diameter pipe than
150 6 700 903 1105
that of a flat roof.
200 8 1463 1888 2313
■ The height of the building contribute
largely to the velocity of water falling 250 10 2563 3309 4055
inside a vertical pipe conductor. 300 12 4100 5290 6480
■ The use of improper fittings and short 350 14 5576 7203 8830
offsets that will affect the flow of water
must be avoided.
25
Size of the Storm Drain
Pipe Diameter (based Maximum Drained Roof Area (sq.
on 20mm per 5 m.)
What is the size of storm drain that is minutes interval
adequate to serve a roof having a slope of 2% rainfall)
with a general dimension of 20 meters by 30 mm in 2% slope 3% slope 4% slope
meters?
75 3 114 142 170
(Ans. 150mm dia. / 6” pipe) 100 4 242 315 388
125 5 438 566 694
150 6 700 903 1105
200 8 1463 1888 2313
250 10 2563 3309 4055
300 12 4100 5290 6480
350 14 5576 7203 8830

26
Roof Leader
Area of Roof (sq. Gutter top Roof leader
m.) dimension (mm) diameter (mm)
■ Roof leader, or water
conductor/downspout, is either 1 – 10 75 38
concealed or exposed type. It 11 – 25 100 50
connects the roof terminal to the 26 – 75 100 75
storm drain.
76 – 165 125 90
166 – 335 150 100
336 – 510 200 125
511 – 900 250 150

How large is the downspout required to drain the roof of a

pitched house (dos aguas) with general dimensions of
10m x 20m and 10m x 8m?

27
TRAPS

28
Traps

■ A trap is a device designed to prevent the backflow of gases coming from the ST or sewer
line passing through the outlet of the fixture.
■ The only separation between the unhealthy gases in the sanitary drainage system and
the air inside the room is the water, called the trap seal or water seal, caught every after
discharge of the fixture.
■ Type of water-sealed P-traps:
– Common seal P-trap – has 5 cm deep water seal between the overflow and the dip
– Deep seal P-trap – has 7.5-10 cm deep water seal. Commonly used for abnormal
situations such as extreme heat condition in the area, increase/decrease of
atmospheric condition, and circumstances where total ventilation is not obtained.

29
30
31
32
P-trap Installation

■ All traps shall be self-cleaning (i.e., greater re-sealing quality).

■ P-traps shall be installed as near the fixture as practical not to require too long vertical
leg between the trap and the fixture.
■ Shor vertical leg eliminates high velocity of water discharge that creates siphon.
■ P-traps shall be installed within 60 cm of the fixture it serve.
■ All traps are subject to stoppage, hence, shall be provided with cleanout so designed
that could be assembled with little efforts.
■ Each fixture shall have its own trap, except,
– Two laundry trays and a kitchen sink may be connected to a single trap,
– Not more than 3 laundry tray is using one trap
– Three lavatories on a single trap

33
Plate 4

■ Plate 4: Sewer Distribution System

■ Inclusions: GF Sewer Plan, 2F Sewer Plan, Isometric Layout, Comprehensive
Estimate of Features
■ Deadline:
February 11
CE 4-2
CE 4-3 February 12

CE 4-1 February 14

34