Plumber's Handbook Revised 6th Ed.

Contents

Chapter 1

Plumbing and the Plumber, 5

The History of Plumbing, 5

Chapter 2

Designing Drainage Systems, 7

Isometric Drawings, 7

Fixture Abbreviations, Definitions and Illustrations, 9

How to Size the Drainage System, 15

Review Questions, 30

Chapter 3

Designing Vent Systems, 33

Types of Vents, 33

Problems Created by Inadequate Venting, 37

How to Size the Vent System, 39

Special Venting Systems, 42

Vent Terminals, 49

Aggregate Cross-sectional Area Pipe, 50

Review Questions, 51

Chapter 4

Fixture Traps, 53

Building Traps, 53

Fixture Traps, 53

Review Questions, 61

Chapter 5

Cleanouts, 63

The Importance of Acceptable Cleanouts, 63

Cleanout Material and Design, 67

Review Questions, 69

Chapter 6

Interceptors, Special Traps and Neutralizing Tapes, 71

Grease Interceptors, 71

Greasy Waste Systems, 76

Laundry Interceptors, 78

Gasoline, Oil and Sand Interceptors, 81

Other Types of Interceptors or Separators, 83

Review Questions, 86

Chapter 7

Indirect Waste Piping, Receptors, and Special Wastes, 89

Piping Material and Sizes, 89

Types of Indirect Waste Piping, 89

Receptors, 91

Special Wastes, 92

Storm Water Drainage Systems, 94

Review Questions, 100

Chapter 8

Installation of Drainage and Vent Pipes, 103

Standards for Plumbing Materials, 103

Joints and Connections, 110

Installation Methods, 114

Review Questions, 124

Chapter 9

Septic Tanks and Drainfields, 127

Definition of the Septic Tank, 127

Septic Tank Construction, 128

Sizing Septic Tanks, 130

Installing Septic Tanks, 131

Types of Drainfields, 132

Sizing Drainfields, 134

Review Questions, 138

Chapter 10

Mobil Home and Travel Trailer Parks, 141

Toilet Facilities for Trailer Parks, 141

The Park Drainage and Vent System, 142

The Park Water Distributing System, 144

Review Questions, 146

Chapter 11

Graywater Recycling Systems for Single-Family Residences, 147

The Older Water Conservation Methods, 147

A New Water Conservation Method: Graywater Recycling, 148

Review Questions, 156

Chapter 12

Public Water Supply and Distribution Systems, 159

Water System Components, 159

Sizing the Water System, 161

Sizing the Water Service Pipe, 164

Review Questions, 168

Chapter 13

Hot Water Systems, 169

Design Objectives, 169

Water Heater, 169

Safety Devices, 171

Energy Conservation, 174

Common Hot Water Circulating Systems, 174

Review Questions, 176

Chapter 14

Installing Water Systems, 179

Materials for Water Systems, 179

Installing Water Service Supply Pipe, 182

Installing Water Distribution Pipe, 183

Threaded Pipe, Fittings and Valves, 185

Review Questions, 190

Chapter 15

Private Water Supply Wells, 193

Water Well, 193

vWell Installation, 194

Suction Lines, 195

Pressure Tanks, 197

Review Questions, 200

Chapter 16

Fire Protection, 201

Standpipe Systems, 201

Combined and Automatic Sprinkler Systems, 207

Review Questions, 210

Chapter 17

Swimming Pools and Spas, 213

Swimming Pools, 213

Spas, 218

Review Questions, 220

Chapter 18

Harnessing Solar Energy, 223

Domestic Hot Water Heating, 223

The Solar Collector, 224

Water Circulation, 227

Solar Storage Tanks, 231

Troubleshooting Guides, 232

Review Questions, 234

Chapter 19

Gas Systems, 237

Kinds of Gas, 237

Gas Piping and the Plumber, 238

Sizing Gas Systems, 238

Residential Gas Sizing Example, 240

Review Questions, 242

Chapter 20

Materials and Installation Methods for Gas Systems, 243

Materials, 243

Installing Gas Piping, 244

Review Questions, 250

Chapter 21

Plumbing Fixtures, 253

Installing Plumbing Fixtures, 253

Plumbing Fixture Clearances, 259

Fixtures for the Handicapped, 261

Minimum Fixture Requirements, 261

Roughing-In, 265

Review Questions, 273

Answers to Review Questions, 275
Practice Plumber�s Exam, 321
Examination Answer Key, 338

Appendix:

Definitions and Abbreviations, 339

Index, 347

Chapter 1

Plumbing and the Plumber

If you've chosen plumbing as your profession, you should find it one of the most challenging and satisfying of all construction trades. The many variations in design, layout, and installation methods present a challenge to any competent professional plumber. But notice that word competent. If you don't have a good knowledge of practical plumbing methods and of the minimum requirements of modern plumbing codes, you're going to be discouraged, frustrated, and confused.

Learning plumbing from a code book is a very difficult task. That's the reason for this manual. It's intended to help you grasp the important design and installation principles recognized as essential to doing professional-quality plumbing work. What you learn here should be applicable nearly anywhere in the U.S., regardless of the model code adopted by your jurisdiction. And if you're just learning the fundamentals of plumbing, you'll find this book much easier than reading and understanding the code.

Remember, however, that this book is not the plumbing code. All plumbers will have to refer to their local code from time to time. I'll emphasize the minor variations in model plumbing codes throughout this book, so you should easily recognize them as you read and compare sections of this book with your local code. But the basic principles of sanitation and safety remain the same, regardless of the geographical location.

The History of Plumbing

The art and science of plumbing came into being as mankind struggled against disease. The history of civilization is the history of plumbing. At the dawn of civilization, when two or three families gathered together to make a tribe, people drank from springs and streams. They made no provisions for the disposal of sewage and garbage. We can assume that when their site became fouled with kitchen refuse and human waste, they just moved on. If disease killed members of the tribe because they neglected the laws of sanitation, they didn't understand the cause and effect. They didn't know that lack of cleanliness breeds disease.

Archeologists, while digging in various parts of the world, have confirmed that even ancient civilizations developed plumbing systems for protecting health. At Nippur, in Babylon, archeologists uncovered an aqueduct made of glazed clay brick that dates back to 4,500 BC This aqueduct contained three lines of glazed clay pipe. Each section was 8 inches in diameter and 2 feet long, with a flanged mouth. Other excavations have revealed glazed clay pipe in jar patterns, concave and cone shapes and a sewage system complete with manholes.

On the island of Crete, some of the palaces of ancient kings were equipped with extensive water supply and drainage systems. The glazed clay pipe was found to be in perfect condition after 3,500 years.

Archeologists even discovered evidence of plumbing fixtures constructed of hard clay.

In ancient Greece, further advances were made in cleanliness. Greek aqueducts took pure water from mountain streams into cities. Sewers, which exist to this day, carried away waste to the surrounding rivers. They understood that bathing was a desirable habit. Greeks portrayed Hygeia, the goddess of health (from whose name we get the word "hygiene"), as supplying pure water to a serpent, the symbol of wisdom.

The ancient Egyptians also realized the value of sanitation. Moses was acquainted with the sanitary science of the Egyptians and used it in framing the code of laws found in the book of Leviticus.

The Romans in the time of Julius Caesar developed the principles of sanitation to a high art. Unlike the ancient Greeks and Egyptians, they were familiar with lead, which they imported from the British Isles. They called it plumbum. The word plumbing is derived from the Latin word for a worker in lead. The Romans used lead in many of the same ways we use it today.

Two thousand years ago the city of Rome had an adequate water supply and sewage disposal system. Water was piped from hills and mountains 50 miles distant from the city. To bring this water into Rome, great overhead aqueducts and underground tunnels were built of masonry. Branch lines carried water into the homes of the upper class for private bathrooms long before the development of the great public baths. Some baths in Pompeii had floors and was of marble, with brass, bronze and silver fixtures.

From as far back as 600 BC Rome had an elaborate drainage system called the Cloaca Maxima. T is main was 13 feet in diameter and was joined by many laterals. It was constructed from three concentric rows of enormous stones piled one on the top of another without cement or mortar. It still exists and is used today in the drainage system of modern Rome.

When Rome set out to conquer the world, they took their bathing habits with them. in what is now Great Britain, in the city of Bath, archeologists uncovered a Roman bath 110 feet long and 68 feet wide.

In the 12th century, trade guilds were first organized in England. The first apprenticeship laws were passed in 1562 during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. These laws required an apprenticeship of seven years and made apprenticeship in all crafts compulsory. It was not until 1814 that the compulsory clause was removed and apprenticeship was made voluntary. The first known master plumbers' association was organized in England and incorporated in the College of Heralds of London.

With the discovery of the New World, man, like his ancient ancestors, sought to escape the dark and dirty cities of Europe for a fresh campground.

Although America has become a symbol of high standards in plumbing and sanitation, progress in the early development of sanitation and plumbing was very slow. As the population of the early settlements increased, conditions deteriorated. Garbage and sewage dumped onto the ground and seepage from earth-pit privies polluted nearby wells.

Health conditions became so intolerable that eventually public sewers had to be installed underground and extended to each building. Although New York in 1782 installed the first sewer under the streets, Chicago is credited with having the first real city sewage system, constructed in 1855.

Plumbing as we know-it today traces its roots back many centuries, but was not really perfected until the twentieth century. Many older Americans, 'reared without indoor plumbing, still remember the open well, the pitcher pump, the outhouse, and the Saturday night romp in the old wooden tub. The modern bathroom, city water, and the sewers of today are taken for granted. But don't forget that plumbers protect the health of our nation and the world.

Plumber's Handbook Revised

by Howard Massey and David M. Gans

This new edition explains simply and clearly, in no-technical, everyday language, how to install all components of a plumbing system to comply not only with recent changes in the International Plumbing Code and the Uniform Plumbing Code, but with the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Originally written for working plumbers to assure safe, reliable, code-compliant plumbing installations that pass inspection the first time, Plumber's Handbook, because of its readability, accuracy and clear, simple diagrams, has become the textbook of choice for numerous schools preparing plumbing students for the plumber's exams.

Now, with a set of questions for each chapter, full explanations for the answers, and with a 200-question sample exam in the back, this handbook is one of the best tools available for preparing for almost any plumbing journeyman, master or state-required plumbing contracting exam.

Recently updated to current editions of the IPC and UPC by David Gans, an experienced and certified journeyman plumber, city plumbing inspector/plans examiner as well as plumbing apprenticeship program instructor, this will be your go-to-guide when you need to not only know the code requirements, but understand why they are important. This handbook effectively addresses how the two mahor plumbing codes accomplish the goal of safe and sanitary plumbing installations.

In this edition, to help plumbers meet the detailed requirements of the ADA, we have included the full text of Chapter 6: Plumbing Elements And Facilities from the ADA Standards for Accessible Design.

Howard Massey, original author, was an expert on the plumbing code and plumbing principles. He was a plumbing contract, plumbing instructor, plumbing consultant and plumbing plans examiner for Dade County, Florida, and authored several respected and still-used plumbing instruction manuals, including Basic Plumbing with Illustrations and Plumber's Exam Preparation Guide.

David M. Gans, is eminently qualified to revise and bring up-to-date the work of the late Mr. Massey. He is a licensed plumber and IAPMO and ICC Certified plumbing inspector/plans examiner, certified master code professional, and currently works as a Chief Code Official in Southern California. From his years operating his own contracting business, he understands the challenges the plumber faces in complying with new plumbing codes and standards. Mr. Gans currently serves on IAPMO's national board of directors and has actively participated in plumbing code development as well as serving on plumbing interpretation and product-certification committees.