Basic Home Plumbing

Basic Home Plumbing

In basic home plumbing, there are two specific areas we are dealing with. They are:

The Fresh Water System

Drain, Waste, Vent system (DWV)

Fresh Water SystemThese are the pipes that come from either city water supplies or wells. They enter the house through a mainline and usually make the first branch or tee at the water heater.

These lines are always under pressure and connect to the inlet on all plumbing fixtures and appliances (sink faucets, baths, toilets, washers, spigots, etc.). They can be plastic, copper, or galvanized iron.

Fresh Water System

• There are two types of Fresh Water Supply:

• Wells for rural areas

• City or Municipal Water

Well Water Supply

• There are three basic types of well:

• Dug, Driven & Drilled

Well Pumps

• There are two basic ways of getting the well water into the house:

• Jet Pump – Sits inside the house and sucks the water from the well via the water line(s)

• Submersible Pump – Sits inside the well & pushes the water into the house via water line

Well Water Pressure System

City Water Supply

• If you live in the city, your water is usually supplied by a municipal water source

• This water typically comes from a river or lake and is then treated by chemical processes and filters and supplied to your home through a series of underground piping system that run throughout the city

Fresh Water PipingSupply Water Lines are small in diameter, usually ½ inch to 1 inch. Water lines are joined together with watertight fittings.

You need to have a waterline coming from a well or a city water supply. Most mainlines will be made of 1-inch pipe, but some codes allow ¾ inch.

The main water shut-off needs to be installed somewhere between the main water supply line and the water heater.

Fresh Water System-From there a ¾ inch pipe goes to a branch where one line is feeding into the water heater, the other line will service all the cold lines in the house.

There will be a line coming out of the water heater that will run along side of the cold line to all the fixtures.

Normal copper-pipe-plumbing and galvanized lines are run in a straight line usually both hot and cold side by side with tees or branches servicing each fixture.

Copper Tubing Installation

There are many different fittings that make the job easier for copper-pipe-plumbing. You start out by measuring the pipe to the length you need, then you cut it with a pipe cutter.

After cutting the pipe you will need to clean out the inside with a burr remover. Once the pipe is burred, shine the end with an emery cloth.

Sweating

After the pipe is cut, burred, and polished, it is connected by a process called “sweating”. First, you take the pipe and brush on some soldering paste or rosin flux.

This also helps clean the pipe while it’s being heated. Apply the paste to the outside of the pipe and the inside of the fitting.

Sweating

After joining, take a propane torch and heat the pipe and fitting thoroughly to the point where the paste starts to sizzle.

When you see a green flame forming on the side opposite the torch, the joint is hot enough to melt the solder.

Sweating

If the pipe is hot enough, it will suck the solder into the joint and make a complete circle around the joint, making a tight seal. Remember: Green Means Go!

After you melt the solder into the joint, carefully wipe away any excess solder with a heavy cloth.

Soldering SafetyYou need to be extra careful while working close to the framing not to catch things on fire. Just to be sure, you may want to have a garden hose or fire extinguisher ready to put out any flames.

Make sure that you have adequate ventilation while using a propane torch. Not all the gas that escapes the nozzle gets burned up and it can build up in a confined place and ignite.

Hot/Cold Branches

To run a copper waterline we know that a main line runs to the water heater, then branches off from the water heater and goes into a cold line and a hot line.

The two lines will run as far as the furthest fixture with branches or tees servicing all the fixtures between.

Copper Alternatives (PEX)

Flexible plastic tubing called cross-linked polyethylene, commonly abbreviated to PEX is a newer product being used.

The main line water supply is connected to a manifold.

Each fixture in the house will have a separate line feeding it.

PEX

A fresh waterline goes into the bottom of the manifold and feeds all the cold-water fixtures. It also has a cold line running to the water heater.

The water heater has a line for hot water that runs back to the manifold and feeds the hot-water fixtures

PEX Advantages

Because each fixture has it’s own dedicated water supply, the pressure in the system remains constant all the time. No more unexpected temperature fluctuations when someone’s in the shower.

Inexpensive and easy to work with.

No joints between the manifold and the fixture. (less chance of a leak)

Fixtures and Appliances

Toilets, sinks, faucets, showers and tubs are considered fixtures.

Specified codes and regulations will need to be followed before they are installed.

Waterlines going to each will have to be a minimum diameter, and waste lines from each will have to be a certain size.

Pipe sizes need to be planned out well before the appliances are ready to be installed.

Rural Waste Water

• When you live outside of town, there is typically not a municipal water supply available.

• This means not only do you need to supply your own water via a well, you have to get rid of your wastewater yourself as well, typically through a Septic System

Septic System

• The septic system is what all of your waster water (including your weeping tile around your foundation) drains into.

• The system is made up of the Main Line, The Septic Tank and the Weeping Bed

• Wastewater enters the Septic Tank through the Main Line, and is separated into Solids and Liquids

• Liquids then leech into the weeping bed which acts as a large filter and allows the water to re-enter the ground

• Septic Systems must be located well away from the Water Source (Well), typically one is in the front yard and one in the back

City Water Waste

• If you live in the city or have a municipal water hookup, your wastewater simply leaves your house and becomes the city’s problem

• The city then treats all of the water with a filtration and chemical process and puts it back into a local water source (lake, river, etc)