Plumber, Plumbing System, Master Plumber

Plumbing System

Plumbing is any system that conveys fluids for a wide range of applications. Plumbing uses pipes, valves, plumbing fixtures, tanks, and other apparatuses to convey fluids. Heating and cooling (HVAC), waste removal, and potable water delivery are among the most common uses for plumbing, but it is not limited to these applications. The word derives from the Latin for lead, plumbum, as the first effective pipes used in the Roman era were lead pipes.

In the developed world, plumbing infrastructure is critical to public health and sanitation.

Boilermakers and pipefitters are not plumbers although they work with piping as part of their trade and their work can include some plumbing.

Plumbing originated during ancient civilizations, as they developed public baths and needed to provide potable water and wastewater removal for larger numbers of people.

The Mesopotamians introduced the world to clay sewer pipes around 4000 BCE, with the earliest examples found in the Temple of Bel at Nippur and at Eshnunna, used to remove wastewater from sites, and capture rainwater, in wells. The city of Uruk contains the oldest known examples of brick constructed Latrines, constructed atop interconnecting fired clay sewer pipes, c.3200 BCE. Clay pipes were later used in the Hittite city of Hattusa. They had easily detachable and replaceable segments, and allowed for cleaning.

Standardized earthen plumbing pipes with broad flanges making use of asphalt for preventing leakages appeared in the urban settlements of the Indus Valley Civilization by 2700 BC.

Copper piping appeared in Egypt by 2400 BCE, with the Pyramid of Sahure and adjoining temple complex at Abusir, found to be connected by a copper waste pipe.

The word "plumber" dates from the Roman Empire. The Latin for lead is plumbum. Roman roofs used lead in conduits and drain pipes and some were also covered with lead. Lead was also used for piping and for making baths.

Plumbing reached its early apex in ancient Rome, which saw the introduction of expansive systems of aqueducts, tile wastewater removal, and widespread use of lead pipes. The Romans used lead pipe inscriptions to prevent water theft. With the Fall of Rome both water supply and sanitation stagnated—or regressed—for well over 1,000 years. Improvement was very slow, with little effective progress made until the growth of modern densely populated cities in the 1800s. During this period, public health authorities began pressing for better waste disposal systems to be installed, to prevent or control epidemics of disease. Earlier, the waste disposal system had consisted of collecting waste and dumping it on the ground or into a river. Eventually the development of separate, underground water and sewage systems eliminated open sewage ditches and cesspools.

Most large cities today pipe solid wastes to sewage treatment plants in order to separate and partially purify the water, before emptying into streams or other bodies of water. For potable water use, galvanized iron piping was commonplace in the United States from the late 1800s until around 1960. After that period, copper piping took over, first soft copper with flared fittings, then with rigid copper tubing using soldered fittings.

The use of lead for potable water declined sharply after World War II because of increased awareness of the dangers of lead poisoning. At this time, copper piping was introduced as a better and safer alternative to lead pipes.

Plumbing Systems

The major categories of plumbing systems or subsystems are:

• potable cold and hottap watersupply
• plumbing drainage venting
• sewage systemsandseptic systemswith or withouthot water heat recyclingandgraywaterrecovery and treatment systems
• Rainwater, surface, and subsurface water drainage
• fuel gaspiping
• hydronics, i.e. heating and cooling systems using water to transport thermal energy, as indistrict heatingsystems, like for example theNew York City steam system.

Water pipes

"Water pipe" redirects here. It may also refer to ahookahor abong.

A water pipe is a pipe or tube, frequently made of plastic or metal, that carries pressurized and treated fresh water to a building (as part of a municipal water system), as well as inside the building.

Difference between pipes and tubes

The difference between pipes and tubes is a matter of sizing. For instance, PVC pipe for plumbing applications and galvanized steel pipe are measured in iron pipe size (IPS). Copper tube, CPVC, PeX and other tubing is measured nominally, basically an average diameter. These sizing schemes allow for universal adaptation of transitional fittings. For instance, 1/2" PeX tubing is the same size as 1/2" copper tubing. 1/2" PVC on the other hand is not the same size as 1/2" tubing, and therefore requires either a threaded male or female adapter to connect them. When used in agricultural irrigation, the singular form "pipe" is often used as a plural.

Pipe is available in rigid joints, which come in various lengths depending on the material. Tubing, in particular copper, comes in rigid hard tempered joints or soft tempered (annealed) rolls. PeX and CPVC tubing also comes in rigid joints or flexible rolls. The temper of the copper, whether it is a rigid joint or flexible roll, does not affect the sizing.

The thicknesses of the water pipe and tube walls can vary. Because piping and tubing are commodities, having a greater wall thickness implies higher initial cost. Thicker walled pipe generally implies greater durability and higher pressure tolerances. Pipe wall thickness is denoted by various schedules or for large bore polyethylene pipe in the UK by the Standard Dimension Ratio (SDR), defined as the ratio of the pipe diameter to its wall thickness. Pipe wall thickness increases with schedule, and is available in schedules 20, 40, 80, and higher in special cases. The schedule is largely determined by the operating pressure of the system, with higher pressures commanding greater thickness. Copper tubing is available in four wall thicknesses: type DWV (thinnest wall; only allowed as drain pipe per UPC), type 'M' (thin; typically only allowed as drain pipe by IPC code), type 'L' (thicker, standard duty for water lines and water service), and type 'K' (thickest, typically used underground between the main and the meter).

Wall thickness does not affect pipe or tubing size. 1/2" L copper has the same outer diameter as 1/2" K or M copper. The same applies to pipe schedules. As a result, a slight increase in pressure losses is realized due to a decrease in flowpath as wall thickness is increased. In other words, 1 foot of 1/2" L copper has slightly less volume than 1 foot of 1/2 M copper.

Plumbing Materials

Water systems of ancient times relied on gravity for the supply of water, using pipes or channels usually made of clay, lead, bamboo, wood, or stone. Hollowed wooden logs wrapped in steel banding were used for plumbing pipes, particularly water mains. Logs were used for water distribution in England close to 500 years ago. US cities began using hollowed logs in the late 1700s through the 1800s. Today, most plumbing supply pipe is made out of steel, copper, and plastic; most waste (also known as "soil") out of steel, copper, plastic, and cast iron.

The straight sections of plumbing systems are called "pipes" or "tubes". A pipe is typically formed via casting or welding, whereas a tube is made through extrusion. Pipe normally has thicker walls and may be threaded or welded, while tubing is thinner-walled and requires special joining techniques such as brazing, compression fitting, crimping, or for plastics, solvent welding. These joining techniques are discussed in more detail in the piping and plumbing fittings article.

Plumbing Steel

Galvanized steel potable water supply and distribution pipes are commonly found with nominal pipe sizes from 3⁄8 inch (9.5mm) to 2 inches (51mm). It is rarely used today for new construction residential plumbing. Steel pipe has National Pipe Thread (NPT) standard tapered male threads, which connect with female tapered threads on elbows, tees, couplers, valves, and other fittings. Galvanized steel (often known simply as "galv" or "iron" in the plumbing trade) is relatively expensive, and difficult to work with due to weight and requirement of a pipe threader. It remains in common use for repair of existing "galv" systems and to satisfy building code non-combustibility requirements typically found in hotels, apartment buildings and other commercial applications. It is also extremely durable and resistant to mechanical abuse. Black lacquered steel pipe is the most widely used pipe material for fire sprinklers and natural gas.

Most typical single family home systems won't require supply piping larger than 3⁄4 inch (19mm) due to expense as well as steel piping's tendency to become obstructed from internal rusting and mineral deposits forming on the inside of the pipe over time once the internal galvanizing zinc coating has degraded. In potable water distribution service, galvanized steel pipe has a service life of about 30 to 50 years, although it is not uncommon for it to be less in geographic areas with corrosive water contaminants.

Plumbing Copper

Copper pipe and tubing was widely used for domestic water systems in the latter half of the twentieth century. Demand for copper products has fallen due to the dramatic increase in the price of copper, resulting in increased demand for alternative products including PEX and stainless steel.

Plumbing Plastic

Plastic pipe is in wide use for domestic water supply and drain-waste-vent (DWV) pipe. Principal types include: Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) was produced experimentally in the 19th century but did not become practical to manufacture until 1926, when Waldo Semon of BF Goodrich Co. developed a method to plasticize PVC, making it easier to process. PVC pipe began to be manufactured in the 1940s and was in wide use for Drain-Waste-Vent piping during the reconstruction of Germany and Japan following WWII. In the 1950s, plastics manufacturers in Western Europe and Japan began producing acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) pipe. The method for producing cross-linked polyethylene (PEX) was also developed in the 1950s. Plastic supply pipes have become increasingly common, with a variety of materials and fittings employed.

• PVC/CPVC– rigid plastic pipes similar to PVC drain pipes but with thicker walls to deal with municipal water pressure, introduced around 1970. PVC stands for polyvinyl chloride, and it has become a common replacement for metal piping. PVC should be used only for cold water, or for venting. CPVC can be used for hot and cold potable water supply. Connections are made with primers and solvent cements as required by code.
• PP– The material is used primarily in housewares, food packaging, and clinical equipment,but since the early 1970s has seen increasing use worldwide for both domestic hot and cold water. PP pipes areheat fused, being unsuitable for the use of glues, solvents, or mechanical fittings. PP pipe is often used ingreen buildingprojects.
• PBT– flexible (usually gray or black) plastic pipe which is attached to barbed fittings and secured in place with a copper crimp ring. The primary manufacturer of PBT tubing and fittings was driven into bankruptcy by a class-action lawsuit over failures of this system.^{[citation needed]}However, PB and PBT tubing has since returned to the market and codes, typically first for "exposed locations" such as risers.
• PEX– cross-linked polyethylene system with mechanically joined fittings employing barbs, and crimped steel or copper rings.
• Polytanks – plastic polyethylene cisterns, underground water tanks, above ground water tanks, are usually made of linear polyethylene suitable as a potable water storage tank, provided in white, black or green.
• Aqua – known as PEX-Al-PEX, for its PEX/aluminum sandwich, consisting of aluminum pipe sandwiched between layers of PEX, and connected with modified brass compression fittings. In 2005, many of these fittings were recalled.

Present-day water-supply systems use a network of high-pressure pumps, and pipes in buildings are now made of copper,brass, plastic (particularlycross-linked polyethylenecalled PEX, which is estimated to be used in 60% of single-family homes), or other nontoxic material. Due to itstoxicity, most cities moved away from lead water-supply piping by the 1920s in the United States,although lead pipes were approved by national plumbing codes into the 1980s,and lead was used in plumbing solder for drinking water until it was banned in 1986.Drain and vent lines are made of plastic, steel, cast iron, or lead.

Plumbing Equipment and tools

Plumbing equipment includes devices often behind walls or in utility spaces which are not seen by the general public. It includes water meters, pumps, expansion tanks, back flow preventers, water filters, UV sterilization lights, water softeners, water heaters, heat exchangers, gauges, and control systems.

There are many tools a plumber needs to do a good plumbing job. While many simple plumbing tasks can be completed with a few common hand held tools, other more complex jobs require specialised tools, designed specifically to make the job easier.

Specialized plumbing tools include pipe wrenches, flaring pliers, pipe vise, pipe bending machine, pipe cutter, dies, and joining tools such as soldering torches and crimp tools. New tools have been developed to help plumbers fix problems more efficiently. For example, plumbers use video cameras for inspections of hidden leaks or other problems; they also use hydro jets, and high pressure hydraulic pumps connected to steel cables for trench-less sewer line replacement.

Flooding from excessive rain or clogged sewers may require specialized equipment, such as a heavy duty pumper truck designed to vacuum raw sewage.

Plumbing Probblems

Bacteria have been shown to live in "premises plumbing systems". The latter refers to the "pipes and fixtures within a building that transport water to taps after it is delivered by the utility". Community water systems have been known for centuries to spread waterborne diseases like typhoid and cholera. However, "opportunistic premises plumbing pathogens" have been recognized only more recently: Legionella pneumophila, discovered in 1976, Mycobacterium avium, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa are the most commonly tracked bacteria, which people with depressed immunity can inhale or ingest and may become infected with. Some of the locations where these opportunistic pathogens can grow include faucets, shower heads, water heaters and along pipe walls. Reasons that favor their growth are "high surface-to-volume ratio, intermittent stagnation, low disinfectant residual, and warming cycles". A high surface-to-volume ratio, i.e. a relatively large surface area allows the bacteria to form a biofilm, which protects them from disinfection.

Plumbing equipment includes devices often behind walls or in utility spaces which are not seen by the general public. It includes water meters, pumps, expansion tanks, back flow preventers, water filters, UV sterilization lights, water softeners, water heaters, heat exchangers, gauges, and control systems.

Plumbing equipment includes devices often behind walls or in utility spaces which are not seen by the general public. It includes water meters, pumps, expansion tanks, back flow preventers, water filters, UV sterilization lights, water softeners, water heaters, heat exchangers, gauges, and control systems.

Plumbing equipment includes devices often behind walls or in utility spaces which are not seen by the general public. It includes water meters, pumps, expansion tanks, back flow preventers, water filters, UV sterilization lights, water softeners, water heaters, heat exchangers, gauges, and control systems.

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