SANITARY DRAINAGE SYSTEM

Conventional Sanitary Drainage and Vent System

- A sanitary drainage and vent system, sometimes referred to as the drain, waste, and vent (DWV)
system, is a network of pipes that remove wastewater from a building.

Sanitary Drainage Side

-This system consists of traps at each fixture, and fixture branch, stack, and drain pipes that carry
wastewater away from the plumbing fixtures and out of the building.

Vent System Side

- This system introduces and circulates air in the system to maintain atmospheric pressure in the drain
lines and ensure adequate gravity flow of wastewater.

Traps

- A fitting or device designed and constructed to provide, when properly vented, a liquid seal which
prevents the backflow of foul air or methane gas without materially affecting the flow of sewage or
wastewater through it.

Interceptors

-These are passive devices designed into a plumbing system that trap, separate, and retain these toxic or
undesirable substances from wastewater before it is discharged into the sewer line.

Fixture Branch

- Any pipe which connects several plumbing fixtures, such as a drain serving two or more fixtures or a
supply pipe between the water-distributing pipe and several fixtures.

Stacks

The vertical main of a system of soil, waste, or vent piping extending through one or more stories. It is
the largest vertical pipe into which ayll the horizontal and smaller vertical) pipes either drain or vent.

-When the wastewater that the stack will carry includes human waste from water closets (or from
fixtures that have similar functions), the stack is referred to as a soil stack.

-When the stack will carry all wastes except human waste, it is referred to as a waste stack

Building Drains

- that part of the lowest horizontal piping of a drainage system which receives the discharge from soil,
waste and other drainage pipes inside the walls of the of the building and conveys it to the building
sewer beginning 0.6meter outside the building wall.
Building Sewer

-This is an extension of the building drain that carries wastewater from the building drain to a
community sanitary sewer main or an individual on-site sewage treatment (OSST)system.

Sanitary Sewer Main

-It is a pipe through which the wastewater flows as it is conveyed from a building to the wastewate
treatment plant.

Cleanouts

- Cleanouts are screw-type fittings with a cap that can unscrew to allow access to the inside of the
sanitary drain pipes.

Cleanouts are generally required:

• At the base of soil and waste stacks

• At the upper end of building drains

• At each change of direction of the horizontal building drainage system greater than 60°; the total of
the fittings between cleanouts shall not exceed 120°

• At the junction between the building drain and building sewer (usually 2 to 4 ft away from the building
foundation)

• Cleanouts should be no more than 50 ft apart, including the developed length of the cleanout pipe, in
horizontal drainage lines of 4 in or less size.

• Cleanouts should be no more than 100 ft apart, including the developed length of the cleanout pipe, in
horizontal drainage lines of sizes over 4 to 10 in.

• Cleanouts should not be more than 150 ft apart, including the developed length of the cleanout pipe,
in horizontal drainage lines exceeding sizes of 10 in.

Venting

- Vents are pipes that introduce sufficient air into the drainage system to reduce air turbulence (from
siphoning or back pressure) and to release sewer gases to the outside. The prime purpose of venting is
to protect the trap seal.

Types of Venting Methods

Individual Vents

-This is an installation of a vent pipe for every trap or trapped fixture.

Common Vents

-The common venting method serves two fixtures located on the same floor; it is essentially an
individual vent that serves no more than two traps or trapped fixtures.
Wet Vents

-The wet venting method uses a single vent pipe to provide venting for all of the fixtures of one or two
bathroom groups (e.g., a water closet, lavatory, shower, bathtub, and bidet) that are located on the
same floor.

Circuit Vents

-A circuit venting system is a horizontal venting pipe serving up to eight fixtures. Each fixture must be
connected to a single horizontal drain in this technique.

Combination Drain and Vent

-A combination drain and vent system allows the distance from trap to vent to be extended infinitely,
provided the drain stays in the horizontal orientation and there is a vent somewhere within the
horizontal branch.

Relief Vent

-A relief vent is a continuous pipe of lesser or equal diameter running parallel and alongside the soil and
waste stack in a multistory plumbing system. It is used to equalize air pressure within the stack.

Air Admittance Valves

- a pressure-activated, one-way mechanical venting port used to eliminate the need for expensive
venting and roof penetrations.

Positive Air Pressure Attenuator

- a product developed to protect buildings of 10 or more stories against the unwanted positive pressures
(i.e., back pressure/positive transients) generated in the DWV system.

Sewage Ejection

Sanitary drainage systems rely on the force of gravity to create flow to discharge wastewater. In
some building installations, however, a fixture or group of fixtures must to be installed below the level
of the nearest available sewer line. In these cases, wastewater must be lifted to the level of the main
drain or sewer by a pumping system called a sewage ejector. Typically, a sewage ejector can pump solids
from 2 to 4 in (50 to 100 mm) in size or grinds solid wastes before passing them through the ejector.

DRAIN AND VENT PIPE DESIGN

*Table 14.2

*Table 14.3

*Table 14.4A and B

The following number and type of plumbing fixtures serve two apartment units: two bathtubs, two
water closets, two lavatories, and two kitchen sinks. Assume the horizontal fixture branch serving these
fixtures flows into the waste stack. Assume the vent stack extends through the roof and is 22 ft long.
Determine the minimum pipe diameter required for the horizontal fixture branch, waste stack, and vent
stack.

Example 14.2

The following number and type of plumbing fixtures serve six apartment units with two apartments on
each floor: six bathtubs, six water closets, six lavatories, and six kitchen sinks. Assume horizontal fixture
branches serving these fixtures flow into the waste stack at three locations (three intervals), two
apartments per interval. Assume the building drain is sloped at 1/4 in per ft and the vent stack extends
through the roof and is 42 ft long. Determine the minimum pipe diameter required for the horizontal
fixture branches, waste stack, building drain, and main vent stack.