SANITARY DRAINAGE SYSTEM

1. Sanitary Piping Layout

a. General Rules in designing the Sanitary System:
i. The pipes should take the shortest possible route to the house sewer or the terminating point of the Sanitary
System.
ii. Control components such as clean-outs, traps, and vents, should be located strategically to ensure efficient
circulation.
b. Sub-system of the Sanitary System:
i. Waste Collection System
ii. Ventilation System

2. Essential Parts of The Sanitary Drainage System

a. Waste Pipe – conveys only waste water or liquid waste free of fecal matter.

b. Vent Pipe – used for ensuring the circulation of air in a plumbing system and for relieving the negative pressure
exerted on a trap seal.

c. Trap – 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 of waste water through it.

d. Stack – the vertical main of a system of soil, waste or vent piping, extending through one or more stories and
extended thru the roof.

e. Branch – any part of the piping system other than a main, riser or stack

f. House/Building Drain -part of the lowest horizontal piping of a plumbing system which receives the discharges from
the soil, waste, and other drainage pipes inside of a building and conveys it to the house sewer outside of the
building.

g. House/Building Sewer – extends from the house drain at a point 0.60 meters from the outside face of the foundation
wall of a building to the junction with the street sewer or to any point of discharge, and conveying the drainage of
one building site.

3. Principles of Waste & Soil (Excreta) Pipes Roughing-in

a. Horizontal to Horizontal change in direction
i. Use 45° wye branches, combination wye – 1/8 bend branches, or other approved fittings of equivalent
sweep

b. Vertical to Horizontal change in direction

i. 45° wye branches or other approved fittings of equivalent sweep

c. Horizontal to Vertical change in direction

i. 45° or 60° wye branches, combination wye-1/8 bend branches, sanitary tee or sanitary tapped tee branches,
or other approved fittings of equivalent sweep

ii. No fitting having more than one inlet at the same level shall be used (i.e. sanitary cross)

iii. Double sanitary tees may be used when the barrel of the fitting is at least two sizes larger than the largest
inlet, (pipe sizes recognized for this purpose are 51, 64, 76, 89, 102, 114, 127& 152 mm dia.)

4. Sanitary Drainage Lines

a. Unit of measurement Sizes of Sanitary Drainage Lines
i. The size of waste pipes or soil pipes depend on the amount of waste it carries.

ii. A lavatory discharge 0.47 liters/sec or 28.3 liters/min. (7.5 gallons per min. or 1 cu. ft. per min.) which is
equivalent to the Fixture Unit (F.U.)

iii. The FU rating of plumbing fixtures is based on the size of required trap.
 b. Maximum Trap Loading

ITEM NO. PIPE SIZE FIXTURE UNIT

1 32 mm 1
2 38 mm 3
3 51 mm 4
4 76 mm 6
5 102 mm 8

c. Discharge Capacity

ITEM NO. LITER/SEC (GPM) FIXTURE UNIT

1 Up to 0.47L/s (7.5 GPM) 1
2 0.50 to 0.95 L/s (8 to 15 GPM) 2
3 1 to 1.89 L/sec (16 to 30 GPM) 4
4 1.95 to 3.15 L/sec (31 to 50 6
GPM)

d. Minimum Slope of Sanitary Drainage Lines

i. Minimum slope or pitch of horizontal drainage pipe – 2% or 20mm/m (1/4” per foot)

ii. Exception: Where it is impracticable due to depth of street sewer, adverse structural features and irregular
building plans, pipes 102 mm dia. Or larger may have a slope of not less than 1% or 10mm/m (1/8” per
foot), approved by the Administrative Authority.

5. Traps
 The first component that water (and the wastes) goes through.

 All plumbing fixtures have this; some are built-in, some are attached.

a. Main Purpose of Traps

 To ensure that there is no backflow of gases into the room where the fixture is located
 Gases may include hydrogen, hydrogen sulfide, methane, carbon dioxide, and carbon
monoxide (all harmful gases)
b. How It Works
 Gravity holds water to act as a barrier, preventing the escape of sewer gases. If a plumbing
fixture is not used over a month or so, the water in the trap will evaporate, allowing noxious
odors to escape.

 Maintaining the water seal is critical to trap operation; traps can and do dry out, and poor
venting can siphon or blow water out of the traps.

 This is usually avoided by venting the drain pipes downstream of the trap; by being vented to
the atmosphere outside the building, the drain lines never operate at a pressure much higher or
lower than atmospheric pressure.

c. Types of Permissible Traps

 The Common P-trap
 Used for lavatories, kitchen sinks, laundry tubs, and urinals.

 Materials commonly used for the P-trap: Nickel, Chrome plated brass, Galvanized
copper, and PVC

 The Deep Seal P-trap

 Water seal is about twice the size of the common P-trap

 Used for extreme conditions because resealing quality is greater.

  The Stand Trap
 Used for fixtures such as slop sink that are usually built low in the ground, leaving
very little space for a foundation and a trap

 Serves as a water seal and structural support for the fixture.

 The Running Trap

 Used within the line of the house drain

 The Drum Trap

 Has a large diameter 0.16m

 Used for fixtures that discharge large amount of water (bathtubs, shower, or floor
drains)

 The S-trap
 Predecessor of P-trap

 Used before traps had to connect to a ventilation line.

d. Types of Prohibited Traps

 Traps with movable parts or concealed interior partitions

 No fixtures shall be double-trapped

e. Requirements
 Each plumbing fixture, except those with integral traps shall be separately trapped with an
approved type water seal trap.

 Only one trap shall be permitted on a trap arm (portion of a fixture drain between a trap and
the vent).

 One trap, centrally located, may serve three single compartment sinks or laundry tubs or
lavatories, adjacent to each other and in the same room, where their waste outlets ae not more
than 0.75 m apart.

f. Sizes of Traps
 The trap shall be the same size as the trap arm to which it is connected.

 Each fixture trap shall have a trap seal of water of not less than 51mm and not more than
102mm (except where a deeper seal is found necessary by the Administrative Authority for
special conditions)

 Minimum Sizes of Traps for Common Plumbing Fixtures

ITEM NO. FIXTURE TRAP & TRAP DRAINAGE

ARM SIZE FIXTURE UNIT
1 Bath tubs 38mm 2
2 Bidets 38mm 2
3 Floor Drains 51mm 2
4 Shower, single stall 51mm 2
5 Sink (residential) 38mm 2
6 Urinal, wall mounted, 51mm 3
integral trap
7 Wash Basin (single) 32mm 1
8 Water Closet (Private 76mm 4
 Installation)
9 Water Closet (Public 76mm 6
Installation)

g. Installation of Traps
 The vertical distance between a fixture outlet tailpiece and the trap wire shall not exceed 0.60
m in length

 Horizontal Distance of Trap Arms

Trap Arm Diameter Distance to Vent

32 mm 0.76 m
38 mm 1.07 m
51 mm 1.52 m
76 mm 1.83 m
102mm & higher 3.05 m

 The developed length of the trap arm (measured from the top of closet ring to inner edge of
vent) of a water closet or similar fixture shall not exceed 1.8 m.

6. Industrial Interceptors (Clarifiers) and Separators

a. Interceptors (a device designed and installed to separate and retain deleterious, hazardous, undesirable matters from
normal wastes to discharge into the disposal terminal by gravity) shall have a water seal of not less than 152 mm
deep.

b. Each interceptor shall be properly vented.

c. Slaughterhouses, packing establishments, and any establishment which discharges wastewater with considerable
amount of grease, hairs, feathers, etc. shall drain through a screening device and thence into a grease interceptor.

d. Auto wash racks and/or floor or slabs used for cleaning machinery or machine parts shall be adequately protected
against storm or surface water and shall drain into an interceptor which will separate oil and grease before the
effluent reaches the public stream.

7. Clean-outs
a. Required:
i. At the upper terminal of every horizontal sewer or waste line.

ii. At each run of piping more than 15 m (50 ft) in total developed length.

iii. Additional clean-out shall be provided on a horizontal line with an aggregate offset angle exceeding 135°.

iv. Inside the building near the connection between the building drain and the building sewer or installed
outside the building at the lower end of the building drain and extended to grade.

b. Not Required:
i. On a horizontal drain less than 1.5 m length unless such line is serving sinks or urinals.

ii. On short horizontal drainage pipe installed at a slope of 72° or less from the vertical line (or at an angle of
1/5 bend)

c. Size of Clean-outs
i. Size of clean-out shall be in conformity with the size of the pipe served.

d. Installation of Clean-outs
i. Each clean-out shall be installed so it opens with the direction of flow or at right angles to the direction of
flow except in the case of a wye branch.
ii. Each 90° clean-out extension shall be constructed from a wye fitting or an approve fitting of equivalent
sweep.

iii. Each clean-out 51 mm or less have a front clearance of not less than 305 mm; those 51 mm or more shall
have a front clearance of 450 mm.

iv. No underfloor clean-out for residential occupancies shall be located more than 6.1 m from an access door,
trap door or crawl hole.