PLUMBING EQUIPMENT & SYSTEMS

PLUMBING EQUIPMENT & SYSTEMS

Introduction

- Plumbing originated during the ancient civilizations of the Roman, Persian, Indian and Chinese civilizations as they developed public baths and needed to provide potable water and drainage of wastes.

- Plumbing, from Latin word for lead (plumbum), is the skilled trade of working with pipes, tubing and plumbing fixtures for portable water systems and the drainage of waste.

- Plumbing is a system of pipes and fixtures installed in a building for the distribution of potable water and the removal of waterborne wastes.

- The plumbing industry is a basic and substantial part of every developed economy due to the need for clean water and proper collection and transport of wastes.

- Plumbing is usually distinguished from water and sewage systems, in that a plumbing system serves one building, while water and sewage systems serve a group of buildings or a city.

- Improvement in plumbing systems was very slow, with virtually no progress made from the time of the Roman system of aqueducts and lead pipes until the 19th century.

- Eventually the development of separate, underground water and sewage systems eliminated open sewage ditches and cesspools.

Materials

- Present day water supply systems use a network of high-pressure pumps and pipes are now made of copper, brass, plastic, steel or other non-toxic material.

- Water systems of ancient times relied on gravity for the supply of water, using pipes or channels usually made of clay, lead or stone.

- Present day drain and vent lines are made of plastic, steel, cast iron and lead.

- The 'straight' sections of plumbing systems are of pipe or tube. A pipe is typically formed via casting or welding, where a tube is made through extrusion.

- Lead is not used in modern water supply piping due to its toxicity.

- Pipe normally has thicker walls and may be threaded or welded, where tubing is thinner-walled and requires special joining techniques such as 'soldering', 'compression fitting', 'crimping' or for plastics, 'solvent welding'.

Download the full lecture slide presentation here: plumbing equipment system