Plumbing 102: Drainage Plumbing System Design & Training A-Z

Define plumbing as a subdomain of mechanical engineering that transports fluids through a conduit. Illustrate with examples like a straw and a sink, and emphasize designing for reliable drainage systems.

Examine how international, national, and local plumbing standards govern drainage design, guided by local authorities, focusing on IPC and UPC, and learn a practical A-to-Z method to apply codes globally.

Explore the main categories of plumbing systems—water supply and drainage, including soil, grey water, and rainwater drainage—and learn to size pipes using design sequences for buildings.

Explore the areas of application for drainage systems within residential and commercial design, emphasizing the link with water supply and applying standard design practices to real-world projects.

Identify the main components of drainage systems, including senator fixtures, piping networks, fittings, pumps, tanks, and manholes, and understand how they interrelate in plumbing design.

Discover sanitary fixtures like the WC, sink, and shower, and learn their discharge and connection requirements within drainage system design, including design factors and numerical estimates.

Design a drainage system's piping network by selecting pipe materials and sizes, using PVC for indoor connections and HDPE for buried or heavy-duty use, balancing cost with project scale.

Design a drainage piping network by prioritizing straight runs and using fittings to reroute flow with minimal connections, including elbows, adapters, end caps, and cleanouts for maintenance.

Explore pumps in drainage systems, including submersible pumps for liquids and sump pumps with grinding to crush solids. Learn how gravity-driven tanks move waste to the main sewer.

Explore reinforced concrete tanks for storage of rainwater or wastewater with sump pumps, and understand manholes as access points that stabilize and redirect multiple drains to the main sewer line.

Establish the drainage system design sequence by determining total load requirements, then size pipes (and tanks or pumps when needed) to ensure gravity-driven drainage for residential and commercial applications.

Discover the main drainage piping connections: soil pipes, gray water pipes, vent pipes, and rainwater pipes, and compare single stack versus double stack systems in plumbing design.

Explore real-life drainage assemblies and connections, linking theory to practice with single and two-stack systems, venting strategies, cleanouts, and practical piping layouts.

Develop the ability to read drainage engineering drawings for plumbing and water supply design, building essential professional skills for drainage system design.

Learn to read drainage engineering drawings by using legends, identifying fixtures and piping (soil, gray water, vent, kitchen waste), and tracing vertical risers and floor plans across floors.

Access the essential resources and tables you should download for practical examples in drainage system design, and use them to stay updated and continue the course work.

Explore gravity and slope, fixture units, fixture straps, and common sense to design a drainage system and size the piping network.

Utilize gravity and proper slope to move waste through drainage piping, applying one over four inches per foot (or 20.9 mm per meter) and IPC/UPC guidance to prevent stagnation.

Learn how drainage fixture units serve as a design factor in sizing plumbing systems, accounting for frequency of use, discharge, and time of operation per IPC standards.

Calculate fixture units for a washroom assembly to determine the total drainage load and guide piping sizing under IPC standards.

Explore how fixture traps create a water seal blocking odors and gases; review fixture units and trap sizes for washers, dishwashers, and floor drains in single and double stack systems.

Apply common sense to drainage system design to ensure a cohesive piping network. Choose fittings that match intent to avoid backwashing and routing conflicts.