Plumbing 103: Storm Water Plumbing Design Training (A to Z)

See how plumbing fits within mechanical engineering, applying thermodynamics, heat transfer, and fluid mechanics to move fluids from one location to another through pipes and channels, including storm water design.

Explore how plumbing standards from IPC to local municipal codes and the Uniform Plumbing Code guide the design process toward consistent, environmentally conscious best practices.

Explore the main categories of plumbing systems, including water supply (cold and hot) and drainage (soil, grey water, and rainwater), with a focus on stormwater design.

Explore the importance of properly designing rainwater and stormwater drainage to relieve structural pressure, including live and dead loads, and strategies to collect, divert, or bypass flow to minimize impact.

Design stormwater systems to harvest rainwater, supporting sustainable, resource-efficient buildings; reuse captured water for gardening, toilets, laundry, and car washing while reducing municipal water use.

Explore how stormwater and rainwater systems conserve water by collecting and storing rain for irrigation, reducing reliance on supply lines and supporting gardens and farms.

Explore the importance of sustainable stormwater design in plumbing, highlighting rainwater collection for washing, irrigation, and storage. Learn how green design meets municipal criteria and prevents project rejection.

Differentiate soil pipes, gray water pipes, and vent pipes within indoor drainage, and explain how rainwater pipes drain stormwater externally to prevent pressure buildup and odors.

Learn how roof water outlets, side outlets, and gutters collect rainwater for residential systems, and how to size and space these accessories to feed the piping assembly.

Compare PVC and HDPE piping for rainwater systems, with iron and cast iron as alternatives, from external to buried segments while adhering to international codes and location-based standards.

Explore how fittings enable flexible rainwater piping designs, using tees, elbows, valves, plugs, end caps, and sockets to route and control water flow around site constraints.

Design and store rainwater with above-ground or below-ground tanks for residential and farm use. Master sizing, outlet spacing, pipe sizes, and two design methods—standardized tables and pen-and-paper calculations.

Explore essential terminology that governs rainwater design, including rainfall intensity, roofing area, and drain spacing; learn about vertical liters or letters guiding the design approach.

Define rainfall intensity as the height of water per square meter per hour; rely on local weather data and IPC standards to size storm water systems.

Identify roofing area as the exposed roof surface that collects rain, obtained from architectural drawings, and combine it with rainfall intensity to design and size stormwater drainage.

Learn drain spacing and proper outlet allocation for storm water systems. Place outlets correctly on roofs to avoid ponds and leaks in high rise buildings.

Explore vertical rainwater conduits, or vertical liters, that collect roof runoff after defining rainfall intensity and roof area, and compare exterior guarded, interior sealed, and suburban downspout boot arrangements.

Examine practical storm water and rainwater connectivity designs for homes, including gutters, downpipes, tanks, pumps, filtration with ultraviolet treatment, and options to discharge or reuse water.

Learn the storm water design sequence for residential and commercial buildings, from calculating rainfall and roofing area to outlet layout, pipe sizing, and optional tank or pump considerations.

Size vertical drains and outlets with UPC table 11.1 and horizontal piping with slopes using UPC table 11.2, based on rainfall intensity and roof area. Include downloadable samples for practice.

Design stormwater and rainwater drainage using the standardized method with industry tables, and verify designs through a manual pen-and-paper approach.

Calculate the total roof area and rainfall intensity, determine the number of outlets, size the vertical rainwater stack and horizontal piping (using table 11 one), and assess tank needs.

Design a rainwater drainage system by splitting roof areas, locating outlets, and sizing vertical and horizontal pipes for a 50 mm per hour rainfall.

Apply the second storm water design method using manual calculations to size rainwater piping, outlets, and tank based on roof area, rainfall intensity, and discharge volume.

Design a rainwater drainage system using the volume formula v = a × i × c × e, incorporating roof area, rainfall intensity, runoff coefficient, and collection efficiency.

Size storm water piping by calculating flow rate from roof area and rainfall, then use q = a v with a 0.75–2 m/s target and include friction losses and contingency.