On-demand water heaters repairs and new installation
On-demand water heaters
tankless water heaters
Stand-alone appliances for quickly heating water for DHW (Domestic Hot Water) are known in North America as tankless heaters, elsewhere as multipoint heaters, geysers or Ascots. In Australia and New Zealand there was a similar wood fired appliance known as the chip heater.
A common arrangement where hot-water space heating is employed is for the boiler to also heat potable water giving a continuous supply of DHW without any extra equipment required. Appliances capable of supplying both space-heating and DHW are known as combination (or “combi“) boilers.
Although on-demand heaters can give a continuous supply of DHW, the rate at which they can produce it is limited by the thermodynamics of heating water from the available fuel supplies.
Plumbing repairs and new construction
Plumbing repairs and new construction
FREE ESTIMATES
Jacksonville Duval County 904-346-1266
St Augustine St Johns County 904-824-7144
Orange Park Clay County 904-264-6444
Jacksonville Beaches Duval County 904-246-3969
Fernandina Nassau County 904-277-3040
Macclenny Baker County 904-259-5091
Palm Coast Flagler County 386-439-5290
Daytona Volusia County 386-253-4911
GAINESVILLE ALACHUA COUNTY 352-335-8555
Serving all of Florida and Georgia at 904-346-1266
EMAIL LARRY@1STPROP.COM (feel free to email your bidding packages here)
Plumbing (from the Latin plumbum for lead as pipes were once made from lead) is the skilled trade of working with pipes, tubing and plumbing fixtures for drinking water systems and the drainage of waste. A plumber is someone who installs or repairs piping systems, plumbing fixtures and equipment such as water heaters. 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 also refers to a system of pipes and fixtures installed in a building for the distribution of potable water and the removal of waterborne 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.
Plumbing was extremely rare until the growth of modern cities in the 19th century. At about the same time public health authorities began pressing for better waste disposal systems to be installed. Earlier, the waste disposal system merely consisted of collecting waste and dumping it on ground or into a river. Standardized earthen plumbing pipes with broad flanges making use of asphalt for preventing leakages appeared in the urban settlements of the Indus Valley Civilization by 2700 B.C. Plumbing originated during the ancient civilizations such as the Greek, Roman, Persian, Indian, and Chinese civilizations as they developed public baths and needed to provide potable water, and drainage of wastes. The Romans used lead pipe inscriptions to prevent water theft. 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. Most large cities today pipe solid wastes to treatment plants in order to separate and partly purify the water before emptying into streams or other bodies of water.
Water systems of ancient times relied on gravity for the supply of water, using pipes or channels usually made of clay, lead, bamboo or stone. Present-day water-supply systems use a network of high-pressure pumps, and pipes are now made of copper, brass, plastic, or other nontoxic material. Present-day drain and vent lines are made of plastic, steel, cast-iron, and lead. Lead is not used in modern water-supply piping due to its toxicity.
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. Pipe normally has thicker walls and may be threaded or welded, where tubing is thinner-walled and requires special joining techniques such as ‘brazing’, ‘compression fitting’, ‘crimping’, or for plastics, ’solvent welding’.
In addition to the straight pipe or tubing, many fittings are required in plumbing systems, such as valves, elbows, tees, and unions. The piping and plumbing fittings and valves articles discuss these features further.
Plumbing fixtures are designed for the end-users. Some examples of fixtures include water closets (also known as toilets), urinals, bidets, showers, bathtubs, utility and kitchen sinks, drinking fountains, ice makers, humidifiers, air washers, fountains, and eye wash stations.
Plumbing equipment, not present in all systems, include, for example, water meters, pumps, expansion tanks, backflow preventers, filters, water softeners, water heaters, wrenches, heat exchangers, gauges, and control systems.
Now there is equipment that is technologically advanced and helps plumbers fix problems without the usual hassles. For example, plumbers use video cameras for inspections of hidden leaks or problems, they use hydro jets, and high pressure hydraulic pumps connected to steel cables for trench-less sewer line replacement.
The major categories of plumbing systems or subsystems are:
- Potable cold and hot water supply
- Traps, drains, and vents
- Septic systems
- Rainwater, surface, and subsurface water drainage
- Fuel gas piping
For their environmental benefit and sizable energy savings hot water heat recycling units are growing in use throughout the residential building sectors. Further ecological concern has seen increasing interest in grey-water recovery and treatment systems.
Firestopping is required where mechanical penetrants traverse fire-resistance rated wall and floor assemblies, or membranes thereof. This work is usually done worldwide by the insulation trade and/or specialty firestop sub-contractors.
Much of the plumbing work in populated areas is regulated by government or quasi-government agencies due to the direct impact on the public’s health, safety, and welfare. Plumbing installation and repair work on residences and other buildings generally must be done according to plumbing and building codes to protect the inhabitants of the buildings and to ensure safe, quality construction to future buyers. If permits are required for work, plumbing contractors typically secure them from the authorities on behalf of home or building owners. In the United Kingdom the professional body is the newly Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering (educational charity status)and it is true that the trade still remains virtually ungoverned; there are no systems in place to monitor or control the activities of unqualified plumbers or those home owners who choose to undertake installation and maintenance works themselves, despite the health and safety issues which arise from such works when they are undertaken incorrectly – see Health Aspects of Plumbing (HAP) published jointly by the World Health Organization(WHO) and the World Plumbing Council (WPC) WPC has subsequently appointed a representative to the World Health Organization to take forward various projects related to Health Aspects of Plumbing.
A trap primer (or trap seal primer) is a plumbing device or valve that adds water to traps. The water seals in traps are needed to prevent sewer gases from entering buildings, but because this water is exposed to the air, it is subject to evaporation over time in infrequently used floor drains, leading to the release of sewer gas into the environment. The trap primer mitigates this problem by injecting water, either directly or indirectly, into the trap to maintain the water seal indefinitely.
Building codes may require trap primers for some traps, especially for where experience has shown that there are isolated and/or infrequently used drains such as basement floor drains (which hopefully are only used when the basement is flooded). Where explosion hazards are high, specifying trap primers, whether required or not by code, is wise. Trap primers do require maintenance and replacement, so they should be installed in accessible locations.
There are many types of trap primers. The simplest, typically for a floor drain’s trap, is simply a connection from a nearby sink’s drain so that when the sink is used, some of the water flow is diverted into one or more traps. More common is a primer that is connected to the potable water supply and activates when pressure fluctuations are sensed, such as the flushing of a nearby water closet. Others depend on occupancy sensors or timers. Several manufacturers produce laundry faucets with a built-in trap seal primer outlet.
In infrequently used floor drains where such a primer does not exist, evaporation can be mitigated a few different ways:
- Routinely adding water to the floor drain
- Pouring a small amount of vegetable or mineral oil into the drain to just cover the trap’s water surface. The oil floats on the surface of the water and creates a liquid seal preventing further evaporation. Mineral oil tends to be a better option, as it does not go rancid, where vegetable oil does. Any environmental impact from its discharge is negligible compared to the contents that can be flushed out of a flooded basement.
Poor venting or windy conditions can cause water seals to be siphoned or blown out; for these cases, the drain must be refilled.
In modern plumbing, a drain-waste-vent (or DWV) is a system that removes sewage and greywater from a building and vents the gases produced by said waste. Waste is produced at fixtures such as toilets, sinks and showers, and exits the fixtures through a trap, a dipped section of pipe that always contains water. All fixtures must contain traps to prevent gases from backing up into the house. Through traps, all fixtures are connected to waste lines, which in turn take the waste to a soil stack, which extends from the building drain at its lowest point to above and out of the roof. Through the building drain, the waste is removed from the building and taken to a sewage line, which leads to a septic system or a public sewer. Cesspits are generally prohibited in developed areas.
he venting system, or plumbing vents, consists of pipes leading from fixtures to the outdoors, usually via the roof. Vents provide for relief of sewer gases, admission of oxygen for aerobic sewage digestion, and maintenance of the trap water seals which prevent sewer gases from entering the building. Every fixture is required to have an internal or external trap; double trapping is prohibited by plumbing codes. With exceptions, every plumbing fixture must have an attached vent. The top of stacks must be vented too, via a stack vent, which is sometimes called a stink pipe
DWV systems maintain neutral air pressure in the drains, allowing flow of water and sewage down drains and through waste pipes by gravity. As such, it is critical that a downward slope be maintained throughout. In relatively rare situations, a downward slope out of a building to the sewer cannot be created, and a special collection pit and grinding lift ’sewage ejector’ pump are needed. By comparison, potable water supply systems operate under pressure to distribute water up through buildings.
A sewer pipe is normally at neutral air pressure compared to the surrounding atmosphere. When a column of waste water flows through a pipe, it compresses air in the pipe, creating a positive pressure that must be released or it will push back on the waste stream and downstream traps’ water seals. As the column of water passes, air must flow in behind the waste stream or negative pressure (suction) results. The extent of these pressure fluctuations is determined by the fluid volume of the waste discharge.
Excessive negative air pressure, behind a ’slug’ of water that is draining, can siphon water from trap seals at plumbing fixtures. Generally, a toilet outlet has the shortest trap seal, making it most vulnerable to being emptied by induced siphonage. An empty trap can allow noxious sewer gasses to enter a building.
On the other hand, if the air pressure within the drain becomes suddenly higher than ambient, this positive transient could cause waste water to be pushed into the fixture, breaking the trap seal, with dire hygiene and health consequences if too forceful. Tall buildings of three or more stories are particularly susceptible to this problem. Vent stacks are put in parallel to waste stacks to allow proper venting in tall buildings.
To prevent the problems of high pressure in a drain system, sewer pipes will usually vent via one of two mechanisms.
Most residential buildings’ drainage systems in North America are vented directly through the buildings’ roofs. The DWV pipe is typically ABS or PVC DWV-rated plastic pipe equipped with a flashing to prevent water entering the buildings. Older homes may use copper, iron, lead or clay pipes, in rough order of increasing antiquity.
Under many older building codes, a vent stack, a pipe leading to the main roof vent, is required to be within a five foot radius of the draining fixture (sink, toilet, shower stall, etc.). To allow only one vent stack, and thus one roof protrusion as permitted by local building code, sub-vents may be tied together and exit a common vent stack.
A blocked vent is a relatively common problem caused by anything from leaves, to dead squirrels, to ice dams in very cold weather. Symptoms range from bubbles in the toilet bowl when it is flushed, to slow drainage, and all the way to siphoned (empty) traps and sewer gases entering the building. When a fixture trap is venting properly, a “sucking” sound can often be heard as the fixture empties out.
Air admittance valves (AAVs) are pressure-activated, one-way mechanical vents, used in a plumbing system to eliminate the need for conventional pipe venting and roof penetrations. A discharge of wastewater causes the AAV to open, releasing the vacuum and allowing air to enter plumbing vent pipe for proper drainage. Otherwise, the valve remains closed, preventing the escape of sewer gas and maintaining the trap seal. Using AAVs can significantly reduce the amount of venting materials needed in a plumbing system, increase plumbing labor efficiency, allow greater flexibility in the layout of plumbing fixtures, and reduce long-term roof maintenance problems associated with conventional vent stack roofing penetrations.
While some state and local building departments prohibit AAVs, the International Residential and International Plumbing Codes allow it to be used in place of a vent-through-the-roof. AAV’s are certified to reliably open and close a minimum of 500,000 times, (approximately 30 years of use) with no emanation of sewer gas; and some manufacturers claim their units are tested for up to 1.5 million cycles, or at least 80 years of use. Air Admittance Valves have been effectively used in Europe for more than two decades. U.S. manufacturers offer warranties that range from 20 years to lifetime.
Drainage and venting systems require not only pipe, but also many fittings which add considerably to their cost of construction. But fittings such as “clean-outs” enhance the maintainability of the systems.
One of the primary responsibilities of local governments is to provide potable water and treatment of sewage. The potable water side is called the WTP or Water Treatment Plant; and the waste/sewage removal system is called the WWTP Waste Water Treatment Plant; A municipal system’s WTP treats water and brings it to home in compliance with federal, state, and local regulations governing water quality. The WWTP provides for the removal and treatment of waste water; the Waste water treatment facility or natural waste site (Usually a body of water or river) is typically as far away from inhabited areas as practical. Where a building is unable to connect to a municipal sewage system, the Waste/Sewage treatment is accomplished by means of a septic system and periodic hauling-off of the solids produced.
FREE ESTIMATES
Jacksonville Duval County 904-346-1266
St Augustine St Johns County 904-824-7144
Orange Park Clay County 904-264-6444
Jacksonville Beaches Duval County 904-246-3969
Fernandina Nassau County 904-277-3040
Macclenny Baker County 904-259-5091
Palm Coast Flagler County 386-439-5290
Daytona Volusia County 386-253-4911
GAINESVILLE ALACHUA COUNTY 352-335-8555
Serving all of Florida and Georgia at 904-346-1266
EMAIL LARRY@1STPROP.COM (feel free to email your bidding packages here)
Grease traps (also known as grease interceptors, and grease recovery devices) are plumbing devices designed to intercept most greases and solids before they enter a wastewater disposal system. Common wastewater contains small amounts of oils which enter into septic tanks and treatment facilities to form a floating scum layer. This scum layer is very slowly digested and broken down by microorganisms in the anaerobic digestion process. However, very large amounts of oil from food production in kitchens and restaurants can overwhelm the septic tank or treatment facility, causing a release of untreated sewage into the environment. Also, high viscosity fats and cooking greases such as lard solidify when cooled, and can combine with other disposed solids to form blockages in drain pipes.
Grease traps have been used since the Victorian era. They are used to reduce the amount of fats, oils and greases (FOG’s) that enter the main sewers. Effectively they are boxes within the drain run that flows between the sinks in a kitchen to the foul sewer system. They only have waste water flowing through them and are not served by any other drainage system such as toilets. They can be made from a number of different materials; e.g. Stainless Steel, Mild Steel, Plastics, Concrete, Cast Iron and can hold anywhere between 40 liters to 45000 liters and above. They can be located above ground, below ground, inside the kitchen or outside the building.
A septic tank, the key component of the septic system, is a small scale sewage treatment system common in areas with no connection to main sewage pipes provided by local governments or private corporations. (Other components, typically mandated and/or restricted by local governments, optionally include pumps, alarms, sand filters, and clarified liquid effluent disposal means such as a septic drain field, ponds, natural stone fibre filter plants or peat moss beds.) Septic systems are a type of On-Site Sewage Facility (OSSF). In North America approximately 25% of the population relies on septic tanks; this can include suburbs and small towns as well as rural areas (Indianapolis is an example of a large city where many of the city’s neighborhoods are still on separate septic systems). In Europe they are generally limited to rural areas only.
The term “septic” refers to the anaerobic bacterial environment that develops in the tank and which decomposes or mineralizes the waste discharged into the tank. Septic tanks can be coupled with other on-site wastewater treatment units such as biofilters or aerobic systems involving artificial forced aeration.[1]
Periodic preventive maintenance is required to remove the irreducible solids which settle and gradually fill the tank, reducing its efficiency. In most jurisdictions this maintenance is required by law, yet often not enforced. Those who ignore the requirement will eventually be faced with extremely costly repairs when solids escape the tank and destroy the clarified liquid effluent disposal means. A properly maintained system, on the other hand, can last for decades and possibly a lifetime.
Wastewater is any water that has been adversely affected in quality by anthropogenic influence. It comprises liquid waste discharged by domestic residences, commercial properties, industry, and/or agriculture and can encompass a wide range of potential contaminants and concentrations. In the most common usage, it refers to the municipal wastewater that contains a broad spectrum of contaminants resulting from the mixing of wastewaters from different sources.
Sewage is correctly the subset of wastewater that is contaminated with feces or urine, but is often used to mean any waste water. “Sewage” includes domestic, municipal, or industrial liquid waste products disposed of, usually via a pipe or sewer or similar structure, sometimes in a cesspool emptier.
The physical infrastructure, including pipes, pumps, screens, channels etc. used to convey sewage from its origin to the point of eventual treatment or disposal is termed sewerage.
Human waste is a waste type usually used to refer to byproducts of digestion, such as feces and urine. Human waste is most often transported as sewage in waste water through sewerage systems. Alternatively it is disposed of in nappies (diapers) in municipal solid waste.
Human waste can be a serious health hazard, as it is a good vector for both viral and bacterial diseases. A major accomplishment of human civilization has been the reduction of disease transmission via human waste through the practice of hygiene and sanitation, including the development of sewage systems and plumbing.
Human waste can be reduced or reused through use of waterless urinals and composting toilets and greywater. The most common method of waste treatment in rural areas where municipal sewage systems are unavailable is the use of septic tank systems. In remote rural places without sewage or septic systems, small populations allow for the continued use of honey buckets and sewage lagoons (see anaerobic lagoon) without the threat of disease presented by places with denser populations. Honey buckets are used by rural villages in Alaska where, due to permafrost, conventional waste treatment systems cannot be utilised.
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