Hello Readers. It’s ‘that’ time again. Instead of a close look at plumbers' materials and practices (as this space usually discusses) the author this time around wanted to tell his readers about two books he holds in high regard and believes they are perfect candidates for readers of In the Pipe. Home dwellers; builders; architects; plumbers; septic contractors; ‘pumpers’ and real estate professionals would all enjoy and benefit from the two titles represented. The reasoning behind discussing books instead of hardware was a simple choice: Pete thought he’d take advantage of an offer from Amazon to publish a book review on his Amazon’s “Author’s Page”. There are several titles that over many years the author believed the public would be well served to read, concerning plumbing’s history and functions. Pete the Plumber was recently invited by Amazon to submit three book reviews whence the company might pick one of them for publication. “Less is best”; “Fewer the better” (words) are terms authors subconsciously know are important to keep in mind when telling a story. Journalists are especially keen at this. (Me thinks Pete rightly avoided that latter art form.) At first Pete thought he could fulfill this 3 report challenge, until he read the ‘fine print”. What? Take the time to write 3 (hopefully) thought provoking works and have (with a great deal of ‘luck’) maybe one (1) selected for publication? After much procrastination (something he’s good at) Pete the Plumber was not very comfortable with those rules and odds. (Put in ‘all this work’ with no guarantees Amazon would use any of the three?) And not only go through the ‘self-flagellation’ of bumbling along in his signature loose, corny ‘Arthur Godfrey-ish’ labors, but write with an excruciatingly pared down word count? So. Well. Yours truly decided he would have more fun telling you about his book recommendations in his verbose mid-Western manner. Not only did this decision not scare Pete away from the challenge, but by roping 2 reports into one rotund-ish article the author had sufficient (minimum) word count to bother his editor, Anne. (She could pull the two reports into a Pipe piece, thus saving all the work to have the reports thrown into the ‘round file’, and Amazon will still publish the author’s two reports on the author’s running collection of blogs, at/on his author’s page. Is that being either sneaky or lazy? Or both? Now, you the reader, gets to decide (if you have the stamina). The first book Pete wanted to bring to your attention is: The Septic Systems Owner’s Manual If there was/were? just one book on a plumbing related topic that the author thinks should be read by the public at large, it is The Septic Systems Owner’s Manual. (I can hear you laughing.) But it’s no joke. About 25 million septic systems are operating in the U.S. and each year 400,000 new ones are added. That’s millions of people making the average 1lb. of their poop a day their responsibility for sanitary disposal. Now, what might you think this has to do with the rest (majority) of the population living with paid municipal sewerage privileges? A realization is now forming in the minds of forward-thinking sanitation professionals that the present model of municipal, centralized, pool enabled sewage and wastewater treatment facilities face a troubling future due to climate change. (At some point no longer enough water). Experts have been late to understand that our drinking water wasting sanitation model might not be feasible at some future date (possibly sooner than later). Opposed to our present model of ‘municipal centralized/pool processing, our long-proven septic (de-centralized) designs at some point in our future may need to ‘save’ us from no longer working, energy gobbling, high maintenance ‘pool’ methodologies. (Now “no worries Mate”). This great threat probably/might not/ won’t occur in a few short years’ time. But by reading (now) The Septic System Owner’s Manual, if you do happen to still be breathing at the unfortunate time of ‘Poop Armageddon’, you’ll have the good sense to go move-in with your old Aunt Edna, out on the ‘outskirts’. Understanding how human liquid and solid waste (thanks to ‘bugs’) in conjunction with soils is made into a safe “afterthought” is the chemistry lab probably most of the Country would now flunk. However, invest the little time to read this book (and thanks to its author, Lloyd Kahn, and illustrator Peter Aschwanden ) it’s a very humorous read to boot. You’ll be fully schooled in this extremely important fact of life and ready to attend your next class reunion (with lots of new gosh bathroom humor for ‘ammunition’.) Bonus Not only are septic systems fully discussed but included is a invaluable chapter on gray water systems which will be playing an ever more important role in our modern hygiene existence. Happy, Fun Reading… PtP Clean And Decent, By Lawrence Wright Hello Again, Now in this, the second review, the author fondly recalls many service calls to homes of customers who over the years became good friends. Luckily for Pete a goodly number of these customers-into-friends were also very good cooks. And even more fortunate for Pete (who owns an insatiable appetite), not only a few enjoyed feeding the author. Yours truly truly understands the passage: “Have your cake and eat it too.” Who, ever, had a gig as good as that?!?! Me wagers not many. Matter of fact, one of Pete the Plumbers most coveted accounts was a world class fine dining venue. Over the years Pete and the head chef formed a wonderful bond, and the plumber became also the home plumber for his chef. On one particular ‘light workload’ day the author got a hankering for some good food and proceeded to his friend's restaurant. As usual, when Pete would appear, the Maître d would announce his arrival. On this particular visit, the chef told Pete that quail was on the menu. “Oh…I just love quail” said Pete, “but they’re not especially filling.” “Well, how many of the little birds do you think you can eat?” said my friend. “At least five,” Pete told him. “We’ll see,” said the chef and Pete was seated. (Yours truly devoured all of them.) Another true friend/client of Pete’s was a Geography Department Chair at a world-famous university. This professor was not in need of his university salary due to inheritance. The educator’s kitchen looked like a commercial kitchen supply store. Pete’s friend (a gourmand) was known to fly to Paris to procure mustards. This professor happened to enjoy occasionally cooking for a select group of his postgraduates, and on some those occasions would call Pete, the day before, and invite him to attend. Those occasions were always jocular ones, and the author always happily answered any questions involving plumbing (which always arose). At one of these feasts, following the final exit of the student guests, Pete’s professor friend pulled a book from a shelf and handed it to the author, telling him that “…every plumber would be well served by reading it.” The book? “Clean And Decent”. This plumber has thanked his mentor’s gift of Clean And Decent for opening many conversations among Pete’s plumber friends and prospective clients alike. (Reading this book of plumbing’s historical progress makes one so glad they are alive now…not then.) It is a most enlightening, enjoyable and profusely illustrated history of bathing, pooping and other personal hygiene habits of mankind. It is actually pure enjoyment masking a rather scholarly endeavor. With reading we discover the first known advertisement for a house with a bathroom was in a Paris newspaper of 1765. (Real estate agents paying attention?) Another: In 1908, in London, there was one municipal bathtub for each 2,000 inhabitants! Or: In 1851 a bathtub was installed in the White House. (We know it wasn’t a cast iron one because those weren’t on the market until 1880.) And, it wasn’t until 1910 that porcelain bonded cast iron fixtures became available. Lots of fun such facts, wonderful historical illustrations, but attitudes are also noted. Example, page 41, last 4 sentences: “In medieval stories of amorous intrigue, the two lovers usually begin their evening by bathing together. Ideas of propriety were different from ours; the whole household and guests shared the one and only sleeping apartment, and wore no night-clothes until the sixteenth century. It was not necessarily rude to be nude. Home life seems to have combined luxury with discomfort, and a strange indifference to privacy.” The biggest takeaway (for Pete) from reading Clean and Decent is a reinforced appreciation for our present-day level of ‘sanitary convenience’. The common man is living a lifestyle that even kings and royalty could have only dreamed of. Clean and Decent is a fulfilling and entertaining account in text and illustrations of man’s sometime wobbly progress along the path of increasing our knowledge and practice of personal hygiene. By taking Pete’s cue and setting aside time to digest this recommended read, at some future social gathering the read reader will be able to amaze his/her fellow attendees with encyclopedic factoids (when inevitably) the suffering conversation ‘comes round’ to irritating bodily ‘shortcomings’. And, by all means take up the challenge on Page 7: Until next time, P.t.P.
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Aloha, Normally the author would leave his readers more time between challenges but recent ‘developments’ leave Pete no wiggle room. This “discussion” will honor (not that those past don’t, necessarily), the statement proclaiming this blog: “Keeping readers abreast of new developments in plumbing materials, products, tools and practices.” In the author’s opinion this following ‘discussion’ is the most important and pressing topic he has ever posted to the Pipe. Sump’n Has Come Up A new-ish concern (of the plumbing realm) has just recently morphed into an immediate concern. The immediacy relates to human health. The author was once approached to act as an expert witness in a multi-million dollar court case involving a ‘failing’ plastic DWV pipe which caused much structural damage. Today, another plastic plumbing pipe is facing new scrutiny for another concern: adverse health risks. That pipe is Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC). (Along with sister CPVC). (The prefix C translates chlorinated.) The recently ‘sofa re-ensconced’ author just had to deal with this. My apologies. For decades (forty or more years?) the plumbing ‘world’ has tussled (to put it mildly) with a safety concern involving PVC pipe for drinking water. For the last ten (or more) years the argument has more or less been sleeping. A report by Emily Le Coz of USA TODAY from April 18th 2023 recently helped peel the lid off the ‘bitter jam’, though. And, Brian Bienkowski, of the Environmental Health News also recently stated (regarding the EPA’s forthcoming reaction to latent published public warnings involving safety of PVC carrying drinking water): “This is one of the most important chemical review processes ever undertaken by the EPA.” (The bolding was mine.) The Everywhere Plastic PVC plastic has found ‘more than many’ applications in modern life. Plumbing pipe represents about half the market for use of the plastic. According to TheWorldCounts.com “…global production of PVC is 54 million pounds annually, or 7 kilos per every single person on the planet.” It is found in everything from medical supplies to clothing to credit cards. The list is endless. The argument involving plumbing pipe (which, to date, has never really been settled) is that chemical components making up plumbers’ PVC pipe leach into the water that passes through it. (Opposed to concerns that in-ground contaminants passed through the wall of PB (Poly Butylene). (PB caused astronomical dollar and environmental turmoil, especially to municipalities who had many miles of the stuff buried under asphalt and concrete. The PB pipe, due mostly to the metal compression rings used in its joinery, blew apart, and necessitated its excavation. In a few other occasions there had also been pipe wall failure. Me and you could be doing a PB piping project on your ¼ acre and find that pipe failures were going to cost us a week’s wages as we dug up the stuff and used improved metal crimping rings to replace the failed design. That’s horrific enough, but can you imagine the frowns on countless public agencies’ “managers” contemplating the extent of the agony they were about to have to deal with: $Engineers; $private civil engineering companies; $equipment storage, $waste disposal, the list goes on and on. What used up years to install, and then extend, the PB now needed to all be dug up. Then, roads and landscape replacement. How fat is our budget? For PVC, there was enough concern with PVC in August of 1974 that The Consumer Product Safety Commission banned it from aerosols. When the author was writing Plumbing A House, the published hazard of PVC pipe application (at that time) was health risks involved with using the powerful chemical agents (primer & cement). This coupled both breathing dangers and skin contact concerns. Now, this more modern concern with leaching adds a whole other twist. Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC) was accidentally synthesized in Germany in 1872 by chemist Eugen Baumann. But, it wasn’t until 1926 when in the U.S. a very bright fellow by the name of Waldo Semon teamed up with the the B.F. Goodrich Company and created additives that made PVC more flexible, and easier to manufacture and the modified material quickly went world wide. The Contest “It seems like forever” there have been studies by ‘experts’ that support both the con and pro of this argument. Usually the con side publishes more damaging claims of chemical poisoning, and the pro side says they did similar to same studies and the results always showed no discernible harmful levels of said compounds. (But something tells the author that maybe this time that won’t be the case.). We now have been served with too many new studies continuing the con’s argument for health hazards involving use of PVC pipe for freshwater to not want a definitive answer. Will the latest warning articles prevail? Only time will tell. A spokesman for the American Chemistry Council was recently quoted: “…PVC used for delivering drinking water is certified by NSF Foundation to conform to EPA safety regulations.” Dominique Joseph, EPA spokeswoman, told Emily Coz of USA Today: “…the agency has no requirements for plumbing materials except that they be free of lead.” Where does this leave us? We are about to see if a U.S. Government agency established to protect the health of the Nation ‘passes the buck’ and leaves our future health in question by doing nothing. Looking Back The author was once approached by a party, in a multi-million dollar court case, to act as an expert witness. This case also involved a type of plumbing pipe, a pipe used for drainage. The issue was not a public health one, but rather property damage. Pete was also once contacted by attorneys representing pipe manufacturers, letting him know that they were keenly interested how their clients’ were going to be portrayed in the author’s soon to be published “Plumbing A House”. No Pockets, Let Alone Deep Ones Pete, Pete the Plumber, the author, yours truly, Dr. Waterheater wished to raise this question of PVC remaining a prominent ‘force’ in our drinking water plumbing because he wanted to reiterate: This question of the published health dangers of PVC pipe for drinking water will be the EPA’s biggest test of their accountability in their history. And because the author feels that the topic of this Pipe is more ‘newsworthy’ than any other in the collection (especially involving your health and safety) he wanted to provide the reader with the following list of resources from which he consulted for this article and recommends your further reading. The Goods New report warns against using PVC pipes in drinking water systems: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2023/04/18/new-report-warns-against-using-pvc-pipes-drinking-water-systems/11688737002/ Is PVC Toxic?: https://www.theworldcounts.com/challenges/toxic-exposures/use-of-chemicals/is-pvc-toxic EPA begins review of PVC ingredient vinyl chloride, which could lead to restrictions or ban: https://www.ehn.org/vinyl-chloride-pvc-ban-2666602999.html PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride): http://avemwater.com/variations/pvc-polyvinyl-chloride/ Overall View of PVC Viability: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41578-021-00407-8.pdf Hello Everyone, The following ‘Pipe’ (“Yuck, Yuck, Yuck”) might be “walking on thin ice” as my Wisconsin Grandpa, Homer, would have said. This Pipe is going to perhaps affect some readers to the extent that they choose (immediately) to read no further. The author fully understands. Excused from class. In this Pipe the author broaches the subject of the use of toilet effluent to supplement drinking water supplies. In an indirect way, it is already being done. Many metropolises across the Country who source their drinking water supply from rivers and lakes are using water that has previously been used in sewage treatment plants of other upstream cities. This is referred to as indirect potable reuse. However, as climate change and drought continue to endanger our water supplies, cities are looking to the day that we directly re-direct treated sewage effluent into piping serving fresh water supply. California has formalized the rules in Section 116275 of the Health and Safety Code. This is referred to as direct potable re-use. It’s not a very appetizing thought, is it. Unofficially this process has given birth to the term: the Yuck Factor. As Pete mentioned in an up-stream post “Some Straight Poop: The Cruelest Inconvenience and Power To The Pee-ple” (9/29/2021), me and you excrete (on average) approximately one pound of poop in a 24 hour period. Of this, ¾% is water. In other up-stream posts the author tried to ‘get through’ to the American public: ...pooping, indoors, in private, hygienically, is the biggest stride the last two hundred years has managed to provide the masses. (Two decades of international homelessness is witnessing a challenge to this accomplishment.) As our (ever growing) numbers require more and more fresh (drinking) water supplies, use of drinking water to rid ourselves of our poop makes less and less sense. According to author Dan Lewis (“Now I Know” Newsletter), each of us uses about 24 gallons of drinking water, per day, to flush our poop to sewer or septic. The U.S. Government’s Office of Groundwater and Drinking Water estimates that the average cost of U.S. water is $2:00 for 1,000 gallons or 4.8 Cents, per person, per day, for the 24 gallons they each use to flush their poop. Until infrastructures have been modernized to offer not only drinking water but also “purple” water for toilet and landscaping, use of drinking water for this chore will remain our Achilles Heel. “Purple” water was given that name by the color of the pipe which carries it. Purple water is reclaimed water from sewage (and water) treatment plants which is not potable (at this stage) but can be used for landscaping and flushing toilets. When city streets have not only freshwater piping underneath them, but also “purple” pipe running alongside, then new and remodeled buildings will begin flushing and irrigating with “purple.” This will significantly free up the fresh water demands now solely performed by our over stretched, Utility freshwater (only) piping systems. No wonder then “experts” are eyeing the recoverable (and treatable) water content of our poop and the ‘wasted’ drinking (black) water used to transport it. However, the U.S. Government’s EPA (Environmental Protection) Agency) “...does not require any type of reuse. Generally, States maintain primary regulatory authority (i.e. primacy) in allocating and developing water resources...” In this interest some U.S. cities have already established standards for treating sewage wastewater to drinking water purity. The technology already exists, and as our climatically adjusted waste infrastructure is further challenged, true direct potable re-use may have to be adopted. More on this ‘as we go’. (The reader, downstream, will also be directed to a phenomenal video demonstrating how this can be accomplished.) * In the Beginning When Pete the Plumber was a hard-working metropolitan plumber, he owned a clown suit. Pete would have more than one client of young family having difficulty “potty training”. (Childhood leaves no one unscathed). For these loyal clients, the author donned the suit so as not upset some little bambino’s when he carried his tools (both ways) to his clients’ “potty rooms” and kitchens. Especially the “potty room”. How quickly and easily pooping and “tinkling” in a “potty” is established (all parents know) can differ among siblings. Some children become adults dragging along long-childhood “fear issues”. Many are bodily function and toilet-bathtub-sink (all kinds)-related. Pete had psychiatrist friends who said that adults’ long-carried childhood phobias about plumbers (and toileting) was quite common. Fresh water supplies/concerns have not reached the present level of the general public’s concerns, maybe since Ptolemy was building his cisterns (a long, long time ago). Today’s over-stretched water suppliers (California) have had productive audience with official California water managers, leading to the “wringing out the rag” in support of direct potable reuse. This will be where water which has carried our feces is ‘treated’ and reintroduced into the potable water stream, where we once again make orange juice with it, boil rice with it, shower with it, and continue sending poop away with it. This potable reuse is already being done in some US. States in an indirect fashion, discussed below. According to writer Dan Lewis (“Now I Know” newsletter), the average American uses 90 gallons of fresh water per day. Of this only about 2 gallons goes toward drinking and cooking. About 24 gallons is used to flush toilets. We use 10 times the water to send our poop away than we used in preparing its progenitor (food) for consumption. More and more smart minds are waking up and realizing this ratio is a losing bet the farther we look ahead. With Eyes Open The author can remember a much ‘simpler’ world than most of his readers, he reckons. (That’s bad for him? but good for you.) This Pipe takes the (willing) reader through a modern argument for direct potable re-use. The fate of our long-in-use metropolitan freshwater distribution systems are looking more challenged by the year. Back in 1996 Pete the Plumber was feeling better when he read the EPA announcement: “As of 1996 over 92 percent of the population supplied by community water systems receives drinking water that meets all health-based standards all of the time.” Yeah? What percentage of the population would the citizens of Flint, Michigan, after April 25th, 2014, deem they represented? The Flint tragedy was a “wake up call” to the entire world. Safe, fresh water supplies for large populations might not be so safe (all of the time). In past blogs the author has also donned the euphoric “Little Red Hen” suit: writing about the impending doom of freshwater shortages. Anyone who reads media news has not been able to escape the late attention given to water issues such as supplies of and quality concerns. Climate Change and Global Warming figure into these opinions. Leakage from utilities’ distribution piping is a constant concern. What (now) appears to be more understood, is our take for granted water wasting practices of “before” will not be able to be fact for much longer. Population growth with continued ample supplies of freshwater is not a given, meteorology considered. (Not good for plumbers.) Today, enough experts are voicing their fears that enough fresh water for all will require the adoption of direct potable reuse (discussed below) but first: Professor Petteri Taalas of the World Meteorological Organization recently was quoted: ”We need to wake up to the looming water crisis.” This wake-up call will require behavioral changes most urban water subscribers so far have failed so show a willingness to adhere/follow. “Even if we had all the money, we would not be able to convince our customer base to participate at the rates we need them. We can build it, but they don’t necessarily come.” Those words were spoken by Joe Berg, Municipal Water District of Orange County, CA. So Goes California So Goes the Nation? The State of California, because of drought and non-stop development, has recently been forced to adopt a mandatory fine structure for its 400 water purveyors. By 2035 if these utilities have not reduced their delivered water volume by 9% they face a $1,000.00 a day fine (until they are compliant). During droughts the fine can go far as $10,000.00 a day. Many of these suppliers say their customers are already conserving to the point of hardship. But even though one considers the number of toilet flushes, it’s still drinking water that carries the poop, paper and goldfish away. Now it may sound odd but water agencies (under the great ‘pressures’ they find themselves) are working towards not wasting a drop of fresh water, even it formerly escorted our poop outta the house. In other words, in California the water used in our toilets (“black”) and sinks, showers, tubs, and laundry (gray) carry’s our poop (and other wastes) to the municipal treatment plant, might, soon, be “green lighted” to be put back into our ‘potable’ (drinking water) piping (after thorough processing). Does the thought of that (for those not ‘on’ septic) ring anyone’s Yuck Bell? If it does, the author hopes to allay your fears/suspicions. For the ‘firmer’ stomached, Pete hopes the read proves a logically pleasing one. But regardless the author is pleased that the topic is no longer ignored in the Press media. About ten years ago Pete’s plumbing mentor Larry Weingarten invited Pete to tour an experimental home on the Central Coast of California. This home did not require a “full time” Utility water supply. Why? Because it reused all of its wastewater (including the 75% in poop). This experimental home consumed its own black water. The author recalls all of the tanks, pumps, valves, gauges, wire and cable under that home. (It reminded him of submarines.) The experiment of this experimental home was the ability to not waste even the water dealing with (and in) poop. To many (or most?) readers this challenge might seem: “Over the top”? Recall Professor Taalas. The World Meteorological Organization reminds us that only 0.5% of water on our planet is useable and available fresh water. And it is estimated that by 2050 water demands will be 20 to 30 times what they are at present. (Pete’s glad he won’t be around for the suffering.) Unfortunately, the experimental home was unable to pass the County’s stringent requirements for direct potable reuse of wastewater to potable water supply. New regulations for direct potable reuse require the removal of 99.999 % of diarrhea-causing viruses and other parasites. Other requirements include the removal of anti-seizure drugs, pain relievers, anti-depressants, and numerous other dangerous compounds. The ‘Direct’ness of It Indirect reuse as mentioned upstream is a process where treated wastewater is first injected into a groundwater aquifer, lake, or river and then re-treated before it is distributed for public use. A Water Reuse article in watereuse.org defines: In a 2017 EPA Potable Reuse Compendium “Direct reuse refers to those situations where treatment is followed by storage and use in the environmental buffer.” The buffer to consist of municipal irrigation, designed wetlands and other environmental uses. However, some experts, by the wordage of California’s new rules, claim reclaimed poop and gray water piping can be directly connected drinking water piping, overriding EPA’s definition. So far, this ‘black water’ is not being “re-piped” directly to our home freshwater piping, after treatment (to the author’s knowledge). It’s going to be contentious progress. But, the technology does exist. *(This ingenious machine turns feces into drinking water | Bill Gates). The problem is scaling up the process to serve everyone. There are over 400 urban retail water suppliers which serve 95% of Californians drinking water requirements. The investment required to treat black water to the point of direct inclusion in their potable fare is presently too unpalatable. Someday? Maybe. According to Erin Stone of LAist (Southern California Public Radio), “…75% of treated wastewater is returned to the ocean.” Whoa! (More than the author would have wagered). California, though, will not be the first state to operate a direct re-use water treatment plant. Texas was. It built the first operational facility in 2013. This was treated sewage water being introduced to waters which several upstream municipalities drew their freshwater. At present the new California regulations are allowing for reintroduction of wastewater treated to new potable reuse standards, into the immediate upstream intake of a potable water treatment plant. So far black water is not being “re-piped” directly to our homes freshwater piping, after treatment. So far… The Day Will Come Water usage in the author’s family (from his early childhood until the present) has always been a “don’t waste it” attitude. In the ‘early days’ the sink faucets always turned on when needed. The tub faucets always ran when wanted. The toilet always flushed. (O.K. though if one had to let the the cold (drinking) water run (waiting for it to get hot), preparing for a tub bath or shower, to go down the drain until the ‘right’ temp showed up.) That behavior would/does-not-fly today. Residential water supply costs for most of us have been so economical that residents rarely gave it a second thought. That way of life no longer is a viable one. Mother Nature has been scolding us already, and for some time. Whatever the freshwater situation is for those born thirty/forty years from now, yours truly will be more than content with his present, temporary reality. (The author never was a gambler.) Before we leave this Yuck behind, the author recommends that all of us remain cognizant of our personal water use footprint (average of 24 gallons for pooping, outta the 90 gallons per person, daily use). Will your ‘next generation’ family look back at your now 90 gallon daily average usage, as exorbitant? Could be a chance. Until Next Time, Don’t take any wooden Nickels. Introduction As the author mentioned upstream, utilities have run large scale tests which dramatically showed how much more energy efficient heat pump water heaters are than the standard electrical resistance type. But, until the day when we find/see the upfront costs of purchase and installation of heat pump water heaters priced within the reach of most of us, the author believes their widespread inclusion will be a tardy one. For those readers fortunate enough to be contemplating a remodel or a new home, the author would like to share with you (in Top Drawer) what he would plumb, if it were his residence. (It would not include a heat pump water heater, as made at present.) This recommendation involves a particular brand and model of standard electrical resistance fired water heater, serving a 3/8” and ¼” PEX short run home run installed Water Distribution System. However, for a replacement only situation, Pete would have to stick with (vote) the heat pump water heater. Now, structures built on a raised, (crawl-able) perimeter foundation are ‘survivable candidates’ for a PEX re-piping operation. Structures ‘on slab’ are usually trickier (and more costly) to re-pipe (in any material). Since the major available re-piping pathways for a one-story, on-slab structure are ceilings and attics space, re-piping in PEX makes the most sense for both performance and price. Top Drawer Anyone who has read Plumbing A House might recall that the author used the term ‘Top Drawer’ to describe his approval of products, practices and level of workmanship. The reader may also recall Pete telling his readers that he was of the belief that because of the nature of a plumber’s work that the plumber had a higher moral obligation to do the best work (top drawer?) than any other tradesperson. What we do affects the health of all present and future residents of the plumbed structure, until such time the product or system needs replacing. What aspect of modern life is more critically important than access to a sanitary water supply. A heated sanitary water supply. What the author discusses in Top Drawer is his recommendations for a ‘top drawer’ product and practice. Via “Top Drawer” Pete highlights the attributes of pairing a particular standard electrical resistance residential water heater, and small diameter (3/8” and 1/4”) PEX freshwater distribution piping. The combination of the Rheem Marathon standard electrical resistance water heater and manifold supplied (“home runs”) PEX (preferably UPONOR) is a ‘Pete’s Ticket’ to performance and longevity for a Fresh Water Distribution system. The first major contributor discussed is our choice of water heater. To see why we will first look at the source of the hot water used in our design (before discussing piping materials) goes back to the upstream discussion about warranties, steel, and anodes. Take a good look at what warranty’s manufacturers today are offering for their heat pump offerings. 10 years? What is a fair cost of purchase, with installation, for the average heat pump water heaters? Pete’s general contractor friend, Eddie M., billed a recent client for a heat pump water heater installation (Photo 1, below). (This included the removal of an existing natural gas fired heater.) The billing price was greater than had he been installing a standard electrical resistance water heater. To install the client’s pick of heat pump water heater it had to be moved to a new location because it did not fit in the space of the existing. There (gratefully) happened to be plenty cubic feet of open surround space, a first requirement. A new electrical supply (4,500 Watts) and a new water supply had to be run to the new heater location also. The client’s chosen Rheem heater Eddie installed has a 10 year warranty. This type of heater is referred to as a hybrid. The 4,500 Watts required is greater than other makes and models. The reason the client chose the hybrid model was because it was constructed with a good, mechanical, internal ‘insurance policy’: 2 standard electric resistance type heating elements at the ready in case the the ‘heat pump function’ of the heater failed. The extra elements would then take over (automatically) and heat until such time (automatically) heat pump function is restored. (This service failure can be due to non-maintenance, worn moving parts, or atmospheric/temperature change.) (A standard electrical resistance water heater has far fewer gremlins.) Will an owner of a heat pump water heater be a conscientious one and perform the filter cleaning maintenance their heat pump water heater needs, to maintain it’s designed level of efficiency? If the maintenance is not performed, not only efficiency suffers but this can be a cause of a service shut down. The author’s recommended choice of the Rheem Marathon standard electric resistance water heater, by comparison, has minimal post-installation maintenance requirements (atmosphere and geography being benign). Pete’s recommended Rheem Marathon water heater has a tank lifetime warranty. The application of this heater choice feeding short, 3/8” and ¼” PEX ‘home run’ piping to the latest ‘low-flow’ valves and fixtures accomplishes this (silently). Sans motors/compressors, employing PEX, this Marathon needs to heat much less water (a ‘big deal’ savings, now, and a ‘huge deal’ as we move forward.) Heat pump water heaters may last 15 years with proper maintenance. The Rheem Marathon standard electrical resistance water heater has a lifetime tank warranty. The heat pump water heater using 120 Volt supply uses less electricity but has a much longer recovery time, and a relatively short life compared to the standard electrical resistance, lifetime-warranted, Rheem Marathon. (How many replacement heat pump water heaters later will be required to match the continuous service of a Rheem Marathon electrical resistance water heater?) A generational ‘chain of family’ could live, served by one Marathon paired to short ‘home run’ PEX, where another family depending on (today’s) heat pump water heaters would have to purchase several. Why: steel, anodes (the lack of), and electric motors. The Marathon has no anodes; no electric motors. It doesn’t need them! Its tank is fiberglass. The Goods If the reader has read the PEX Edition of Plumbing A House, PEX is then ‘old hat’. What Pete the Plumber did not discuss in the book (aside a few other things) was the Rheem Marathon standard electrical resistance water heater. The author now thinks (before discussing piping) it’s time to delve into why he is recommending this electrical resistance water heater. Actually, other than the standard type electrical heating elements found in mass produced electric water heaters, Pete’s choice of electric water heater has little about it that is standard. The reason he wanted to bring this water heater to your attention involves two issues: performance, economy and efficiency when serving small diameter PEX piping (preferably Uponor). Steel, Anodes and Motors Yes. The author loves the efficiency gain of heat pump water heaters (and resulting energy economy). But, steel tanks, anode rods and electric motors (for this purpose) turns Pete off. It’s like buying a car. For the first year (or two) of your ownership, all goes well. But you know in your heart you are operating a mechanical gamble. ‘Some’ component ‘down the road’ is going to retire and leave you needing someone else’s talents, accompanied by a bill. For most, installing a standard electric water heater (or even a gas one) affects their worry/concern ‘space’ in their conscience less than concerns of maintenance and repairs with heat pump water heaters. (Not to mention purchase price). The author used to kid folks that under hoods of modern cars: “It’s all belts, hoses and cables, can’t even see the engine.” Guess what it looks like under the top of a heat pump water heater? How many people do you know who might be able to troubleshoot these beauties? Extended Warranties? You’d better. It’s not just the complexity of the heat pump water heaters operation, there are things called steel and anodes which will (eventually) sink your ship. And mass marketed heat pump water heaters have both. 10 year warranties are pretty standard and five year extended warranties are also available. Still on the showroom floor, your new love will easily set you back over 2K. (Any sales tax?). However, one aspect of heat pump water heaters that does intrigue Pete is the inclusion of Wi-Fi. (While the system functioned as designed people could save money using it. The appliance can be custom regulated, remotely. (Will sunspots and hackers ruin the picnic?) Another Way? The author is next going to make a suggestion: For new construction/remodel why not use a little inefficiency to gain a much greater end efficiency. (No, it’s not a perpetual motion machine.) “It” is a choice of employing a Rheem Marathon standard electrical resistance water heater (4,500 Watts) to serve 3/8” and ¼” PEX fresh water distribution piping. This ‘combo’ suggestion is admittedly best practical for two situations: those involved with new construction or the remodeling of existing structure. (The featured Marathon water heater though, is, alone, a ‘top drawer’ choice for those just replacing a standard electrical resistance or a gas heater in existing structure.) Without the nuisance of the flue pipe and gas line for/gas water heaters, siting an electric water heater has many more possible locations. Operating a heat pump water heater using 120 Volts for a traditional “straight line” (trunk and branch) piping plan could cost as much (or more?) as the Marathon operating at 4,500 Watts serving a well-designed, short run, small diameter PEX ‘home run’ distribution plan. Illus. 1, above, is a cut-a-way view of the Marathon heater. No metal outside skin to rust; no steel tank to rust/corrode; no need for sacrificial anodes. Plus, a union top connection for the Temperature and Pressure Relief Valve and a Titanium lower heating element... Good reasons why the ‘out the door’ price (though considerably less than a heat pump water heater) is sufficiently ‘dear’ that most homeowners faced with an unplanned water heater replacement might settle for a lot less. (For fear of not living long enough to ‘spend that kind of money’. In some instances there may well be some truth to that. However, the author believes there are many others who will find the ‘peace of mind’ of being served by Marathon and Uponor worth the investment. Frown The author’s Mid-Western ‘dairy’ folk had a saying: “Even good chickens can lay bad eggs.” Well, there is a component aspect of Pete’s choice of water heater that the author wishes to caution you about. In Photo 2 we see an assembly of valve and fitting Pete would say: “Definitely not Top Drawer” (for this purpose). What’s ‘going on’ here? What is not going on is an efficient means of draining the tank of both water and sediment. Anyone who purchased a Rheem Marathon and found a facsimile of Photo 2, Pete would highly recommend an immediate removal and replacement with a ¾” ‘full-port’ ball valve such as Photo 3 which allows for the removal of sediment build-up (not just the water in the tank). The valve in Photo 3a, below is what is called a ‘globe’ valve (shown next to a ball valve for comparison). This designation of valve has been with us for a very long time. It has a couple of qualities still appreciated mostly by industrial/agricultural interests. The globe valve though is not the best choice for thoroughly draining a water heater with sediment. The reason today that few favor it for this application is because of the level of friction the water (and sediment ) is subjected to as it passes through the valve. The friction slows down the waters velocity and flow, Illus. 2. Engineers have a term for this: Frictional Loss. Photo 4 is a graph comparing the frictional loss of various valves, fittings and pipe materials. We see that a globe valve for ½” pipe has a frictional loss co-efficient of 340 and the frictional loss of a ½” (full port) ball valve is 3, many times less. The 50 gallons in a Marathon would drain dramatically slower through a globe valve than through a full port ball valve. But, it is not the water drain rate that Pete is most concerned about; it’s the ability of being able to remove sediment from the tank. Compared to a full port ball valve, much less sediment will pass through a globe valve. In Larry Weingarten’s book: the Water Heater Workbook, the reader learns how important sediment removal is for tanks of all materials. Full Port ball valves are crucial to an efficient routine of maintaining clean holding tanks of all types. Caveat Globe valves are considered superior to gate valves for remaining leak/drip-free. Could that be why someone found it applicable for duty on a water heater? Stop-Cock The author hopes readers who managed to ‘hang on’ until this point found out new things about water heaters which might be of help ‘someday’. On that subject, me is now ‘stop’erd’.. If we are all lucky the rains will continue soft and on schedule and the sun will shine benignly upon us and our lands. Reality, we know, is not likely to ‘play out’, such. Somebody will be needing a new water heater…soon! Until ‘something’ in plumbing gets Pete off-the couch, again, readers may want to get off their couches and familiarize themselves with how and from where their hot water is produced. PtP Welcome back. In this 2nd of three: “Heat Pump Water Heaters”, it’s the author’s hope to explain in simple wordage, what a heat pump water heater is, and how it accomplishes what it does for you. However, first… “Location, Location, Location” Pete doesn’t want to pop anyone’s bubble of being able to employ a mass-produced, residential, heat pump water heater. So, he needs to alert the reader ‘right out’ that these stand-alone* mechanical wonders only operate efficiently in year-round, stable air temperatures. Lower cost models may require between 40-90 degrees F. (4.4-32.2 C.). More expensive units have wider ranges like 37-145 F. AND they require a minimum cubic feet of air space around them. (This figure wavers between individual manufacturers but 1,000 cu. ft. was an accepted standard.) This could make them a non-choice for some. However, such things as louvered and trimmed (bottoms) doors can ameliorate some concerns for indoor installations. And, engineers design heat pumps providing not only space heat, AC, but hot water also with units remotely installed. But Pete hopes his article on heat pump water heaters will still prove useful to many readers. How It Works With a heat pump (in general) heat is moved from a cold space to a warm space. The author’s plumber friend and mentor Larry Weingarten will tell you: “Think of heat pumps and refrigerators as apparatus that concentrate and move heat from one place to another. A refrigerator extracts heat from its cold interior, making the inside colder yet, and moving that heat into the kitchen.“ As the author researched: a heat pump water heater moves heat from ambient air (inside or outside) into the water in its holding tank. Refrigerators depend on compressors and metal tubing to send gases to various places to keep food fresh. Heat pump water heaters also require compressors and tubing to move heat from the ambient air, into the water in the holding tank. In a refrigerated system ambient warm air is ‘pulled’/sent (fan) across refrigerant-filled evaporator coils. These gaseous filled coils ‘pick up’ the heat from the passing air. The slightly heated refrigerant is then ‘sent’ (pumped) via compressor (which raises further the temperature of the refrigerant). This now really hot refrigerant is piped to the outside of the appliance (usually on side or back). The piping here is often ‘finned’ to greatly increase the exposed area. As the refrigerant moves through this exposed tubing, its heat is released back into the ‘air (kitchen). The now much cooler refrigerant, losing more heat, condenses (liquid) and now at a very cold temperature is pumped through the cooling coils surrounding the ‘fridges’ interior, to maintain a cold and/or freeze temperature for the food it houses. As my friend Larry likes to put it: “A refrigerator extracts heat from its cold interior, making the inside colder yet. Even Keel As long as these mechanical components behave and stay on the job, our modern-day life ‘leaves a fine wake.” When the machine (either water heater or refrigerator) stops working for some reason, some of us may actually suffer some levels of agitation. Yours truly, personally, would prefer to lose (for a protracted time) the benefits of his refrigerator than his hot water supply. Unlike the refrigerator, the heat pump water heater is not sending a chilled liquid refrigerant to maintain a ‘cold box’. The heat pump water heater (with its compressor and tubing) moves the heat from surrounding air and infuses it (heat exchange via submerged tubing coils) into the water in its holding tank. Engineers have a term Energy Efficiency. A simplified way of thinking of this is: A process of reducing the amount of energy required to provide products and services*. The heat pump water heater is providing a service. *In our case it is the producing of convenient hot water. The efficiency of how this is done is referred to as “a co-efficient of performance.” (COP). When selecting a heat pump water heater its particular COP is listed. The higher the listed number, the more efficient that appliance is. ENABLERS There are four possible heat source variables a heat pump can operate on. One of them is: air. Most stand-alone residential heat pump water heaters operate on free air. Many homes space-heated and air-conditioned via air heat pumps may also use heat in the ground (geothermal) to accomplish their tasks. Other enablers are water and exhaust gases from various apparatus. These larger units also can add ‘capacity’ in their design to include the serving you of your hot water demands. As you might imagine, these units are complex. In this article the author is solely concentrating on the residential, air served, stand-alone, electrically powered, holding tank heat pump water heater. Illus.1. The Energy Department’s Northwest National Laboratory, teaming up with: A. The Bonneville Power Administration, Portland, Ore.; B. General Electric Corp.; and C. 10 other Northwest Utilities, designed and administered a multi-year test comparing the electrical current draw between standard electrical resistance water heaters and heat pump water heaters. This test was performed at a load (demand power) rate of 90%. In comparing the two types of water heaters the engineers discovered that ninety percent of the Evening Peak Load power could be reduced by eliminating standard electrical resistance water heaters and replacing them with heat pump water heaters. The study included ten weeks of data collected on 250 water heaters. Of these 145 were heat pump water heaters and 86 were standard electrical resistance water heaters. One of the surprising facts that came to light was heat pump water heaters could, on average, operate their water heaters at 60% of what it cost owners of standard electrical resistance water heaters. This is a remarkable cost savings. For the majority of U.S. households heating water is their second most expensive energy expense. Only top loading automatic washing machines use more hot water. Pete the Plumber surmises that the hefty purchase and installation costs of heat pump water heaters are the major cause for the slow growth in popularity (more than the “atmospheric restrictions aforementioned). But it’s not just the upfront costs that are deterrents. Surrounding Space concerns; Size (height of heater); and Noise (of fan/compressor) and Power (electricity supply installed?) are the big factors that must be taken into consideration when weighing the choice of a stand-alone air enabled heat pump water heater. Let’s Open the Box In Photo 1 we see a Rheem air heat pump water heater Pete’s contractor friend Eddie M. recently installed on a major remodel. The owners not only wanted major space/architectural modifications but also wanted to ‘get off’ heating water with Natural Gas. So, the heat pump water heater was incorporated into their plan. If you think the water heater in this picture looks a bit tall compared to the average standard electrical resistance (or gas) it’s not because of choice of camera lens. The heater is 4 to 5 inches taller than the average standard electrical resistance water heater of equivalent holding capacity. (Where an owner can have installed an air heat pump water heater may require some head scratching.) Luckily those remodeling or creating a new structure encounter far fewer challenges to do so. The air heat pump water heater Eddie installed was wired for 30 Amperes on 240 Volts. Some makes/models can function on 120 Volts, but recovery times are much longer. Basically, if an owner chose a water heater with a holding tank large enough to provide approximately 16 gallons of desired temp hot water for each inhabitant, in a shower ‘chain’, a longer recovery time might not be as big of an issue. One factor that does need consideration is the noise associated with operating air heat pump water heaters. (To install one on one side of a not well sound-insulated bedroom wall would not be recommended.) Builders of additions and new structures can purposely design and create quiet space to moot this concern. A second ‘must remember’ is keeping the air filter (for compressor cooling) clean. (Pet hair to cobwebs to sawdust). (Put up another ‘fridge’ magnet with a reminder?) In Photo 2 the reader will notice hanging down in the center of the tank is the anode rod. We were introduced to anode rods upstream, in Conundrum. The reader may also recall in Conundrum, Pete the Plumber comparing water heater warranties. One extra anode added 5 years to the warranty. These are important components. (In Larry Weingarten’s book The Water Heater Workbook he shows the reader how to locate, replace and add anode rods to extend the life of installed holding tank water heaters.) Now look at Photo 2 again. Where is the (single?) anode on this heat pump water heater? Directly under the compressor! (Pete would not covet the task of replacing that one.) One worry that owners of standard electrical resistance water heaters and fuel gas water heaters do not have however, is the bother with a condensate drain line.* Heat pump water heaters (via compressor) produce condensation and need to always ‘pipe’ it away using a condensate line (drain line) (most always of easily assembled Schedule 40 PVC pipe and fittings.) The trick involved with condensate lines is: Always Be Going Down Slope (to a legal final destination). If the plumber cannot arrange this by gravity flow, then a sump and electric pump must be included in a heat pump water heater installation. Don’t panic. There are manufactured such ‘plug-in’ collector/pump combo’s (just for this purpose) available at plumber and or builder suppliers. *This issue of the condensate drain line is really no more fuss than what a conscientious plumber does when installing a gas or standard electrical resistance water heater inside a building: Install heater in a properly sized drain pan with properly sized drain line, Code sloped to a final 90-degree bend, pointed down, 6 inches above grade (ground). A Special Case As mentioned upstream there are atmospheric limitations for air supplied heat pumps in general. It’s no different for heat pump water heaters. More than one manufacturer of air heat pump water heater has ‘the answer’ for the marginally sited: Hybrid air Heat pump water heater. These up-scale models are able to automatically switch back to using the standard electrical resistance heating elements when atmospheric conditions are not co-operating. This may be a game saver for those readers living in Northern latitudes. Why? The majority of we Yanks live from paycheck to paycheck. If/when our ‘silent, obedient, hot water servant’ suddenly gives up the ghost, are we going to spend maybe three or more times the money to get our hot water back? (Even if you’re a Tree Hugger?) For most of us the answer will be: “No, just don’t have the bucks for a heat pump water heater” (right now). Yours truly believes it will require generous rebates from both manufacturers and Government before we witness significant saturation of this energy saving water heater technology. The author’s upstream stated belief of new construction mandated acceptance will be tested. There’s a hefty haul of information for those who would like to pursue this topic further, on their own. Pete has assembled the following list of inform-able sources on the subject of residential air Heat Pump Water Heaters: Have fun. Dream. Further Reading Links: How it Works – Heat Pump Water Heaters: https://www.energystar.gov/products/water_heaters/high_efficiency_electric_storage_water_heaters/how_it_works The Pros and Cons of Heat Pump Water Heaters: https://goodbeeplumbinganddrains.com/the-pros-and-cons-of-heat-pump-water-heaters/ Living With a Heat Pump Water Heater: https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/living-with-a-heat-pump-water-heater/ Heat Pump Water Heater Ultimate Guide: https://sealed.com/resources/heat-pump-water-heater-guide/ Heat Pump Water Heaters as Clean-Energy Batteries: https://www.nrdc.org/bio/pierre-delforge/heat-pump-water-heaters-clean-energy-batteries Pete will be back sooner than later with the third and final installment in this series. In the meantime, have many readers ‘picked-up’ (media) on major metropolises green lighting the addition of treated sewage water into municipal fresh water supply systems? That practice might make for some future comments in The Pipe. PtP O.K…the author admits it. He’s been derelict (AWOL) in feeding his article stash. Part of the reason (I know, ‘no excuses soldier!’) was a lull in the author’s topics of interest colliding with his consciousness…, fishing and kayaking suffered not. “A Conundrum”, is this Pipe’s first of 3 installments involving domestic water heaters of/for the future. Your Rip Van Winkle-esk author hopes he can make up for his last spell of laziness? by sparing the reader (in the future) a lot of “head scratching” when ‘must-choosing’ one of 3 sanctioned, electrically powered water heater designs. Why would someone be put in this situation of ‘must choosing a water heater? Read on… Of late, there was ‘zilch’ in the plumbing realm sufficiently inspiring Pete to nudge you. (He trusts the reader put the same time to good use?) However/But, the author DID do some wrestling-on-the-couch: “…..would it behoove the reader to know about some ‘plumbing things’ (politics included) that might prove, in the not-too-distant future, a possible lifestyle ‘upend-er’ for many. This change (the author believes) will involve HOT water. And, how the cold water turns into hot water might interest the reader. Is your fresh water supply heated by using electricity or by burning natural gas or propane? This question is the seed of Pete’s story. (“Oil-ers’ are excused from class.) Because climate change is forcing human activities to become as *environmentally clean as we can do them, staying clean via hot water (using some form of heat energy) will not escape closer and closer inspection. The Big 3 Today, three concerns of geo conservationists are causing elected officials to fret over continued use of fuel gas (Natural Gas and Liquid Petroleum Gas (Propane) to fuel stoves. Concern 1. Radiation in Natural Gas includes uranium and thorium. 2. Stanford University researchers discovered using gas stoves raises indoor levels of the carcinogen benzene to higher levels than secondhand tobacco smoke. 3. Global Warming concerns include methane (mother of natural gas) leakage in the oil & gas exploration and production. And, additional concerns involve air-pollution, possible asphyxiation and fires. Presently gas stoves are the ‘hot’ target. (Yes. That was a pun.). But, the author thinks gas water heaters and furnaces won’t be that far behind. He expects only a grace period (once stoves have been banned) before we see legislation aimed at them. Hot Nuts and Bolts Because the topic of hot water heaters can encompass so many technical aspects, the author wants to narrow his focus to the why of this article: There’s a chance that in the future, in enough parts of the Country, Natural Gas (due to health concerns) (and a little politics) will be phased out and *electricity will be tasked with making/facilitating all the domestic hot water. Those readers presently being served hot water made with electricity will not be affected. Those making hot water by Natural Gas/Propane will have to purchase a new, electric water heater. Of course those readers who use oil/kerosene will not be affected. *Suburban dwellers relying on well pumps still need electricity (whether it be by solar or Utility), to live ‘on solar’. Dive In Pete the Plumber would now (in 3 Installments) like to describe and illustrate 3 popular designs of electric holding tank water heaters on the American market, today, and tell you their advantages and shortcomings. The author did not include “tankless” water heaters in this discussion because he admit-tingly has a bias, born of decades of experience. He is not a fan. The Line-Up Pete perceives 3 possible/probable ‘camps’ of questioning among the readership for this article on holding tank electric water heaters. Camp 1. Bored-to-curious. Moot. Camp 2. Individuals needing to replace an existing mass-produced water heater. (This could mean replacing a simple electric heater with another like it, OR replacing a gas water heater with an electric one.) Camp 3. Individuals interested in 2 higher technological choices for a holding tank electric water heater either for replacement or new construction. * *Pete thinks this new construction will be the arena where the political battles of banning the use of gas home appliances will find eventual traction. You’re Busted O.K. Assuming the worst. Let’s say (in the future) one or more of my readers were informed that they need a new water heater. And…the County has successfully banned all new gas appliances. What would then go into the decision to choose an electric water heater? Those readers presently served by an electrically heated hot water appliance wouldn’t feel the crush like the ‘gas-ers’ will, when/whenever fossil fuel hook-ups are banned for all new construction. And with a possible quick sunset on existing installations. Today’s basic tech level, mass produced holding tank electric water heaters could simply replace a worn out one. For an unfortunate “gas’er” how and what their choices are, are thoroughly discussed in the trio. Confession Yours truly was raised in homes with natural gas stoves and furnaces. He and wife, Katherine, also raised four children in a house with a gas stove and gas furnace. As a result, the author prefers gas cooking appliances over electric ones but understands the rationale for retiring the ‘blue flame’. In some parts of the Country (especially mountainous and/or remote), fuel oil/kerosene can figure into the equation. Which energy gives the reader hot water? Yours truly has loved ones living in the ‘far flung’ whose homes and fresh water are heated by appliances burning fuel oil. This article will not discuss the merits or de-merits of fuel oil. For all dwellers presently living in communities served by NG gas, with a future total ban successfully implemented, those hot showers the reader is presently enjoying are going to have to originate in an electrical or solar water heating appliance. This spells considerable expense, and the author hopes this article will aid them in choosing the ‘right’ hot water servant for their needs and budget. Factoids The number of ‘gas’ holding tank water heaters versus the number of electric holding tank water heaters manufactured today (2023) is approximately 50/50. There are three major American water heater manufacturers: A.O. Smith; Bradford White; and Rheem. Between these majors and a few independents there are hundreds of different brand names on the market. It’s not unlike the food canning business. One cannery might produce the same can of peaches with twenty different labels. Hot Oil As mentioned above many readers may be employing “oil” for heating needs, both water and space. The author has a friend, Becky B., living in a mountainous location in his State who cooks with electricity, heats water with an oil-fired water heater and space heats with propane. Sometimes when living in extreme weather locations where electrical utilities routinely suffer outages it can pay not to ‘put all your eggs in one basket’. The author feels that this “out there” group may/should be the last ‘made’ to make ‘changes.’ For the rest of us living in gentle climes and hospitable topographies, and perhaps already employing (or with an option to) an electric water heating appliance, and whose life/styles are not at risk of bans, Pete’s piece also has some information you might find of some interest. (And possibly some money saving in the future). For our poor ‘gas-ers’, this article is more focused on your having (at some future date) to choose an electric water heating apparatus. Just for the record, the author resides in a living space surrounded by steep, heavily forested terrain. Because of heavy snowfall and high winds, the electrical utility serving Pete’s abode can be expected to lose power, winter and summer. (And now and then for an extended period). Pete’s neighbors have electric water heaters. Pete has an LPG (propane) fired holding tank water heater. With extended power ‘outs’ the author’s unwavering hot showers are a source of considerable neighborhood want. Pete’s electric water heater ‘stories’ begin with a basic (graphics supported) description of today’s economically priced, electrical element, mass produced, steel holding tank water heater. And how it works. The author reckons this basic, lowest cost (electric) water heater will be around for some time to come. Two other described designs of electric holding tank water heater the author considers advanced and are ‘expensive’, relatively, will also be discussed. But, Pete’s suspicion: at some point in the future, one of the advanced choices, the heat pump hot water heater may become the mandated design in all new construction and replacements where physics and weather allow. Were this to happen (politics) the reader might have no choice but to install the expensive, technologically advanced heat pump water heater. That is why it is included in this Pipe. As was with toilets, when super efficiency models became available many communities’ Water Utilities gave rebates that enabled many customers to afford swapping their old water wasting designs for the new, super low-flow models. Pete believes similar programs will be made available for advanced/more efficient water heaters, when “push comes to shove”) An Outlier In the third tale-in-line for this Pipe, the author describes an advanced version of the ‘basic’ holding tank electric water heater with a lifetime warrantee, for those readers who today or in the future will be staying put in their homes for “the duration” and who need or want a new water heater. This heater is the Rheem Marathon, a fiberglass tank version (with no need for dielectric anode rods, as discussed, following). You could bequeath this Rheem water heater to your children. But, before spending time talking the advanced models, let’s dissect, as promised, the ‘long-on-the-job’, basic, 30 to 50 gallon, steel tank, electric, holding-tank, residential water heater. Wrapped In Blue Ever wonder what factor most threatens the common ‘holding’, steel tank, water heater? (Yacht owners already know.) Aggressive Water is the culprit. When fresh water is heated to high temperatures, it starts behaving badly. (Like it’s meaner sister, salt water.) It’s molecular ‘arrangements’ play musical chairs, and someone always loses. The water is then ‘hungry’ for molecules it no longer owns. This is now aggressive water. It’s going to fight to get back what it lost. It just so happens that the steel walls of the tank suffice as nutrient for the aggressive water. Over time aggressive hot water can eat all the way through the walls, floor, or the top of the tank. Major Leak time. Catastrophic, National, property damage results annually. Davy Jone’s Salvation For the yachtsman, clamp-on zinc shapes are placed on the hulls underwater metal components, to protect them from ‘being eaten’ (while they are submerged). These added shapes sacrifice themselves to the hungry aggressive water for the sake of the hull. (And need to be replaced cyclically.) To protect the steel tank of the water heater from heated fresh water, its interior is coated with a layer of vitreous (molten) (mucho hot) glass, many times dyed blue, Somewhat like the saltwater yachtsman protecting their hull with zinc, water heater makers introduce ‘sacrificial’ metal rods (anode’s) into their tanks. These (preferably) magnesium rod forms are replaceable, usually by un-threading them where they were installed. (Sometimes tricky to find where). As the rod is eaten by aggressive water, all’s well. When it’s totally consumed, the aggressive water goes on the warpath and looks at any ‘soft defenses’ in the vitreous tank lining protecting the steel of the tank. The aggressive water likes the steel underneath almost as much as it likes the factory installed magnesium anode rod. As long as the anode is replaced ‘in time’, the heaters life can be extended considerably. Moons ago the advertising of one competing water heater manufacturer claimed it gave their tanks a ‘Second Coat’ of ‘…Glass Lining…’. When and how (in the manufacturing process) does the steel tank get this glass coating? The tank was complete when molten glass was ‘sprayed’ through existing threaded holes. If the apparatus that applies the molten glass fails to maintain its precision and ‘misses’ or only ‘lightly’ applies the vitreous in one spot or two, that leaves the tank vulnerable to early failure. So, some savvy manufacturer, in their ads, claimed it performed a ‘second coating’. The most thorough job of applying the glass could mean a longer-lived tank. To this day, when I watch my friend Larry the Plumber (larryweingarten.com) use a sawz-all and perform a water heater autopsy for his plumbing class, the inner tanks are often blue (like us?) Pete’s good friend and mentor, plumber Larry Weingarten, has written a ‘home run’ of a manual showing in easy to understand text and illustrations) how to care for and repair the basic water heaters. His website is: larryweingarten.com. Here you can order a copy, and the curious can also enter Larry’s amazing on-line world of hot water. Dive In O.K., Illus. 1 is the theoretical, standing -‘half’ of the modern day, residential electric water heater. Steel tanks are made by rolling flat sheets of steel into a desired diameter, forming a tube, and then seam welded. The concave top is a separate piece, stamped or spun, and welded to the tube. On it are threaded openings, usually three or four, depending upon model. #3 The Cold Inlet /dip tube; #1 Hot Outlet tube; #2 the magnesium Anode Rod and possibly a last one for T&P. Our tank (the ‘Yellowstone’) has the T&P on the upper side, left. #7. The tank bottom is also a separate part, welded to the tube. Welded to the tank bottom is its base, another separate part. The walls of the tank will host its own share of holes. Two are for the thread in electrodes #4 & 5. Another is for the T&P Valve (temperature and pressure relief device) #7. #6 Is the threaded hole for the tanks drain valve. Some water heater’s (depending upon the make and model) will have two extra threaded holes on the side of the heater for cold water-in and hot water-out. This is a tremendous help when the heater needs to be placed in tight quarters. Needless to say, it is a luxury paid for. Equally beneficial is the manufacturer who provides 2 possible locations for the T&P Valve. The fuse protected electrical power cable #9 in our illustration brings 220 Volts and (in our case) 30 amperes of electrical power to the two thermostatic controls, #10 & 11. *Unlike thermostatic controls on gas powered water heaters, with a built-in, multi-inch probe, the thermostatic controls on electric water heaters #10 & 11 are flat and mount to a flattened surface on the tanks outside wall. Electrical wiring connects the two thermostats to the two thread-in electrical resistance heating elements #4 & 5. The Ins and Outs Cold water enters the tank through #5 the blue dip-tube. Notice the tube hangs down into the tank a long way. It’s that long because designers of the water heater want incoming cold water introduced near the bottom of the tank. (Cold water is ‘heavier’ than hot water.) About the upper 1/3rd. of the tank holds the ‘desirable/useable’ amount of heated water in a cycle. It would not be a good idea to let cold water dilute the temperature of the existing hot water. This would happen if not for the cold-water dip tube. What else ‘hangs down’ from the top of the tank? Components #1 & 2. Number One (Red) is the hot-out tube. Number Two (White-ish) is the magnesium anode rod. * *Pete has a confession. The anode rod as drawn is about one-half the length it would be. The red, hot-outlet tube is much shorter than the blue cold inlet-tube, as one can see. And for a good reason. The longer the tube length is, the cooler the water it will be tapping. Some smart people are the reason lengths are ‘what they be’. Recycle The author thinks/hopes the reader is game to witness a full cycle operation of the modern (electric) two electrical element, holding tank water heater. As mentioned upstream about one-half of the water heaters operating in the U.S. are this type. Let’s pretend your domicile makes its hot water with a facsimile of the water heater in Illus. 1. And, it’s early A.M. and you get outta bed and head for the shower. Uh Oh. No hot water!!!! (Not a good way to start the day). The heater is eventually (hopefully timely) replaced with a new one. And it is filled with COLD water on its first filling. Then the power is turned on. What happens next? The water heater’s upper e.element (green) #4 is energized. The work performed by the upper e. element heats the water at its level (height) and above, to the set temperature on the thermostat. As the water temperature reaches the setting on the thermostat, power is cut off and it is now sent to the green lower e. element #5. The water at this lower level of the tank is now heated to the temperature set on the lower thermostat. With this accomplished, the water heater is now at rest and waiting to serve. Crossed fingers A theoretical Someone (again) takes a shower. (This water heater has resting hot water.) By opening the hot port of the shower valve, cold water starts entering the heater (through the dip tube) #3 to the bottom of the tank. The lower thermostat feels it and and sends power to the lower e. element, #11. All this while the therapy of enjoying a hot shower is happening. With the shower valve turned off the reader is now energized! O.K./ However, if someone else takes another shower right away, the top thermostat #10 will send power to #4 the upper e.element. ONLY ONE Electrical. ELEMENT IS POWERED AT A TIME. If the water heater’s tank is ‘sized’* correctly, about 90% of the heating will be accomplished by the lower e.element. The Department of Energy has an easy to follow guide to sizing a water heater. You can find it at: https://www.energy.gov/energy saver/sizing-new-water-heater A Little, side-History When Pete the Plumber was an apprentice in the late 50’s, water heaters were widely available in four warranties. The first was a 5 yr. warranty with a caveat or two. Next was a 10 yr. Third choice was a 15-year warranty and 4th and last, you could get a 20 yr. warranty. Today? No longer. *caveat *The author does, though, in the 3rd. discussion involving the Marathon water heater, ‘talk’ you through the construction of this Lifetime Warranty electrical, fiberglass holding tank water heater. It’s his choice and he will tell you why. (Admittedly it is priced for those ‘staying in place’.) Back to the reasons for the discrepancies (then) in the water heater warranties. These included: tank wall thickness; glass glazing: coats/thickness; number of anodes; number of female iron pipe ports; thickness (and type) of thermal insulation and quality level of heat producing/regulating source. Today, because of Larry Weingarten’s book: The Water Heater Workbook, the reader can ‘assemble’ their own 20 yr. (or more) hot water servant. (Every shower thereafter renews your DIY pride.) Spit It Out Because the cost of initial purchase and/or replacement of any holding tank water heater is what it is, a sane person would prefer not to be subjected to it for as long as possible. (It’s a shame that all manufacturers (both gas & electric) are guilty of ‘short-circuiting’ your chances of a long-lived water heater by supplying an inferior drain valve (orange) #6. See: The Water Heater Workbook. Though this Pipe was intended as a comparative study, repairing water heaters is too large of a topic to include. However, the reader faced with a water heater replacement or repair would be wise to own a copy of Larry’s book. At/with the final word of “Conundrum” a coffee/tea break is recommended. For those who didn’t perish on this rocky word journey, Pete hopes to ‘see’ you jump in, slide, or fall into “Heat Pump Water Heater’s”, following. Well…Piper’s…It’s about that time…Again. The old man is off the couch (and has been thinking of you.) The urge to share finally overcame stasis. Since Pete the Plumber last burdened your ears, several fresh water scandals have made the author feel a tiny bit: “I told you so”. (He’s preached in past blogs). The Always Question: Are you prepared for interruptions? Always a good question. But, before going any further on that topic, Pete wants to ‘talk’ about an idea which has ‘cooked’ long enough to demand escape... It (idea) was sparked when a nephew (who is in the ‘biz’ in Orlando) sent the author a brochure on an industrial Stainless Steel DWV system designed for industries like breweries, laboratories and food processors. Pete couldn’t help but see the possibility for a future residential version. This possibility is the focus of this Pipe. (Disclaimer: The author does not expect to still own consciousness if or when such a new product line materializes.) Ever since the early development of “push-together” pressure fittings for Fresh Water (Photos 1 & 1a), the author has seen the Trade’s acceptance for this technology grow, and even extend to Fuel Gas. What were figments of plumbers’ imaginations fifty years ago are now ‘old hat’ plumbing practices. (Did P.O.A.’s (Plumbers of Antiquity) have dreams of advanced technology?) An early developer (1980) of the “Push” fitting type was the British manufacturer Hepworth Building Products which was founded in 1936 in Doncaster. They were originally made of plastic and trade named: Hep20. Today in the U.S. we find brass versions sold under the names Sharkbite, PlumbBite, and Nibco Push. Unfounded Fears Oh, the author recalls “off the clock” discussions amongst his brethren disparaging ‘college students in tennis shoes’ taking our jobs when ABS was newly sanctioned for residential DWV. “Anyone with a hand saw and can of cement could work the material.” Of course that was a naïve perspective. ‘What to do’ with the pipe and fittings (essence of being a journeyman plumber) was not automatically dispensed along with your receipt from the supply house. A familiar sense of superiority and disdain accompanied the development of “push” fittings for Water Supply. “Anyone can merely cut the pipe and jam the components together.” A novice could install an entire FWDS (Fresh Water Distribution System) using a tubing cutter and “push” fittings. No flame & flux/ solder; no ratchet dies and oil; no primer and cement. Same rational response: “Don’t be silly.” It’s what you know. When Pete (as an apprentice) was on his knees in a trench pouring molten lead joints on sewer laterals could he see what was coming (in a few short years): No-Hub pipe and couplings? He thinks he might be in a similar situation presently: another ‘college students in tennis shoes’ plumbing revelation. This time around it is again (he thinks) (any bookies?) a DWV involvement/development. This time the surprise is a DWV fitting and piping system made of stainless steel that employs a “Push” joinery methodology. Being made of stainless steel it is of course very expensive. Only money making enterprises who can recoup the purchase cost can afford the stuff. But that is the way many innovations become mainstream. Start out as specialized answers for specialized industries and through time and acceptance become a ubiquitous item/system in the Big Box warehouse stores. As the author noted the stainless steel DWV “push” system he is bringing to your attention is prohibitively expensive for residential applications, but he believes there is a chance that this technology could become commonplace in the DWV practice with a materials substitution to Schedule 40 PVC. With the same jaundiced eye yours truly earlier viewed ‘No-Hub’ and FWDS push fittings, methinks the result may be the same: eventual industry wide acceptance of ‘push DWV’ (in plastics). The Line-Up The pictures of the BLÜCHER (a Watts Company Brand) SS DWV system the author employed for this Pipe: (Photos 2, 2a, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, & 8) at the end of the article, are cropped iPhone shots by yours truly taken from the manufacturer’s paper sales media. *Pete has not worked with this material. But from his exotic metals experience in R&D steam plumbing he recognized immediately the limitations of sheet-welding compound curves Photo 2a. The Pit In The Olive It may be the realization of the possible superior shape/formed injected molded plastic fitting (by comparison) that the concept of economically producing “push-together” PVC DWV fittings for Residential construction is why the possibility is so intriguing.(ABS pipe would be disqualified because of the foam core.) The beautiful specimens shown are works of art, but their cost reflects that fact. Why? It’s the material/labor costs. The beautiful specimens are made of stainless to handle chemicals of multitude stripes in multiple industries. But for housing? PVC (Poly Vinyl Chloride) pipe and fittings have already proven themselves in this industry. It is of the author’s opinion that with the necessary hub modifications of present, cemented, PVC fittings… to DWV PUSH fittings, another ‘kids in Keds’ revolution may unfold. Now, yours truly knows from laying large diameter “push” plastic sewer line (gasket-ed bell) (Photo 9, above) that successful pipe-end-to-fitting hub and pipe-end-to additional pipe bell joinery requires that a certain amount of precision be maintained on pre-assembly pipe edge chamfer. Almost any cut-to-length plastic push-together joinery is possible (with a lubricant ) to accomplish in the field, with some skill and quality made hand tools. For a residential sized application with custom cut Schedule 40 pipe, Pete realizes that, tooling (either with power or by hand) which will produce a rather precision chamfer on male, custom cut to length Schedule 40 PVC pipe ends, needs to be in the plumber’s tool kit. (It would simply take too much time (to compete with ‘cemented’ joinery) to hand shape acceptable pipe end chamfers with simple files. Photos 10, 10a, 10b, 10c & 10d are examples of available specialized manual tooling. For a plumber who would choose to pursue PVC DWV Push installations there are drill powered chamfer tools which accommodate the common diameters of DWV piping. Photos 11, 11a & 12 are two examples of easily affordable drill powered options. What’s That Terrible Smell Now. What would we gain with a push joint versus the popular primer-cement joining method for plastic residential DWV? Well, to begin with, the avoidance of working with dangerous (to the plumber) vapors/gasses escaping from PVC Purple Primer and PVC cements (in all of their viscosities) which is also a serious health concern to societies who must deal with strict disposal rules (and $$$$) for abandoned and dumped surplus chemicals (and sometimes a costly surprise to an errant consumer offender). And, a possible ability to “swivel fit” the components. With cemented DWV the plumber only has a second or two (ambient temperature) to ‘twist’ pipe and fitting to final “set”. With elastomeric seals in push fittings, rotation is not time-limited. The plumber would be able to create DWV of improved performance. With a PVC DWV “Push” fitting, current and past measuring and cutting tools would also still remain relevant. Of course plumbers would encounter situations where due to structural realities they have no choice but to substitute a space saving cement cured fitting. (An analogy exists for plumbers employing the larger press copper fittings in FWD (Fresh Water Distribution) due to tight space conditions : revert to a sweat joint. Just for fun, let’s do a parts cost estimate by using BLÜCHER SS Push DWV catalog figures and re-creating a DWV pattern from Plumbing A House. Let’s go with Pattern 1, page 102, Photo 13. This pattern is a very common one. For fittings we have:
Now, the BLÜCHER Company’s price is the material, in all of its pro’s and con’s, and their labor (including machinery costs). The author in no way is demeaning the manufacturer. He’d wager that for what you want (in that material), their price is very reasonable.
A plastic injection moulding set-up (to the contrary) producing Schedule 40 PVC pipe is not much more bulk than several modern washing machines resting side by side. The author confesses he has not observed plastic ejection equipment popping out DWV fittings. But, he questions not that the manufacturing square footage required and cost to produce equivalent sized residential DWV components, in each material, would be drastically less for the PVC. And thus drastically more economical for the less technically challenging residential market. Yours truly had fun with this Pipe. It is fun to daydream new plumber’s tools and fittings, and guess at what’s coming next. And water, in all its possibilities, constantly ‘floats his boat’. If/whenever plumber Pete sees a ‘new angle’ (possibility), rest assured he won’t spare you bending your ear. Until Then, PtP Aloha! Pete just got back to the beach. Hope we didn’t lose any of the crew. Since the last ‘Pipe’ the author voyaged south to meet his mentor Larry Weingarten and the two led a one week hands- on plumbing class, DWV this time being the author’s responsibility. There is n o better way to teach anything than doing it ‘hands on’. Unfortunately not too many are fortunate enough to arrange such a ‘leg up’ opportunity. The author considers himself a proficient instructor when he is demonstrating with real materials on a real structure. Trying to elucidate the same information by word and representational art is another kettle of fish. In this last class, Pete the Plumber was given an hour and-a-half for lecture time and the rest of the week (fortunately) was actually doing-it. The author confesses that he is better at authoring than he is at speaking. Since the subject of Drains, Waste and Vent is such a huge topic, Pete thought it best to do a little second guessing and leave the students a ‘hand-out’ that might hopefully fill in the seams of a leaky lecture. Since this last class was an introduction to DWV, rather than toss his notes over the side at its conclusion, Pete thought they were worth sharing to his ‘In The Pipe’ readers (since he figures most of you are also “wanna learn-ers”). It is the author’s hope that the some of his ‘Pipe’ audience’s ‘foggy logic’ on this confusing and very involved topic might be somewhat clarified by maybe more than one ‘read through’? Are you ready (and willing) to “way-off”? Introduction To: Drains, Waste and Vent (DWV) Definition OF DWV Drains, Waste and Vent is the piping system plumbers create/install to safely convey the liquid and waterborne wastes derived from ordinary living processes to a public sewer or private sewage disposal system (septic). Let me mention that by ordinary living processes the author infers human excrement (urine and stool), and in some cases food waste processed by a ‘garbage disposer’, NOT waste from industrial activity. The UPC (Uniform Plumbing Code) (the code of Pete’s bailiwick) lists Sewage as: “Liquid waste containing animal or vegetable matter in suspension or solution [and that may include liquids containing chemicals in solution.”] My note: (sewer) piping begins 2 feet away from the exterior foundation of the structure. So this means sewers are N O T considered a portion of DWV. Further downstream PtP will “go over with you” the ‘established’ (UPC) definitions. Like dialects in various parts of the Country, the ear will hear more than one word for the same item. It can be confusing for some learners. Plumbers also seem to attract the more superstitious practitioners of all memberships. (Won’t take that further.) So, a fitting, in one part of the Country may have a different spoken vernacular description than in other locales. We need coherency of terms when discussing such a huge topic as that of DWV and its installation. It’s important: we ALL need to be on the ‘same page’ as for descriptions of the materials we will be using. *In some jurisdictions a separate permit process involves the installation of sewers. Even though the sewer “lateral” (pipe) is laid on private property, to within 2 feet of the structure. The lateral is directly connected to the public, main sewer (sometimes referred simply to the main, and therefore of critical interest to the Authority. Therefore private contractors are not allowed to ‘touch’ the ‘City Main’. Municipal workers (or contractors selected by the Local Authority) add the connection to the sewer and bring the new pipe (lateral) onto the building site. (However the c o s t to expose the sewer and add the connection for the lateral is often included in permit fees.) The Big Mystery The ability to design a safe and efficient DWV plan is the ‘Holy Grail’ for plumbers. Water systems function because of pressure. DWV operates on gravity. Think of DWV as a one chance system: You have only once chance that the “waste” you introduce to the DWV, makes it outta the building and into the sewer lateral (or septic). If it stops before exiting the drains and wastes, into the sewer lateral, there is usually no easy fix. You have a clog/stoppage prone dwelling until the design issues are rectified. The author sees a parallel in designing/building a DWV system not totally unlike making a “Pinewood Derby” car. In a race, it has once chance. On water systems, a poorly supplied plumbing fixture can be ‘helped out’ by increasing the pressure at which it is pumped. DWV is a ‘one shot’ proposition. It operates on gravity (a value of 9.8 meters per second, squared.) (14.7 psi.) Like auto parts stores selling “additives” to help unclog your auto cooling system, there’s no ‘additive’ to bump up gravity to help sluggish DWV systems. It’s critical to employ DWV pipe and fittings as would bobsled course designers make the most “fluid” twists and turns of ice course. Matter of fact, it would behoove learners of DWV design, to think (visualize) their potential piping paths (structure allowing) as mini-bobsled runs. Keep up the velocity (speed) of poop/paper/food scraps (occasional goldfish) gliding/sliding at a constant ¼-inch per foot until we say goodbye to them at the sewer entrance. The fewer ‘tight’ (speed robbing) turns created by multiple combinations of DWV fittings, the better. (The author allows that to create superior operating DWV, sometimes he will use more fittings in their design.) What’s What Upstream Pete mentioned Definitions. Now is a good time to go through those. Let’s start with the three initials in DWV. These will be lifted verbatim from the UPC with a possible little ‘English’ for clarity. Drain A pipe that carries waste or waterborne waste in a building drainage system. Waste Liquid Waste: The discharge from a fixture, appliance, or appurtenance in connection with a plumbing system that does not contain fecal matter (bold emphasis mine). Industrial Waste: Liquid or waterborne waste from industrial or commercial processes except domestic sewage. (We will be revisiting this definition) Vent The vertical pipe installed primarily for the purpose of providing circulation of air to and from any part of the drainage system Plumbing Vent A pipe provided to ventilate a plumbing system, to prevent trap siphonage and back pressure, to equalize the air pressure within the drainage system. Individual Vent “A pipe installed to a fixture trap and connects with the vent system above the fixture served; or terminates in the open air.” (Or, a l l b y I t s e l f ! ) Main Vent The primary artery of the venting system to which vent branches may be connected. Venting is/can be a difficult path. It can/has ruled-out many a ‘wet’ floor plan, because of the impossibility of finding a code sanctioned path without structural changes to accommodate. There are books by others on the topic already. The author has ‘cried’ on numerous occasions where a fabulous location for a tub, for a sink, for a toilet, bidet, etc. could not happen, because the structure of the building ruled-out a code sanctioned path for a vent. Poo Time So far, in the Definitions, we’ve seen no pipe expressly mentioning the transport of poop. Until now. That pipe is the Soil Pipe: “A pipe that conveys the discharge of water closets, urinals, clinical sinks, or fixtures having similar functions of collection and removal of domestic sewage, with or without the discharge from other fixtures, to the building drain or building sewer.” (That’s one very important pipe.) It can carry poop. (Night Soil). (Shower drains and Washing Machine drains are considered soil piping because diapers are rinsed/cleaned in them.) Sewage Liquid waste containing animal or vegetable matter in suspension or solution and that may include liquids containing chemicals in solution. The word sewage is another ‘term’ that is often misinterpreted. What the author wants his readers to understand is that his focus in this article: “DWV”, is on piping that sends “...household wastes…” on-their-way to the point of connection (2-ft. from foundation exterior) with their “lateral”. From there, in Pete’s mind, it may be considered sewage. What’s The Secret? The secret to designing a successful DWV system is to know your materials and your ‘code’. The author just finished a helper position on a two-story, two-family, total re-pipe. DWV h a d to be iron or copper. Water h a d to be copper. Former floor plans had been spun ‘this way-and-that’. It was a physical (and organizational) challenge for yours truly. However it was also a great opportunity to have had a “re-fresher” acquaintance with the making of a “hot lead” joint. No longer legal in CA. (The author has been asked/will demonstrate in the up-coming Weingarten Class in August). Materials Yours truly is so old that he remembers when cast iron was the o n l y choice of drainage pipe material and threaded galvanized steel was the sole, alternate, vent material. There were no other choices. Thankfully in subsequent years ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene and PVC (Polly Vinyl Chloride) were developed for use in pipe and fitting materials. A one foot long piece of modern, 4-inch cast iron pipe (CI) weighs over 9 pounds. It comes in 10-ft. lengths. Eat your ‘Cheerios’ this morning? Correspondingly a one foot piece of 4-in ABS or PVC (they weigh closely [for now]) is approximately 1.5 lbs. These come from the manufacturer in 20-ft. lengths but are easily hand-cut to two 10-footers making transport easier. Both ABS pipe and PVC pipe and respective fittings are sanctioned by the UPC. Can you, where you live, use either? Or only one of them? It’s most common to not find both materials sanctioned in any particular district. (It’s the case of manufacturer’s ‘carpet baggers’.) But, there are pro’s and con’s to using each type. If you were to horizontally suspend, by near-ends, a length of each pipe and wait a week, you would see that the PVC has bellied (sagged). PVC will require more support/suspension points than ABS. As for gambling which material to lay in a trench PtP would prefer that ‘saggy’ PVC. Its greater plasticity will resist cracking, longer, buried. But what about more than one floor of several wet-walls? The author, given the choice, would prefer the lighter ABS. *The Alameda (CA) City Schools settled on PVC for the DWV in their High School chemistry lab, because the greater harsh chemical protection PVC provides. Who’s Behind the Curtain? When the author was introduced to ABS pipe and fittings (late 1950’s) the pipe was solid wall. That’s the pipe Pete believes that was in the Arizona ‘test house’ that opened-the-door to its adoption, Nationally. Arizona builder John F. Long built a ‘test’ home using ABS pipe and fittings which had its various drains opened up twenty years later and inspected. The ABS showed no wear. In 1960 the FHA approved ABS for DWV. PVC (in general) did not become ‘practical’ until BF Goodrich chemist Waldo Seman “plasticized” it in 1926. (The author is unaware of the pioneering responsible for it.) PVC pipe and fittings for both pressure (water) and DWV were used on a experimental basis in the 1960’s in Germany in a similar scheme that Arizona builder John F. Long was granted: “Install it and we’ll assess.” In the late 1950’s communities in the U.S. began allowing builders (on a limited basis) using the PVC material with designated downstream ‘inspection protocols’. Today, PVC has its place in the world of DWV pipe and fittings. Matt M. a friend of the authors whose family has operated many wholesale plumbing outlets for many decades told the author that “...if PVC was suddenly allowed for use everywhere ABS was sanctioned, that the ABS manufacturers would be outta business in a week.” Both ABS and PVC DWV fittings are made in the same molds. However (at this writing) Schedule 40 PVC pipe (pressure rated) is the pipe used with PVC DWV fittings to create a PVC DWV System. Contrarily, the ABS pipe used with ABS DWV fittings is not pressure rated like PVC is. ABS pipe is rated: ‘DWV’ (only) and it is restricted for use in gravity operating DWV systems. This non-pressure rated ABS DWV pipe is a “Red Herring.” One reason the ABS DWV pipe is lighter than the Schedule 40 PVC pipe used in PVC DWV systems is because the ABS pipe “has been cheapened” by selling a pipe without a solid wall. (The ABS manufacturers make a lightweight ABS “ foam” sleeve and add a ‘typing paper thick’ layer of solid ABS on the inside bore and on the outside (exterior). The author wonders if his “Great Depression-induced, super economical mother, Mary E., might have had something to do with this.) (Attempt at joke). Anyway, this chicanery came back to bite them. A massive lawsuit for pipe failures. The author will explain what happened, further downstream. According to Water Online, in the US PVC as a piping material has seen significant growth in use in the last 35 years accounting for two-thirds by weight of plastic pipe and almost half of all installed pipe by length in 2004. Joinery There is a basic difference in the assembly time/procedure of PVC versus ABS DWV pipe and fittings. PVC is more resistant to chemicals than ABS. To ‘cement’ PVC pipe and fittings, the plumber first has to treat the pipe end, and inside fitting hub, to a coating of special primer which allows the cement to “sufficiently” grip both surfaces. This is a cement bond. ABS pipe and fittings are actually “welded” by ABS cements. The cements ‘melt’ both joining surfaces. This aspect is what caused the massive lawsuits mentioned upstream involving ABS pipe. Improper (too much) ABS cement can “eat through” the thin, solid layer of ABS pipe in the bore and on the exterior. This places too much shear force on the weak foam core and the weight of pipe runs can shear the pipe loose of fitting, at the joint. *The PVC manufacturers are taking the hint from their ABS competitors and producing a “foam core” PVC DWV pipe. Author’s suggestion: eschew it and stick to the solid Schedule #40 PVC pipe (pressure rated). To make sure plumbers don’t skip using the PVC primer when building PVC systems, the primer is dyed a nice bright purple, which can be detected visually from a distance. This primer used to be sold in a clear solution but too many non-plumber installers (not understanding the the material they were working with), skipped the extra primer application step and PVC systems failed as a result. Among plumbers there can be a certain hesitancy in choosing PVC as their DWV choice (unless they have to) because the extra step of applying the Purple Primer is a messy one (no matter how you try) and ABS is a time saving, cleaner, lighter one-step method. But whose benefit should we be concerned with the most? A plumber’s inconvenience or a better job for the customer? As the author drives/rides in, at, and around domestic development he can’t but wince when he sees the zillion protruding ABS vents on square miles of ever-widening roof-ista’s . That piping (whether ABS or PVC) deteriorates in direct sunlight. (The ABS faster). Where the developments began, Pete could probably (in one dandelion whack), sever one roof protruding vent after the other. These plastics need to be protected with a minimum of a ‘paint job’. Those living with ABS vents (to a lesser degree PVC), a n d the truly concerned, might want to query plumbers about installing vent ‘snow shields’ (covers), which provide 100% sun protection. Cutting the Mustard Whether a plumber installing DWV systems chooses PVC or ABS, if cut by hand, should use a saw with teeth expressly made for the job. The author has tried them all and the PASCO 4333 is still hands down the best for both plastics. However, you will immediately notice that it is more labor intensive to hand cut PVC than ABS. Now Pete has many times over, installed complete DWV systems (mostly ABS) with hand sawing. (Could still do it if forced to.). If a plumber is contemplating more than “just a few cuts” of DWV plastic pipe, he/she would be well rewarded if cuts were performed on a “chop saw”. (With a blade expressly for plastics.) Not only is this operation quicker, but the quality of the cut is so good (with proper blade) that there is no need to ream the inside bore. *All’s it takes is one, tiny splinter of pipe material to stick up, to ruin the flow performance of your horizontal runs, possibly creating a “forever stoppage situation.” However, you s t i l l will want to chamfer the outside edge after cutting of the pipe. This prevents the cement that you are working with from being push entirely out of the hub’s socket and into the pipe, reducing the opening, and as mentioned above, with ABS, could cause a failure. Me No Atlas The author has learned (by association) that students (of the Weingarten Classes) are not likely to be called upon to “design” and install a DWV system, for their present employer (who tends to contract out). But, all of these learners are ‘long-in-the-saddle’ repair tech’s, dealing with the Plumbing/Public’s Inter-face: chivalry meets vandals. Because the topic of DWV is so encompassing, the author thought he should spend the lecture time he was allowed with you, on the most practical (your common involvement) issues that y o u want input on/for. Rather than delve into the arithmetic of pipe sizing (which other than understanding the process/concept, will be of little use in your present work responsibility), in this article Pete wanted to share some recommendations that h e was bequeathed from “Tiny the Plumber”(website/“Me And Angie”); the ‘School Of Hard Knocks’; and tips from other pro’s, that have proved both economical and practical, working with ABS and PVC building DWV systems. (T h e r e is a Transitional Cement to assemble ABS to PVC and vice versa, vetted by manufacturers, but because of the ‘carpet baggers’ the most prevalent application is un-permitted repair work.) No-hub Iron and copper DWV systems both use very similar shaped fittings in their line-up but differ in scale. For variety of fittings the author believes ABS holds the cards, in his Western Region. Go East and it gets more PVC. Working for clients where it’s the plumber’s choice (cannot divulge that Shangri-La) is the most satisfying. Sweep ‘it out’ Over the years the author couldn’t but help learn what he (intrinsically sensed) and what training and experience has reinforced: the best ‘jewel’ in the DWV crown is the magic word: sweep. A small (1/2-inch or, ¾-inch) water supply 90’ has a radius not much more than one of your knuckles. Pete see’s them as quite cavalier about their trimness. They need not be engineered to any reasonable efficiency to meet their expected performance. Why? They have an ace-in-the-hole: app. 60-80 psi doing all the hard work getting their master to where he/she needs to go. DWV, on the other hand is still relying on what Aristotle, Galileo, and later Einstein could see/sense: gravity. No tight bends here. Pure knowledge. Paid for by “learning-on-the-job” plumbers of antiquity dealing with graviton. Were plumbers of antiquity (POA’s) beheaded if their plumbing for the King’s spa backed-up? Maybe it was safer to be a tailor or sailor. Anyhow, the author thinks it’s time we get into the nitty-gritty of the “Introduction of DWV Design” It’s also a good time we each take a bite outta Alice’s magic mushroom. We want small. PtP has found that visualizing he’s in a new whitewater ‘play’ boat (Jackson) and instead of lining a waterfall, he is about to squirt into the overflow ‘tube’ of a large, hydroelectric dam. (Always wondered how many ‘fittings’ that route took to daylight, again.) By visualizing yourself as a kayaker, in a big (for the claustrophobic = c l e a r tube), following the path of your houses DWV, you’d know instinctively how you’d ‘like’ to take those turns and drops. There’s not enough (yet) code sanctioned change-of-direction fittings, available (due to no demand) to mimic the kayak run. (Or a bobsled run). But if just subconsciously, one could be affected to the point that his/her runs became much more ‘efficient’ than ‘code’: progress made. We must remember that ‘Code’ was/is a minimum standard. But of course. When the dollar is involved, few go outta their way to do more than ‘what’s code’. That’s O.K. There are venues for the Cult of Craft (any tradesperson with pride in their work) to keep alive and even boost interest in their methodologies. Upswept Just a few drainage fittings get most “un-initiated” installers into trouble building DWV systems. They are: the 1, the Sanitary Tee, and 2, the Wye. These (aside from another ‘special’ (90’) are up for discussion, first). Sanitary Tees (San Tee) and Wyes are No.’s 1 & 2 (especially to the untrained EYE) because of their “look alike’ ness. The author wagers improper use of these two fittings might be the most common violation. Something I’ve tried with dubious affect is to tell the layperson: “For drainage there is only one (legal) application for the (San Tee) fitting. It’s for receiving trap arms from sinks, showers, toilets and specialized water discharging equipment. No worry. If you’re in a crawl space installing/connecting horizontal drains, you know this fitting is not mean for a n y purpose, under there, with you. Most will encounter it (magic glasses allow you to see inside walls) under their sinks (all) under their tubs, under the shower and near their toilet. All will be in the vertical position (drain at bottom; branch=center; vent=top) as shown in (Photo 1). Where we do not want to find one is connecting drains, especially o n t h e h o r i z o n t a l. The “Weir” Wolf The weir in the branch of the San tee (Photo 1) is so designed (by really smart people) to not let (under ‘normal’ circumstances) liquid waste flowing into it to reach a velocity that would siphon the water out of a trap it was serving. If you replaced that San tee with a Wye (Photo 2) the 45 degree down slope of the Wye branch could generate sufficient velocity to suck the trap ‘dry’. Then gases in the sewer (or septic) could infiltrate your structure. *When Utility gas companies vetted residential open-flame interior lighting in the 1820’-30’s, dry (or non existent) traps caused an unknown percentage of home explosion and fires. It was always (at first) assumed that it was the gas company’s fault. Finally some smarter-than-the-rest person figured it out: There are gases in the ‘drains’ that need to be kept out of the living space. P-traps (Photos 3 & 3a), S-traps, Running-traps, and Barrel-traps were soon included in building codes. The author (usually here, or near) on “Builder’s Breakfast” tells a tale of his favorite barber shop blowing up because of a sewer gas/space heater catastrophe. Fortunately it happened in the middle of the night with no human injuries (or worse). Pete actually sat in the chair that he knew (after the tragedy) was the center of ignition. He even wondered (for years as he was getting his hair cut) if the walnut sized hole in the exposed MBD (Main Building Drain), which ran with its top radius exposed in the slab floor right behind the chair he sat in, would ever cause trouble. The author surmised that a drain cleaning technician had made the hole long ago to insert his cable into the line. So folks, it can, it d o e s happen. The gases commonly found in sanitary drainage systems include: Hydrogen sulfide; methane; esters; carbon monoxide; sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide. Four of them burn profusely. These same gases when they are not ignited, can and also cause asphyxiation. The Mine Field As the class is constantly reminded the DWV plumbing system operates on gravity. Because we are straddled with such a “low pressure” force to move our plumbing wastes in whatever our DWV design happens to incorporate, change of direction fittings that we employ to build systems with have to be accurately designed and properly installed. Let’s read what the Uniform Plumbing Code has to say in their introduction to this topic: “Changes-in-direction of drainage piping shall be made by the appropriate use of approved fittings, and shall be of angles presented by a:
Note: We did not see ¼ bends (90’s) in this listing. Does that mean we cannot have a horizontal 90’ in our design? The answer is NO. We can by using a “special” 90 (noted upstream) that incorporates a clean out extension provision (Photo 4) to building perimeter that is time consuming to install in most instances so we try to not have to employ one, to begin with. We see mentioned in: Edict 706.2 “Horizontal drain lines connecting with a vertical stack shall enter through (Photo 2) 45 degree Wye branches...(A stack is: “The vertical main pipe of a system of soil, waste, or vent piping extending through one or more stories.”) Edict 706.3 “Horizontal drainage lines connecting with other horizontal drainage lines shall either through 45 degree Wye branches, combination Wye and 1/8th bend branches (Photo 5) or other ‘approved’ fittings of equivalent sweep.” Edict 706.4 “Vertical drainage lines connecting with horizontal drainage lines shall enter through 45’ Wye branches or other approved fittings of equivalent sweep.” Edict 707.4 “Each horizontal drainage pipe shall be provided with a clean-out (CO) at its upper terminal, and each run of piping that is more than 100 feet in total developed length shall be provided a clean out for each 100 feet or fraction thereof. An additional clean out shall be provided in a drainage line for each aggregate horizontal change of direction exceeding 135 degrees…” (That’s one ‘90’ elbow and one 45 degree elbow…or…three 45’s…or six 1/16th bends (22&1/2 degrees) or…mix and match. I Didn’t Say That… Pete the plumber now wants to touch upon the most common code “misunderstandings” where most violations by the uninitiated occur. These boo-boo’s are concentrated in the Edicts designated 706.0: Changes In Direction and Flow, in the Uniform Code, beginning with Edict 706.1 and Vents 901.2 through 908.1
*Now there is a Get Out Of Jail card for this edict, 708.1. If you happen to be running a minimum pipe diameter of 4-inch, the UPC says this: “…where this (1/4-in. per ft.) is impractical due to the depth of the street sewer, to the structural features, or to the arrangement of a building…pipe or piping 4 inches or larger in diameter shall be permitted to have a slope of not less than 1/8-in. per ft. where first approved by the Authority Having Jurisdiction.” For any size pipe under 4 inch you’re out of luck. This can be a good reason to install a 4-inch Building Drain and lateral for a problematically sited home in relation to sewer depth, even when 3-inch would satisfy serving the fixture units of the design. Onward…
Because most class members will not be tasked with designing a new DWV system during their maintenance career, the author wanted to concentrate on the area where they are already functioning: maintenance and repair of their existing DWV systems. Traditionally, the class (broken into teams of usually five members) will be tasked with designing and installing a mock-up DWV system for a theoretical ADA bathroom, on premises, that includes water supply and gas line to a water heater. The author looks forward to closely working with each team to make sure they fully understand the principals involved with their completed DWV system. Off To The Pub Pete hopes this Intro to DWV which he wrote for one of his classes proved of interest to his readers of In The Pipe. If the author has accomplished nothing more than to show the reader that properly designed and installed DWV systems are an art form, he’d consider it worth the time of writing. Until Next Time Pete the Plumber Hello. Welcome back. Long time no-see (hear). The author, Pete the Plumber, like many of his countrymen, have recently themselves been inconvenienced by contracting the Corona virus. Thankfully the author is back on his creaky legs again and looking forward to sharing his take on a very time worn subject: lead poisoning via municipal fresh water agencies’ l e a d service lines; plumber installed galvanized (galv) steel/iron lines; and, lead soldered copper fresh water lines installed in new and remodel ‘living space (up until 1986). During Pete’s recent MVI (mandatory virus isolation) period he had time to think about what subject he’d likely wanna make for his next ‘In The Pipe’. Well. Now, thanks to the recent majority of the 117th Congress agreeing to fund the removal of a l l lead service lines to American housing” (at Government cost) through recent legislation, ‘me fig’erd’ (as a plumber) would make for an interesting, close observation. There are only a few photos this time woven into my story (where I could find examples). Nationally, we still cringe when hearing or reading anything new about the “Flint Michigan Water Crisis.” Poor Flint. (Glad I don’t live there.) As it turns out it did not end there, by any measure. (Neither did it begin there.) Nationally we’re still in deep doo-doo. There are still estimates of 9 million, still-active lead service lines in the Country serving 22 million people. In the author’s estimation (yes, by plumber’s bias), if N O T H I N G else were accomplished during a n y Presidential Administration, “Getting The Lead Out” alone would be a history making milestone. One to really crow about. Now there are funds (allocated) to do just that. You could be among the many privileged to see a truly historical landmark: bye bye to lead in water piping. The AWWA (American Water Works) estimates 5-6 thousand dollars, on average, to replace each lead service line. The new legislation allots a total of 15 billion, and 3 billion has been put in play as of this writing. As encouraging news as it is, I have to remember that the Clean Water Act of 1948 became law in 1972. But hell, I’d take a repeat of that wait to see this campaign finally accomplished. However, as Citizens we a l l should remain cognizant (and vigilant) in seeing what progress and at what speed this comes to be. Very few improvements, if any, could be so immediately beneficial to a society as replacing e v e r y o n e’ s lead service* piping with a healthy alternative. It will be worth carrying a placard, making phone calls and signing petitions when the progress lags. *As you will discover downstream there are still more sources of lead in house piping aside Service Lines (SL). Pb Since our (my) Middle School days we’ve (I’ve) known the Romans were inextricably known for their adoption of lead in various avenues of their lives. The argument as to whether lead was responsible for the decline of the Roman Civilization still erupts now and then. Since Romans were so good at mining and smelting galena ore (source of lead) and making water pipes the author thought their experience with the material merited a casual look (dinner plates and wine goblets aside). The Roman means of producing lead plumbing pipe was simple: pour molten lead out onto a flat stone surface to a depth of desire and then let it cool down. Once cooled, it was rolled into a diameter they wanted and then soldered. Common diameters ran from ½-inch to 22-inch. This piping was used for both water supply a n d drainage (they also lined open conduit of their aqueducts with sheet lead). It’s been estimated that the lead content of ‘municipal’ water in large Roman cities ran between 14 to 105 times that of local spring water concentrations. It’s lead content in “drinking” water that civilization up to the present day lives/has with, that makes the new Congressionally sanctioned removal attempt almost a “Bookie” event. Only more time will tell. The legislation d o e s have a stipulated completion date. Whether Uncle Sam can find the competent leaders and laborers to get this done by that date will be a nervous interim. What’s a mere two or ten years ‘behind schedule’ when this problem has befuddled man since Augusts was ordering more baths built. Who’s Guilty ? Yes. There were a number of Roman elite who knew the health hazards of using lead to transport water. And, the American lead industry funded cover-up campaigns trying to stave off the eventual discontinuation. ‘Our’ lead service lines were installed as late as the 1970’s. Where the water quality is good though, the fewer problems are encountered with lead. The Author remembers the Utility serving his metropolitan area annually dug up someone’s lead service line. It was then cut open and visually inspected and tested for leach. Because of the high quality EBMUD water (Sierra snowpack) (how much longer) lead leaching was not a problem. (It was just Pete and his plumber bro’s using that lead solder and flux that posed the larger danger.) Who…me ? Now it is not without a degree of guilt that the author looks back at his career years, those forklift’s of copper for fresh water systems he assembled using lead base fluxes and solders. (It was ‘the norm’ back then. “I was only following orders”.) Pre-1991, lead-soldered, copper (potable) water systems are one of two major contributors to lead in drinking water today. The author recalls his soldering technique, though, needing ‘tweaks’, to be able to effectively use the first available lead-free solders. Matter of fact, PtP has another anecdote to share on that subject. One day the author was running ‘copper water’ (in Type L) (his default) in a custom addition in the Berkeley Hills (CA) and he was testing several different manufacturers’ offerings of ‘Lead Free’ solder. As it happened during this exercise, Pete decided to ask his client, a metallurgist, what was antimony (which was one newly adopted replacement for lead). “Well, she replied, “Basically, move one molecule just a tiny bit and you have a r s e n i c ! “Whoa!” was my reaction/reply. My client ‘calmed down’ yours truly by explaining that unlike lead, antimony is n o t water soluble. Yes! If I were to i n g e s t it, it’d probably kill me just as swiftly as arsenic.* Plumbers (yours truly included) discovered some brands of lead-free solders and fluxes were easier to master than others. And as this plumber will also tell you, as for ease-of-use, your choice of flux is as critical as the ingredients of the solder. (Flux compounds commonly contained lead prior to the 1986 Amendment.) *After feeling ill late in his career Pete sought medical attention. Hair analysis showed ‘off the chart’ levels of several bad boys: lead, arsenic, cadmium, copper etc., etc., etc. a lot of years of bending solder with his teeth (while lying on his back, under houses) which streamlined the joining process. He breathed years and years of solder and welding smoke with insufficient ventilation. Thankfully a medical process called chelation put him right again. When dwelling on the lead pipe danger issue, the author can’t help envisioning those long ago Roman lead workers, toiling with large pans of molten lead and the polluted smoke. It was a ‘negative’ to make as well as a negative to use. ASTM-MUM (new Roman rating) What the author finds interesting, most, is how did ‘they’ (Romans) figure out what pipe wall thickness could handle what volume and pressures. (And over what a period of time). In Photo 1 we see a cross section of an ancient Roman lead pipe. To Pete’s eye he’d say the wall thickness looks approximately equivalent to Schedule #80 (or a Heavy Duty Schedule #40), two of today’s most commonly specified values for piping in modern construction. The Romans used lead for both supply and drainage. Today’s construction industry’s lead worries are supply issues (existing lead/copper systems). It is when water is delivered in lead piping and then INGESTED that is the issue here. Showering with lead tainted water is not a palpable thought but much less worrisome than drinking it. Knowing how Epsom salts can affect his body, sit-down bathing in a tub with high lead concentrated water is something Pete would avoid if possible. Keeping an eye (trying to) on the impetus for this article (new Federal efforts to eradicate lead potable water pipes) (Service Lines), it’s the ‘service’ portion of the water line that is our focus. This is piping that the Water Service provides/uses to take ‘their’ water to the connection point (meter, outside) with the customer’s Main Water Line. From that point it’s the customer’s responsibility to install and maintain water lines. As you will be reminded downstream the Feds are not offering help re-piping housing, which is/can be another source of ‘lead in potable water poisoning’. We are going to focus on the former, the ‘water service provided’ lead (service) plumbing. Why? Because that’s where the money is supposed to be spent. Replacing, replacing, replacing. (The costs of structural re-piping, for many homes makes it ‘out-of-the-question’.) (Read on for a remedy.) Money Colors Everything Would/does anyone ever wonder why lead pipe would still be chosen, for this span of ‘Augustus-to-us’ knowing the health risks? Since antiquity? We plumbers know why: Until very lately, until bendable ‘plastic’ piping was certified for use, plumbers either cut threads on rigid pipe and used ‘change-of-direction’ fittings, or they ‘bent to their need’, this (lead) already century-proven piping material. (Go around the tree. Go under the boulder.) If given a choice who of us wouldn’t want to take the less laborious route? Lead lasts a long time in a large range of aggressive soils. It can be bent and shaped. With soldering, any length of pipe (without mechanical couplings) clan be assembled. (Labor saving). But because we k n o w there is no safe level of lead in children’s blood, the battle remains, in progress. With modern materials the remaining (known) (9 million?) lead, in-service “service lines” can, thanks to the 117th finally start being retired and replaced. Hurrah! However, to rid our present housing stock of it’s lead transporting FWD drinking water piping (Fresh Water Distribution) the author fears is only going to progress as individual properties decay to the point at which they are condemned and re-built. (Another Agustus-to-us time span?). One foot in front of the other! Let’s take the money and get the “in ground” replacement done, behind us, like Augustus. Then the momentum might speed up getting it outta the FWD. (Our reward might also include more ‘Einstein’s’ per 100,000.) SWDA The first Federal Drinking Water Standards were established in 1914. They were standards of Bacteriological Water Quality. Finally, Congress in 1986 amended the 1974 Safe Water Drinking Act which then mandated that solders, fluxes and pipes were “Lead Free”. That term Lead-Free, at this point in time, a c t u a l l y meant solders AND f l u x e s contain no more than 0.2% lead. And, pipes, faucets and valves (tub & shower) were now limited to an 8.0% lead content. (California though lead the way (yes, pun) requiring these limits the year prior (1985). In 1991, the December 1970-EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) published a new edict, the: LCR rule (Lead and Copper Rule).* *This rule was expressly focused on End Of Use Taps: fresh water faucet and valve spout - water in inhabited space. This rule coerced water suppliers to timely test the drinking water (usually annually) a n d if more than 10% of sites tested above 15pbb (yup, that’s billions) of lead a n d/o r 1.3ppm (per million) of copper, the system provider had to take actions to control corrosion [on their dime]. This term corrosion has a sinister handicap which will be illuminated below. Water Systems/Providers, besides chloramines, infuse other chemicals (Orthophosphates) into Supply, to coat the lining of their pipes, offering protection against various biological pests. But, the corrosion layer (rust) lining iron pipe (inside your house) absorbs chlorine, which then has insufficient time to kill bacteria. Too soon after infusion: Microbes party! *The orthophosphates the Water System (water provider) introduces bond with lead to form a protective inner ‘coating’ on the walls of the piping. Depending upon the quality of water flowing through such lead pipe, this intentionally formed ‘coating’ of orthophosphates, does, to an acceptable degree, maintain a ‘potable’ rating. Safe for human consumption. Where trouble occurs is when waters are not benign, when waters are what is termed aggressive. This tag results when water contains (or is missing) any number of minerals and/or chemicals, which can prove injurious to the piping. It’s when aggressive waters flow through lead piping and reduce/destroy the introduced protective orthophosphate liner that creates the biggest health hazard. This is what happened to poor Flint, Michigan. A change in water suppliers, from a long time purveyor of quality product to a ‘discounted’ situation, for a poor product. The ‘switched-to’ source water contained aggressive elements that not only ate away the protective orthophosphate layer in lead service lines, allowing for continuing leaching of lead, but the corrosion of iron pipe ‘inside-house-freshwater’ piping consumes/d the chlorine added by the Water Service to control bacteria such as Legionella. Poor Flint took a ‘two-punch’ to the head. A lot more lead and less protection from dangerous microbes. Why the Corrosion? A common cause for corrosion can be poor water quality. Aggressive waters attack metallic (iron) and copper water lines. Copper less so. (PEX, none). If you wanted/needed to do something now while waiting for Uncle Sam to put on his coveralls and get on with the job, you might consider a counter top filter or distiller. They are made to satisfy as few as one person per day all the way up to a whole family of seven. Just make sure your choice meets NSF Standards for removing lead. (A good thing about distillers is they also solve many more problems with micro organisms than filters.) You can call the National Safety Foundation International’s Consumer’s Affairs Office and ask if your possible choice made their list. 1 800 673 8010 KTP (Keep Their Promise) It’s going to take some time before we know if the money and energies promised, come to pass. In the interval if your water quality worries you, you can get it tested, free. If you are worried enough about water quality that you already purchase bottled water, regularly, at COSTCO, y o u should be making it yourself with a distiller and not contributing to plastic pollution. There are some aspects of the lead pipe chosen for FWS (Fresh Water Service) that PtP would like to elucidate. From elementary school many of us recall learning about the ancient Romans’ wide and enduring use of lead for the fashioning of water pipes. For the same reason it served the Romans it served Municipal Water Authorities through the Twentieth Century. If, found in that time, would you or the author have made any other demands for an alternative material? Why should we have? Lead was what had been/known for centuries, to be the easiest to install and the longest lived in-the-ground metal (economically speaking) available for municipalities to employ. If, in enlightened modern times, adding ‘modifiers’ neutralized the leach worry/question, why stop? In a way it was an amazing piping material for its time. Today we have no excuse for using it due to ‘plastics’ behemoth development, and availability (distribution).
Down the Drain Thanks to all of the former battles of clean water movements and legislation, the lead-solder fight has been ‘put to bed’. The next ten to twenty years will present a scary number of challenges to our fresh water infrastructure. But, at least we can say, today: “We got the lead out of solder”. Now thanks to the 117th, society can finish the job and finally send lead service lines down the drain’, for keeps. Flushing (No, not New York. Or your toilet) For those readers who are concerned about the probability of their living with a lead Service Line (or know they are) OR copper/lead solder/flux assembled Fresh Water Distribution piping, or old high lead content brass faucets and valves, until your situation is physically remedied, flushing is your most effective option. Efficient filters, stills, and Reverse Osmosis options unfortunately are financially out of reach for the many folks who need them the most. For them ‘Flushing’ is their only option. Because we are in the early stages of a ??? thousand year drought cycle this ‘lead’ question comes at the worst time. (I might get an argument from ancient Romans.) Here we’re supposed to be conserving water and now we’re being told to let the water….run? We need an answer. Answer First order of business: Try to find out IF you do indeed have a lead Service Line. Some cities and Water Providers have documentation. Many more don’t. Sometimes it requires expensive detection instrumentation to tell if a pipe, in the ground, is lead, or not. (The electronic gizmos to do that can look really neat….like some sort of Sci-Fi hand held weapon.) The lucky un-lucky can find or expose enough of their Service Line to physically determine (with a flat screwdriver or scraper) whether it is made of lead. O.K. Thanks to your scraper, we now know yours: lead. (Don’t panic.) ‘Let’s go further and see what your house piping is (Fresh Water Distribution). By doing some observations at various locations of your water system (maybe a little crawling). (Oh Me! In my brand new Carhartts): You have threaded galvanized with a shorter, newer, short copper section. Galv pipe and fittings have no external rust. Copper sweated fittings are joined with leaded solder, the dirty old ‘50/50’. O.K. We know you have a lead Service; original threaded galvanized; mixed with lead-soldered copper. What about the faucets? Pre-1991? Yes? Served by a Water Service? Yes. Thank you. Looks like you have a case of worthy concerns. Estimates, by Public Health agencies, of flush times for a housing situation with above listed liabilities would probably be two minutes. So, we leave a faucet running for two minutes until we drink that water? What about laundry? No lead worries. Use/do early in the ‘awake cycle’. Taking a shower? No lead worries. Do at your leisure. Where and when in your awake cycle will you (and family) be drinking tap water? At lavatory basin, after brushing teeth?; in breakfast beverages? The Author’s suggestion would be to ‘use up’ (through appliances) as much as possible, the stagnant, overnight supply before beginning the ‘water contact’ of your awake cycle. That would include dishwashers along with clothes washers and water softeners. Because of continued sophistication, some appliance manufacturers can offer appliances so specialized that the ‘possible buyer’ will have to brush up on their IT. That’s wonderful. But that won’t solve our challenge. The price tag is beyond the masses’ means. Tabletop distillers? Wonderful answer if one has the dinero. We should/need to be looking for ways to do the ‘best possible good’ for the largest population groupings, leaving the lightest ecological footprint. Until we reach that mark, socio-economically, a ‘best practice’ for the greater population, that costs $ are an issue, flushing is the one and only option for them. The general rule for flushing is do so after water has ‘stood’ (not moving) in the piping for more than 6 hours. (The present drought makes this an especially regretful exercise.) For drinking, we hear often “…. let it run for 60 seconds to 2 minutes.” Remember, this is for drinking. There is no need to flush tub and or shower lines for lead concerns. (Legionella is another matter). Morning showers and baths are a good way to flush the main line and branch lines, but the sinks (lav and kitchen) should be flushed as they are daily ‘brought on line’. It is accepted by health professionals that leaving a faucet run for 15 seconds rids the concern (temporarily—6 hours) of built up lead from the faucet/valves own composition. What about copper pipe soldered with leaded solder and flux serving that faucet? How much of your system is/might have been so joined? (It might pay you to do a little investigating.) What the author is trying to do is raise a reader’s understanding that the piping bringing them their drinking water can be more than one type of pipe and has a possible health cost varying between materials used to make it. (There’s a long fought ‘battle’ still going on about health risks of some plastics and drinking water piped through it.) If flushing is our only (present) option, then it would be wise to use established time frames for flushing particular components of the system. Since we are not concerned about the lead issue when bathing, a 5 minute shower with a 2.5 gallon per minute rated shower head draws off close to ten gallons from the system. (Best to perform this significant water use ritual first thing and rid the system of most of its holding capacity. Two 4 minute showers taken simultaneously will go a long way in ridding the system of most of its stored capacity.) The Author confesses he is fixated with how terrible a time it is to be ‘wasting’ water with the West’s drought and at the same time recognizes a needed precaution to protect human health and development. In an attempt to save what water we can and still flush (what we need tool) efficiently, the author wants to share some facts. A lavatory sink faucet with a questionable date (pre 1991) of manufacture (but with a known lead-safe supply) is recommended for a 15 second flush. It would be the same if you drank water from the kitchen sink faucet. A known/estimated length of high lead content (50/50) soldered copper pipe is another kettle of fish. Most faucets are served with ½-inch diameter piping. A 10 foot length of ½-in diameter pipe holds approximately 1 pint of water (1/8 gallon?). A new lavatory faucet in California has an aerator that passes 1.2 gallons per minute (GPM). A new CA approved kitchen sink faucet has an aerator that passes 1.8 GPM. To empty/replace the water in 10 ft. of ½-in. (most common) branch pipe, through an “approved” 1.2 GPM faucet (opened fully) will require approximately 15 seconds. Now if you are running this water to drink (cold…no?) you need only run the cold water. The hot side can be used in other scenarios without wasting it, unused, to drainage. Sister Kettle An uncomfortable fact is that not only lead service lines but galvanized iron/steel water lines are also a source of lead in drinking water. That’s actually b a d news. There are so many miles of the stuff in housing, everywhere, that to remove it would mean in some instances house demolition would be cheaper. The author cringes when contemplating not only the oily mess, but the time it took and the number of oily thread cuttings and dirty rags later, involved in that joining process. But until just recently his “comfort zone” about using the material was over the line in the positive column. Not so anymore. (If it were just threading a water line to the duck blind, for old farts like Pete, I’d give it a pass. But for the General Public I would be happy to see more PEX in its place.) It’s a shame, but “it’s the water, dummy.” Your water quality really dictates which material is best used for the locale. I can remember when after sawing through 90 year old galvanized pipe in old homes in Berkeley, CA and being amazed at what great condition the pipe was in. No build up. No rust. Full wall thickness. In other parts of the State where I’d ‘crank it’ (galv) the terrible local water quality would eat it up in ten years. The initial worry about ‘galv’ was/is the lead content in the zinc coating applied to it (hot, right after its extrusion) to specs: 0.5 (or less) % lead content. Research by Brandi N. Clark, Sheldon Vaughn Masters, and Marc A. Edward of the Environmental Science, Policy and Research Institute found that pipe installed from 1950 to 2008 had lead concentrations from “….non detectable up to 2%.” And a second worry was its success with local water quality. A newer concern is corrosion (‘rust’), Photo 2 & 2a, harboring lead (and at different flow rates ) the Pb could migrate. The corrosion also kills the chlorine added by the Utility/Supplier. Bummer
So, this can present a double loss: Lead Service Line feeding galvanized system which itself could be leaching lead. And then you throw in a little copper pipe (repair/remodel/addition) (50/50 or “lead free”) and you’ve upset the apple cart with galvanic reactions to the mix, ending with even more lead levels in the water. For mixed systems of modern times Pete cannot see a way out of our Pb predicament but to outlive the problem, with the use of filtration and distillation at end-user points. Municipally funded improvements are linked with property decay (and necessary private repair action). The author can visualize water demand/safety issues at some point in the future having the impact that Government 0%-interest loans for end-use filtration/distillation will be as common as those for solar additions. As far as new installation the author sees PEX as the most logical choice. Not only do you ditch the corrosion and the lead threat but also the copper worries. The author dealt with PEX in his revised and expanded edition of Plumbing A House. You will see there, though Pete had his own ideas on ‘terminations’. With the presently available “Press” copper fitting/crimping system (which uses standardized copper tube) and PEX, options to ditch-the-lead in Private Development are here. PEX (no piping) cannot protect you from your private/municipal water utility that flubs up the chemistry, though. It does happen. But PEX d o e s eliminate the lead/copper concerns. (Besides energy and water savings due to efficiency gains.) The Counters Counters (not accountants/bookkeepers). Kitchen counters. Discussion of that topic is often a quagmire for any more than one-person households. The author has had more than his share of EB (embarrassed bystander) moments when discussing (anything to do with) kitchen counters, with clients who were a couple. In this question of whether to employ filtration, distillation or R/O (reverse osmosis), besides costs, c o u n t e r s p a c e and to a lesser degree, under-counter space is going to be a major consideration in choosing purifying appliances. Because the author was once a college grunt assistant to a professor fine tuning s o l a r stills for developing countries, the grunt has a ‘soft spot’ for distillers. Of course they tend to be the bulkiest and biggest challenger for countertop space. Pete the Plumber worked on distillers that looked like something right outta Boris Karloff and/or Vincent Price horror movie sets. But today they are as sleek as high end Italian fashion. No more excuse for embarrassment. The cutting edge countertop filter designs are also available chic. No more excuses there, either. Unless it’s purchase price. But to just attempt a remedy for existing infrastructure’s needs, there’s enough room for a market, and costs will come down. The Reader can see why ‘under counter’ and ‘countertop’ water purification appliances appeal to those who want to save water, opposed to those who choose to “let it run” in the flush mode. For the ‘savers’, after Initial investment it was then peace-of-mind. There are also “whole house” filters (which usually require installation by experts) that are designed to remove lead…and more. As the Western States drought continues we ‘bystanders’ will be experiencing more upon more requests for conserving. Pete believes he’ll also see the return of a ‘bootleg’ specialized under-sink drainage fitting that allows/allowed the user to select where to send the drainage. Down the Sanitary System or…”where waz you think’n?” The laundry. Play Ball The Romans knew not of Ballcocks. Their waste piping ran 24/7. Most citizens were not aware of the dangers of lead. Plates, bowls, and drinking vessels of the time were also made of lead. The author believes he remembers lead “squeeze tube” toothpaste and mendicants of various stripes in his childhood. Lead had a good, long run. But the author doth have another confession: he badly misses his bread loaf-sized brick of solid lead. It was the BEST under surface for the hand punching of many materials, foremost leather; soft plastics; soft sheet metals, paper, and e s p e c I a l l y gasket paper/materials. “Somewhere laid it down… In closing Pete would like to say that he hopes the action taken by the 117th will result in totally lead free Service Lines, for all…even if it does take a while. But it won’t happen if we don’t ‘come together on this’ and play ball. Until Next Time… PtP Coincidence/Hope The author just learned in a Water Online e-mail (www.wateronline.com/doc/newark-completes-lead-service-line-replacement-program-0001) that the City of Newark, New Jersey, has completed its Lead Service Line Replacement Program (LSLRP) replacing 24,000 lead Service Lines in just 3 years, seven years ahead of original schedule, thanks to the 117th legislature’s funding. If ‘Jersey’ can do it, why can’t the rest of us? Pete the Plumber would like to leave the following links to two short articles he believes the General Public would find enjoyably enlightening… Link 1: A Brief History of Lead in Water Supplies The author wanted to call to his readers’ attention this article from Fluence Corporation on the history of lead in drinking water. It is well written and especially geared for the general public. https://www.fluencecorp.com/brief-history-lead-water-supplies/ Link 2: Chlorine vs. Chloramines: What's the Difference? The author has used the names chlorine and chloramines in this article. To the layperson this might create some confusion. The link below is a very good explanation for the learner. https://www.aquasana.com/info/water-treatment-trend-chloramine-in-use-causes-lead-leaching-pd.html Aloha! Readers, Sorry for the long absence. My excuse? The author evacuated his residence because of the Monument Fire, still burning, in Northwestern California. Pete went to his daughter’s house, 150 miles away, and to the south. She (Kelly) promptly assigned me to more house painting (with Dad’s full approval). When the painting project was completed (and Grampa realizing how well-kept Kelly was keeping him, fully pampered, with all of his exotic/extravagant meal preferences, the author thought it a good time to take his leave.) (After first checking with a fellow tenant back in Hay Fork). When first back home, things were still a little ‘dicey’ but not near as much ‘perceived’ danger as that which had driven the author out, the first time. Well, for awhile all went well. Then it didn’t. Because of high winds (blowing in the wrong direction) and topography, ‘The Monitor’ came marching back; and then, even further. A nervous Pete called his neighbor for the latest. Ginnie told him: “My son is the Fire Chief, Peter. When he tells me ‘It’s time’, I’ll tell you right away.” Knowing he now had an ‘inside track’ Pete could relax, somewhat. For a while. But, as wild fires are known to do, they sometimes “Go Rogue” and behave badly, in new ways the fire fighters have no previous experience with. Things were not ‘going our way’ for Hay Fork Valley. Eventually the fire blazed within a couple hundred feet from the author’s front door. No word from Ginnie? No worry. Pete also found a great comfort from hearing the overhead, daily, window-shaking, booming, ‘thud-thud-thud’ of big helicopters (full of water) and sometimes accompanied with the baritone roar of fixed-wing aqua-bombers’. A shame Pete wasn’t a photographer. I counted rivets. Things are now resembling ‘normal’, again. Two days of light rains have produced deep blue skies with silver, puffy clouds. All evacuation orders regarding my neighborhood have been rescinded. The old plumber during this stressful time had been thinkin’ about ‘making the best of’ his predicament: Was there a lesson in ‘there’ that would benefit others? Well, Pete d i d see a very important, modern I i f e s t y l e “pillar” possibly threatened in the near future. He thought it worth taking a closer look and share a concern that appears to be only on the author’s radar. More Straight Poop: The Cruelest Inconvenience Pete has focused in this post on the threat to what he sees as the Number One ‘pillar’ of our ‘take-for-granted’ hygienic lifestyle (flushing toilets) and the odds that through continuing weather disasters (drought, hurricanes, tornado’s, wild fires, ice storms, cyber war?, (not to mention earthquakes) that we might be looking to the i n c o n c e i v a b l e: a time in the near future when we can no longer take them for granted? Our modern sanitary waste systems have two (2) requisites: copious water supply and electrical power (under our full control). Several natural disasters of late have shown us how quickly we can lose control. The entire state of Texas found itself with electrical grid failure in the midst of freezing temps. Plus, water systems frozen solid. Also, an alarming number of towns and cities in the drought stricken west are seeing their wells and reservoirs go dry. Hurricanes and tornados are capable of ripping up and destroying expensive infrastructure (like waste treatment plants). This is not an out-of-the-question possibility in some of the more historically trashed (‘prone’) States. Texas to New York. The biggest threat Pete sees is a cyber attack by a Vladimir Putin or wanna-be; but of these, any could spell trouble for convenient pooping, the benchmark of American hygiene. Toilets flush when they are supplied with water via electrical energy (think pumps and motors). What are the odds we are going to be faced in the near future with a situation that temporarily renders our toilets ‘off line’? Yes, you can flush a toilet with a bucket IF your water supply remains intact. No water supply: deep doo-doo. Sending expensive bottled water down will not be a viable option as Texans discovered. Just as inhabitants of actively seismic communities are liable to have in place a developed ‘10 Day Plan’ of necessary emergency stores for surviving ‘The Big One’, or a once-in-a-hundred-storm, the author believes the era when we should have such plans for the possible interruption of waste treatment facilities is here, now. As mentioned the biggest threat is cyber but climate change is closing in on the gap, and regardless of the cause, the same preparedness routine will help you tremendously see yourself through a limited period of inconvenience. Water’s Muscle Humans have always chosen water (when possible) to rid themselves of their biological wastes. Why? Water performs a lot of work.* *The author was a terrible munchkin. As an eight year old at his family’s Trinity River placer mine he and his older brother Mickey (10) would squat down in swift water, three hundred feet upstream of the placid emerald pool his little sister and two little brothers were swimming and wading in and ‘sank submarines.’ After three to five minutes there’d be a screaming. Thanks to its weight and thanks to gravity we humans have taken advantage of water since day one. When we have not this functioning arrangement, something/someone else’s labor has to do it for us. We’ve all seen or heard about a septic service contractor’s truck with a sign: “It May Be Shit To You…But It’s My Bread And Butter.” That sewage is being moved not by water but by diesel and rubber, and very expensively. That is not an economical model for city and metropolis. The amount (volume) of waste involving a city adds up fast. Editor Mindy Weisberger at Live Science reminds us that the average adult produces almost a pound (14 ounces) of poop a day. In fact almost 90 percent of treated sewage is returned directly to an ocean, lake or river. If all of a sudden (for any reason) you had to endure a week or more with no flush toilet, how would y o u collect, store and safely dispose of your waste? You’ve never been asked to figure that out. We take for granted SO much. The author here wants to share some of his Straight Poop (photo) recommendations, for answering that question. Y’all a Family of One?…How Many? Are you a family with young children? If so there’s more reason for a plan. How would the ‘of-late potty trained’ deal with an interruption (no matter how temporarily) of ‘the only means they know’? A good many teenagers a n d adults might also find themselves at a very uncomfortable disadvantage, for any number of psychological reasons. Ask any therapist/psychologist just how prevalent are the public’s concerns and ‘hang-up’s’ about bodily functions, e s p e c I a l l y pooping. Can you recall the least preferable choices women list for places to perform their toilet: restaurants, malls and bars. How many shops have signs posted: No Public Restrooms? How many times have you ever bought gas on a trip because you wanted their key to their restroom? What if y o u had to say to your household: “I’m sorry family, but the toilets will be out of commission for what looks like to be a little while. But don’t concern yourselves, I got you 5-gallon buckets.” (Photo 1, below) You wouldn’t be very popular. Pete the Plumber though thinks everyone “past a certain age” should be schooled in an emergency, basic ‘poop drill’. When/if that terrible day or weeks of “no flush toilets until further notice” arrives, those who prepare will face far less stress and anxiety if/when such actions are called for. As our President would say: “It’s a BFD! Nothing would demoralize a major big city, or the Nation, more than an interruption of a citizenry’s e s t a b l i s h e d routine. Regardless of cause. It’s also a cataclysm on few radars… The author would like to show you some examples of ‘Get By’ solutions to your pooping needs if/when you are ever faced with the Cruelest Inconvenience. Photo’s 1 through 6 are means, from crudest to kindest, that are available to substitute for a temporary loss of flush toilets. What to do with your poop is also of grave concern. In the event of a major city or metro area ever suffering loss of treatment facility operations, Public Safety agencies will have to establish “drop-off’ locations and hopefully for no longer than necessary we will once again smell a signature aroma of human establishment (in the U.S.) not detected for two hundred years or more. For those fortunate to have a basement or back yard the author highly suggests including an inexpensive privacy tent. That is especially important for children. (Photo 7) Power To The Pee-ple Now, an announcement about something new (manufactured) that will be very helpful to the world. Pete titled this shout-out: Power To The Pee-ple. In an upstream blog article, maybe a year or two ago, the author introduced his readers to MFC’s (microbial fuel cells). In that article Pete explored the possible application of MFC equipment at each individual living unit to treat total amounts of liquid and solid wastes, and generate electricity simultaneously. No. Unfortunately we’re ‘not there yet’. However, two smart researchers led by Dr. Mirella Di Lorenzo (Photo 8) have given us a functioning pee (urine) powered MFC. And, a Japanese firm (Photo 9) is marketing the first commercial Pee Batteries. It’s a baby first step, but nonetheless a forward step. References The following links are to articles the author found very informative yet still a joy to read: 1) Almost half a million U.S. households lack indoor plumbing: “The conditions are inhumane” - The Guardian https://apple.news/AvhVTFguLROm4HkXtUmY3UQ 2) Pee Power! | University of Bath – 50th Anniversary http://50years.bath.ac.uk/story/pee-power/ 3) Researchers turn urine into a sustainable power source for powering electronic devices https://www.bath.ac.uk/announcements/researchers-turn-urine-into-a-sustainable-power-source-for-powering-electronic-devices/ 4) Reinventing the Toilet | Global Grand Challenges https://gcgh.grandchallenges.org/article/reinventing-toilet 5) Smaller, Cheaper Microbial Fuel Cells Turn Urine into Electricity https://www.elsevier.com/about/press-releases/research-and-journals/smaller,-cheaper-microbial-fuel-cells-turn-urine-into-electricity A Few Poop Facts
Well, with the posting of this blog, PtP gets time away on a mega sewing project which will be full joy. Sometime in the next article (which deals with peeing) will/maybe see if Pete has anything new to add. (Sorta like the old waiting-for-baby clips of filmdom past). In Pete’s bailiwick fall has arrived. The ‘nip’ is now most of the day. It always feels good after a long absence. For homeowners it’s a ‘last chance’ not to be at chance. Fall/winter weather-prep saves dollars, and anguish. Well Dear Readers, Yours truly does not expect to be gifted any ‘plumbing industry’ inside-knowledge of possible new products in the pipeline, anytime soon. But if he spies something worth your reading time he’ll snag it and forward it. Oh How Blessed to be retired at the pinnacle of this country’s prominence. Everything is working, to a point. Later generations will never know the doctor/patient ratio’s the author has appreciated and enjoyed. He does want to have some surgical improvements performed but the Pandemic has rendered moot, for now, those hopes. Not that he is a couch potato, he still walks two miles to village, daily, for meal prep and mail. Until something pops up, Pete hopes your toilet’s fill and flush valves are amply served by copious amounts of safe water. PtP |
Author
Peter Hemp is a San Francisco East Bay residential plumber and plumbing author and former R & D steam vehicle plumber. His hobbies are ocean kayaking and touring the Left Coast by bicycle. Archives
September 2021
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