Transcript
New Plumbing Products By Ron George, CIPE, CPD, President Ron George Design & Consulting Services
Take a look at few of the many technologies that are quickly gaining acceptance into the plumbing industry. Temperature Actuated Flow Reduction Devices Several manufacturers are offering temperature actuated flow reduction valves that meet the American Society of Sanitary Engineering Standard, ASSE 1062 and can be screwed onto a shower arm of an existing showerhead or into a bathtub fill spout. These devices reduce the flow of water down to a drip when the water temperature exceeds 117 degrees Fahrenheit. This is an excellent add-on safety feature that can help prevent scalding in older buildings that do not have anti-scald devices. The device is simple and inexpensive and uses bi-metal technology to snap shut and reduce the flow of water to a drip when water temperatures get dangerously high. The device only reduces the flow to a drip to allow the bather to readjust the faucet to allow cold water to flow to the valve and reset it within a few seconds. If the valve was designed to close-off completely, the bather would have to wait until the water in the pipe cools down to a safe temperature before the device opens up. Buildings with old, two-handled shower valves with no pressure balance or scald protection can add a level of safety by adding one of these devices. This device is not intended to be used to prevent thermal shock Page 18 • PS
or changes in temperatures caused by pressure disturbances in the piping system, but it will prevent scalding. This device is a must as an add-on for existing showers in older buildings to prevent scalding injuries. Chemical Waste Air Admittance Valves Air admittance valves have been around for a long time and now one manufacturer has developed a chemical resistant air admittance valve. Studor Incorporated (www.studor.com) has developed an air admittance valve “Chemvent” manufactured out of polypropylene that is proposed for chemical waste systems. The chemical waste Air Admittance Valves (AAVs) are brand new. The devices are not currently covered by a product standard, so they are required to be used on engineered vent systems where the engineer will design the system in accordance with the engineered systems in the plumbing codes. The device is made exactly like the air admittance valves and they could be used in a conventional drainage system because they meet the ASSE standard for air admittance valves. The only difference is the material has been changed to a chemical resistant polypropylene.
The chemical resistant air admittance valves were developed for teaching labs in schools and universities where there are lab sinks in the middle of a room and there is no chase for a vent. These devices can save a lot of money on large university research or teach lab projects. A couple of state universities in a midwestern state recently renovated laboratory facilities. The old existing labs were multistory teaching labs built in the 1960s with combination drain & vent systems for venting the island lab sinks. The state code amendments at the time these projects were being renovated did not allow combination drain & vent systems with more than one fixture. No one knows why the state code only allowed one fixture on a combination drain & vent system and no one could give a technical reason for the requirement, but that is what was in the state code at the time. The existing drainage system was manufactured with high silicon cast iron which is a good chemical waste material. Upon inspection of the old piping, the high silicon lab waste system held up and performed well over the years. The existing lab sinks were connected to each combination drain and vent branch. The renovation called for all new lab casework and sinks and relocation of many of the lab sinks. This required the old acid waste system to be removed and it could not be reinstalled as a combination drain & vent system to avoid having vents obstructing the view of the instructor and the video screen at (Continued on page 20)
“Not all valves are created Equal”
“Choose the Right Valve for the Right Job!” Studor Air Admittance Valves have been the brand preferred by the plumbing trade for over 30 years. It’s not a Studor Valve unless it Says So!
REDI-VENT ® • Residential use • Fits 11/2" or 2" pipe size • For venting single
REDI-VENT® Horizontal Branch Size
Maximum DFUs
fixtures such as island 3 11/ 2"- 2" sinks or small bathroom 2" 6 groups up to 6 DFUs • Listed to ASSE 1051 and NSF14 Standards MINI-VENT® • Compact size for tight installations Horizontal Maximum • Protective screens Branch Size DFUs inside and outside 3 11/ 2"- 2" 2" 6 MINI-VENT ® 3" 20 • Residential and 4" 160 commercial use
• Fits 11/2" or 2" pipe size • Listed to ASSE 1051, ASSE 1050 and NSF 14 Standards • Protective screens inside and outside
Stack Size 11/ 2" 2"
Max DFUs 8 24
MAXI-VENT®
MAXI-VENT ® • Residential and
commercial use
• Fits 3" or 4" pipe size • Listed to ASSE 1051,
ASSE 1050 and NSF 14 Standards • Protective screens inside and outside.
Horizontal Branch Size
Maximum DFUs
3" 4"
20 160
Stack Size
Max DFUs
3" 4"
72 500
Studor ® Inc. • 1-800-447-4721 www.studor.com
202 Industrial Park Lane, P.O. Box 220, Collierville, TN 38027, USA TEL: 901-853-5001 ■ WATS: 800-888-8312 ■ FAX: 901-853-5008 455 West Victoria Street, Compton, CA 90220, USA TEL: 310-898-3300 ■ WATS: 800-421-2677 ■ FAX: 310-898-3390 BB11395
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Web Site: www.ipscorp.com E-Mail:
[email protected]
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Continued from page 18 the front of the classroom. The venting had to be installed as an island vent system with a vent rising in the casework behind each lab sink to a level above the bottom of the sink then the vent dropped through the floor and sloped back to the vent stack near the corridor wall. The old combination drain and vent system had been in place for over 35 years and according to the state inspectors would not be acceptable in the new piping layout. The contractors cost to add the additional core drilling and chemical waste vent piping in the ceilings on the floors below the labs was over three hundred fifty thousand dollars for each lab building. The state officials said a variance could be applied for in oreder to install the system with the combination drain and vent system. The request would have to wait until the next plumbing board meeting which was almost two months away. The state university officials decided not to wait for the state code officials to discuss it at the next meeting so they went ahead with an additional cost to add the island venting because they wanted the university’s labs opened before the next school year. The additional venting cost the state over seven hundred thousand dollars in additional construction costs. This could all have been avoided if the chemical waste air admittance valve was available back then. Positive Air Pressure Attenuators. If you haven’t heard of PAPA yet, you soon will. Here’s a brief history of what it is and how it came to be. PAPA is an abbreviation for positive air pressure attenuator. They were
developed at the School of the Built Environment at Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland by Professor John Swaffield. He was looking for a solution to positive pressures in all types of sanitary drainage systems. In high-rise applications, positive air pressures in stacks build up near the base of all sanitary waste stacks and the positive pressures need to be relieved. Professor Swaffield set out to develop a device that would connect to the drainage system and absorb the positive pressures that might build up in a sanitary piping system. Typically, positive pressures build-up in vertical stacks as the waste falls down the waste stack and pulls the air with it. The resulting fluid flow causes a positive pressure ahead of the slug of waste and a negative pressure behind the flow of waste. In a single-stack system where there is no relief vent near the base of the stack, pressures can really build up. Professor Swaffield came up with the idea to place a flexible material in an enlarged vented chamber to create a giant air hammer arrestor in the piping. The device absorbs the positive pressures in the drainage stack. He sent his research assistants out to look for an appropriate material to use in the device. They came back with balloons, hot water bottles and plastic bags, among other things. Eventually, they decided they needed something larger and sturdier, so they contacted a manufacturer of automobile inner tubes to make a few prototypes of what looked like an oversized hot water bottle. The bladder fits inside a 6” or 8” diameter pipe and is fastened to the drainage pipe on one end. After their tests it
worked great! Hence, PAPA was born. In the spring of 2003, I visited the Heriot Watt University research lab, where I witnessed a demonstration on the lab’s 20-story test stand. The first test was conducted on a single-stack drainage system without a PAPA device. The positive pressures generated blew the test water out of a series of 1½” glass traps on the lower floors of the test stand. The next test was conducted with one PAPA device installed on the stack. It kept pressures less than 2”of water column and kept the traps from blowing out. When they added a second PAPA device, it kept the pressure fluctuations within the code-required 1” of pressure fluctuation. PAPA devices are now available in the US, distributed by Studor Inc. (www.studor. com). PAPA devices are great for controlling pressure fluctuations in all sanitary drainage systems. Look for them to show up in the standard-development process and the codes over the next few years. About the Author: Ron George, CIPE, CPD is President of Ron George Design & Consulting Services in Newport, Michigan. He has been designing Plumbing, Piping and Fire Protection systems for over 28 years. Mr. George’s consulting firm provides plumbing, piping and fire protection system design services, code and standard consulting services, CAD services and litigation support for plumbing system failures and training seminars. Ron George may be reached at: P.O. Box 47, Newport Michigan 48166 Phone: 734-755-1908, and e-mail:
[email protected]. L
ASSE Centennial Moment from the 1945-46 Year Book “The question of a shower being better than a bathtub is one man’s opinion. I still like a bathtub, even if I am bathing in my own dirt.” - Mr. Steve H. Gilmore, ASSE 1928 President At the ASSE Annual Meeting on -August 22, 1946by Megs
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Cash Acme/Reliance Worldwide Pick up Full-Color Ad From Winter (Jan-Mar) 05 on Inside Cover
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