Sanitary Sewer Main

● The sanitary sewer main is a pipe through which the wastewater

flows as it is conveyed from a building to the wastewater treatment
plant. Typically, the minimum size of a community sanitary sewer
main for a gravity-based system should be 8 in (200) mm in
diameter.
Cleanouts
● Cleanouts are screw-type fittings with a cap that can unscrew to allow
access to the inside of the sanitary drain pipes.
● A cleanout should not have a plumbing fixture installed in it or be used
as a floor drain.
● Floor cleanouts (FCO) are found in horizontally positioned building drain
or sewer lines that are installed in the floor or in the ground. Wall
cleanouts (WCO) are placed in vertically positioned stacks. All cleanouts
in vertical stacks should be located no higher than 48 in (1.2 m) above
the floor.
● Cleanouts are generally required:
○ At the base of soil and waste stacks
○ At the upper end of building drains
○ At each change of direction of the horizontal building drainage system greater than 60°;
the total of the fittings between cleanouts shall not exceed 120°
○ At the junction between the building drain and building sewer (usually 2 to 4 ft away
● In addition:
○ Cleanouts should be no more than 50 ft apart, including the developed length of
the cleanout pipe, in horizontal drainage lines of 4 in or less size.
○ Cleanouts should be no more than 100 ft apart, including the developed length of
the cleanout pipe, in horizontal drainage lines of sizes over 4 to 10 in.
○ Cleanouts should not be more than 150 ft apart, including the developed length of
the cleanout pipe, in horizontal drainage lines exceeding sizes of 10 in.
● Cleanout size is related to pipe size: 1½ and 2 in diameter pipe
have a 1½ in cleanout; 2½ and 3 in diameter pipe have a 2½ in
cleanout; and 4 in diameter and larger pipe have a 3½ in cleanout.
Venting
● Vents are pipes that introduce sufficient air into the drainage
system to reduce air turbulence (from siphoning or back pressure)
and to release sewer gases to the outside.
● The prime purpose of venting is to protect the trap seal.
● If traps did not exist in a drainage system, a venting could be
eliminated.
● Without a vent, as water drains from a fixture, the moving
wastewater tends to siphon water from the trap of another fixture
as it falls through the drain pipes.
● As a result, vents must serve the various fixtures, or groups of
fixtures, as well as the rest of the drainage system.
Individual Vents
● The individual venting technique is defined as the installation of a
vent pipe for every trap or trapped fixture.
● It is the easiest method of ensuring the preservation of a trap seal
but the most costly because of the number of vent pipes required in
the venting system.
● An individual vent must be located in close proximity to the trap to
properly vent it.
● A more effective way of reducing the cost of venting has been in the
combining of vents into a system. This would include common
venting, circuit venting, wet venting, combination drain and vent,
waste stack venting, and single stack systems.
Common Vent
● The common venting method serves two fixtures located on the
same floor; it is essentially an individual vent that serves no more
than two traps or trapped fixtures.
● This type of vent must be located close to the traps it vents to
properly vent it.
● When the fixture connects at different levels, the drainage pipe
between the two traps must be increased to compensate for the
combined water and airflow.
Wet Vents
● The wet venting method uses a single vent pipe to provide venting for
all of the fixtures of one or two bathroom groups (e.g., a water closet,
lavatory, shower, bathtub, and bidet) that are located on the same floor.
● The vent pipe for the lavatory typically serves as the vent for the other
fixtures in the bathroom.
● Plumbing codes used to require the water closet to be the last fixture in
line on a wet vent system. However, recent tests provided evidence that
the order of the fixtures does not influence the overall performance of
the wet vent system.
● The most recent standard permits the fixtures to be located in any order
when connecting to the system.
Circuit Vents
● A circuit venting system is a horizontal venting pipe serving up to
eight fixtures.
● Each fixture must be connected to a single horizontal drain in this
technique.
● The vent connection is made between the two upstream fixtures—
that is, those fixtures connected to the horizontal drain pipe that are
the farthest away from the vent stack.
Combination Drain and Vent
● A combination drain and vent system allows the distance from trap
to vent to be extended infinitely, provided the drain stays in the
horizontal orientation and there is a vent somewhere within the
horizontal branch.
● It is based on oversizing the horizontal drain, so there is an
increased likelihood of stoppage in the drain line. This is the most
popular method of venting a floor drain or venting island fixtures. A
combination drain and vent is a marginally effective venting
method.
Relief Vent
● A relief vent is a continuous pipe of lesser or equal diameter
running parallel and alongside the soil and waste stack in a
multistory plumbing system.
● It is used to equalize air pressure within the stack.
Vent stack configurations are shown in Figures 14.5 through 14.9. Codes
limit the distance between the trap outlet and the vent to ensure proper
venting. These distances depend on the venting technique and size of
the drain and lines.
● A vent stack extends vertically through the building and up
through the roof to the exterior of the building.
● Vents from a fixture or group of fixtures ties in with the main vent
stack, which extends to the exterior.
● It must extend beyond the roof at least 6 in (152 mm) and
terminate to open air well beyond attic vents, windows, doors, or
intake air vents.
● A vent stack is used in multistory buildings where a pipe is required
to provide the flow of air throughout the drainage system.
● The vent stack can also begin at the soil or waste pipe, just below
the lowest horizontal connection, and may go through the roof or
connect back into the soil or waste pipe not less than 6 in (150 mm)
above the top of the highest fixture.
Air Admittance Valves
● An air admittance valve (AAV) is a pressure-activated, one-way mechanical
venting port used to eliminate the need for expensive venting and roof
penetrations.
● Wastewater discharges cause the AAV to open, allowing air to circulate in the
vent system.
● When there is no discharge, the valve remains closed, preventing the escape of
sewer gas and maintaining the trap seal.
● Individual or branch-type air admittance valves may be used for venting
individual, branch, and circuited fixtures.
● AAVs are not permitted for venting combination drain and vent systems and
wet vented systems.
● Using AAVs can significantly reduce the amount of venting materials needed for
a plumbing system, increase plumbing labor efficiency, allow greater flexibility
in the layout of fixtures, and reduce long-term maintenance problems where
conventional vents penetrate the roof surface.
Positive Air Pressure Attenuator
● A positive air pressure attenuator (PAPA) is a product developed to protect
buildings of 10 or more stories against the unwanted positive pressures (i.e.,
back pressure/positive transients) generated in the DWV system.
● PAPAs are installed at the base of the soil and waste stack and at various
floor intervals, depending on the height of the building.
● The unsteady nature of the water flows cause pressure fluctuations (known
as pressure transients), which can compromise water trap seals and provide
a path for sewer gases to enter the habitable space.
● A PAPA/AAV system counters the tendency for the loss of trap water seals
resulting from positive pressure pulses in a soil and waste stack.
● The PAPA/AAV system may be used in sanitary plumbing systems as an
alternative to relief venting, eliminating the need for a continuous parallel
relief vent pipe.
● It is a viable option to the Sovent® system.
Sovent® Drain and Vent System
● The Sovent® system is a system that combines the drain stack, branches,
and vents into one pipe system by using patented Sovent® fittings.
● Fritz Sommer of Switzerland, whose work was mainly driven by a need for
resource-conserving construction techniques, developed and patented the
Sovent® fittings in the 1950s.
● The system consists of four components: vertical stack piping, horizontal
branches to the fixtures, aerator fitting, and de-aerator fittings. These
components work together to collect wastes from the plumbing fixtures
and transport them down a stack to the building drain.
● The system works on the principle that wastewater flowing down a vertical
pipe tends to cling to the interior wall surface and continue downward in a
swirling motion. As the wastewater travels down the walls of the pipe, the
pipe center remains open and serves as an airway.
● The system works on the principle that wastewater flowing down a
vertical pipe tends to cling to the interior wall surface and continue
downward in a swirling motion.
● As the wastewater travels down the walls of the pipe, the pipe center
remains open and serves as an airway.
● The airway provides venting so there is a balance of pressures within
the drainage system. It eliminates the need for a separate venting
system.
● However, if the fall rate of wastewater is uncontrolled, the falling
water will increase speed and meet air resistance, which will flatten
out the falling waste until it blocks the stack. This downward moving
blockage can throw off the pressure balance in the system and suck
water out of fixture traps.
● Specially designed fittings are placed in the vertical stack at each floor
to eliminate speed buildup and blockage, thereby maintaining the
● Sovent® stack will remain one size throughout its entire length. It is
not permitted to change diameter because it functions for both
drainage and venting purposes. Sovent® stack size is based on the
total number of drainage fixture units that connect to that stack.
The stack will penetrate the roof to the atmosphere much like
traditional vent systems.
Sewage Ejection
● For the most part, sanitary drainage systems rely on the force of
gravity to create flow to discharge wastewater. In some building
installations, however, a fixture or group of fixtures must to be
installed below the level of the nearest available sewer line.
● In these cases, wastewater must be lifted to the level of the main
drain or sewer by a pumping system called a sewage ejector.
● Typically, a sewage ejector can pump solids from 2 to 4 in (50 to 100
mm) in size or grinds solid wastes before passing them through the
ejector.
● A sewage ejector system consists of the sump basin, a motor-pump
assembly, and a system of automatic electrical controls.
● Wastewater from the sanitary pipes flow by gravity into the sump
basin, a pit that collects wastewater.
● As the wastewater level rises, it triggers a float switch that activates
the pump. The pump then lifts the wastewater through a check
valve and discharge line into a typical building drain line, where it
gravity flows into the building sewer. It operates much like a sump
pump.
● The check valve in the discharge line prevents backflow. Without it,
the pump will cycle continuously. A vent pipe connects to the sump
basin to relieve the suction created by the pump.
● A single ejector pump is installed in a small system, such as a
single-family residence or small commercial building.
● Larger commercial and industrial installations require two pumps to
ensure continued operation if one pump fails.