The Plumbing Supply System

A well-designed plumbing distribution system doesn't just deliver water to the points of need. It also delivers reasonably constant water temperature and pressure. Such a plumbing system will not only promote harmony between spouses but will also serve as a selling point when the home is on the market. Learn how to design and install the two most common water plumbing distribution systems and a system of your own design. Find also plumbing installation aids, plumbing common problems, and plumbing solutions. Read how to design a plumbing system that keeps the water quiet no more rushing-water noise in the walls or hammer noise coming from the plumbing pipes when someone turns off the faucet.

A well-designed plumbing water supply system can deliver a good high-power spray in the shower; a poor one, only a dribble.

How Water Gets Routed through a House

Before you start working with a house plumbing lines, you need to know three things:

First, how to recognize a poorly designed plumbing system so you won't be sure with added problems down the road.

Second, how to design and install a proper plumbing system.

And last, what part of the plumbing water line to tee into when adding on. Teeing into a poorly designed plumbing system teeing in at the wrong place in a well-designed plumbing system can lead to major problems.

The Series Plumbing System

The Plumbing series system is the one we see most often. This plumbing design attempts to give the best water distribution for the money using just one main feed. Because there is only one main plumbing feed, you will have to put design plumbing rules

1 Drain and vent plumbing lines have priority over water lines. Run all drain and vent plumbing lines first

2 Keep water plumbing lines out of the outside wall in climates that freeze. Instead, run lines up through the floor (or under the slab) to get to the fixture.

3 All shutoff plumbing valves in the main plumbing water line, and taps to fixtures, hot or cold, should be ball valves.

4 All under-sink shutoff plumbing valves (aka stop valves or fixture plumbing shutoff valves) should also be ball valves (quarter turn) The common plumbing valves that are usually installed under the fixture have a habit of sticking and leaking with occasional loss of pressure and a few hot/cold spurts when water is used in more than one location at the same time.

The design of a basic plumbing series system is simple it uses X-in. pipe from the point where water enters the house and for the main nin through out. Because the plumbing pipe feeds more than one fixture, its diameter should be X-in. Then X-in. plumbing pipe is used to feed only singular fixtures, with the exception of undercounter taps, such as a dishwasher feeding off the kitchen faucet line.

In a poorly designed plumbing series system, you will typically see Y-in. plumbing pipe everywhere—even for the main line runs. It is this mistake that gives series plumbing installations a bad name. If during a renovation you inherit this type of installation, you will need to replace all main plumbing water lines with y-in. pipe.

Only the taps to the fixtures should remain Y-in. pipe.

One of the biggest drawbacks of the series plumbing system is its problem with velocity. With all the house water flowing through a single plumbing pipe, the velocity tends to get too high, which creates noise and erodes metal fittings, especially those made of copper and brass.