The document provides a history of plumbing from ancient civilizations like the Minoans and Romans to modern times. It discusses key developments in plumbing technology and sanitation practices. It then outlines basic principles of plumbing systems, describing their two main objectives of supplying water and removing waste. Finally, it lists and defines 31 common elements of plumbing and sanitary systems such as soil pipes, vents, traps, and fixtures.

1. BASIC
PRINCIPLES
OF PLUMBING
& SANITARY
DESIGN
CEA 243
ENGINEERING UTILITIES 2

2. TOPICS
• History of Plumbing
• Basic Principles
• Elements of Plumbing/Sanitary System

3. HISTORY OF PLUMBING
• Nearly 4000 years ago, the ancient
Greeks had hot and cold-water
systems in buildings.
• The Minoan Palace of Knossos on the
isle of Crete had terra cotta (baked
clay) piping laid beneath the palace
floor. These pipes provided water for
fountains and faucets of marble,
gold, and silver that offered hot and
cold running water.
• Drainage systems emptied into large
sewers constructed of stone.
Minoan Palace of Knossos

4. HISTORY OF PLUMBING
• The Minoans took advantage of the steep
grade of the land to devise a drainage
system with lavatories, sinks, and
manholes. Archaeologists have found
pipe laid in depths from just below the
surface in one area to almost 11 feet
deep in others.
• At Knossos we find the earliest known
flushing toilet. The toilet was screened
off by partitions and was flushed by
rainwater or by water held in cisterns
from conduits built into the wall.
• Not just palaces but ordinary homes
were heated with sophisticated
hypocaust systems, where heat was
conducted under the floor, the earliest
known to exist.
Minoan Palace of Knossos

5. HISTORY OF PLUMBING
Palace drainage system
Terra Cotta pipes

6. HISTORY OF PLUMBING
Ancient toilet design in Knossos

7. HISTORY OF PLUMBING
• The first storm sewers of Rome were
built about 2800 years ago. Over
2000 years ago, the Romans had in
place a highly developed community
plumbing system in which water was
conveyed over many miles by large
aqueducts. Water was then
distributed to residences in lead
pipes.
Roman Sewage System

8. HISTORY OF PLUMBING
• Cloaca Maxima, is an ancient Roman
sewer, one of the oldest monuments in
the Roman Forum.
• Originally an open channel constructed
in the 6th century BC by lining an
existing stream bed with stone, it was
enclosed, beginning in the 3rd century
BC, with a stone barrel (semicircular)
vault.
• Its primary function was to carry off
stormwater from the Forum district to
the Tiber, but in Imperial times large
public baths and latrines were
connected to it. Much of its original
masonry has been replaced by concrete.
Cloaca Maxima, Rome

9. HISTORY OF PLUMBING
• The Roman plumber was an artisan who
worked with lead. Both male and female
plumbers soldered, installed, and
repaired roofs, gutters, sewers, drains,
and every part of the plumbing supply,
waste, and storm drainage systems.
• The term plumbing is derived from the
Latin word plumbum for lead (Pb).
• Historians theorize that lead leaching
into drinking water from water supply
pipes and lead from other sources
poisoned the Roman aristocracy,
contributing to the decline of the Roman
Empire
Ancient Roman plumbing

10. HISTORY OF PLUMBING
• The period from 500 to 1500 C.E.
was a dark age in terms of human
hygiene; community plumbing
became almost nonexistent.
• At the end of the Middle Ages,
London’s first water system was
rebuilt around 1500. It consisted
partly of the rehabilitated Roman
system with the remainder
patterned off of the Roman’s design.

11. HISTORY OF PLUMBING
• Pumping devices have been an
important way of moving fluids for
thousands of years.
• The ancient Egyptians invented
water wheels with buckets mounted
on them to move water for
irrigation.
• Over 2000 years ago, Archimedes, a
Greek mathematician, invented a
screw pump made of a screw
rotating in a cylinder (now known
as an Archimedes screw). This type
of pump was used to drain and
irrigate the Nile Valley.
Archimedes Screw

12. HISTORY OF PLUMBING
• The beginnings of modern plumbing
began in the early 1800s, when
steam engines became capable of
supplying water under pressure
and inexpensive cast iron pipes
could be produced to carry it. Still,
it was considered unhealthy to
bathe.
• In 1835, the Common Council of
Philadelphia nearly banned
wintertime bathing (the ordinance
failed by two votes). Ten years later,
Boston prohibited bathing except
on specific medical advice.

13. HISTORY OF PLUMBING
• Finally, it was through observation of
several cholera epidemics in the mid-
1800s that epidemiologists finally
recognized the link between sanitation
and public health. This discovery
provided the thrust for modern water
and sewage systems.
• In 1848, England passed the national
Public Health Act, which later became
a model plumbing code for the world to
follow. It mandated some type of
sanitary disposal in every residence
such as a flushing toilet, a privy, or an
ash pit.

14. HISTORY OF PLUMBING
• Drinking water in colonial America came
from streams, rivers, and wells. It was
commonly believed at the time that foul-
tasting mineral water had medicinal value.
• Around the time of the American
Revolution, Dr. Benjamin Rush, a signer of
the Declaration of Independence and
surgeon general under George Washington,
had the bad fortune of having a well with
horribly tasting water at the site of his
Pennsylvania home.
• Townspeople rushed to his well to get
drinking water in hopes that its medicinal
value would cure ailments. Unfortunately,
when Dr. Rush’s well dried out from
overuse, it was discovered too late that the
well was geologically connected
underground to the doctor’s privy.

15. HISTORY OF PLUMBING
• The birth of the plumbing profession in
the Philippines is traced back to the
17th century.
• The Walled City known as Intramuros
was established by the Spaniards as a
model community. The Friar Engineers
who built the government buildings,
residential and other structures
incorporated European standards in
their plumbing installations.
• During the 18th and 19th centuries,
the Filipino plumbers were assigned
the task of maintaining, repairing
and/or remodeling plumbing systems
in all "pueblos" or towns including
churches, convents, and government
buildings.
Intramuros

16. HISTORY OF PLUMBING
• PLUMBING took a great leap at the turn of the 20th century with the
arrival of American soldiers, engineers, Thomasite teachers, doctors, and
evangelists.
• Health and hygiene became a priority when epidemics including cholera,
leprosy, schistosomiasis, and other contagious diseases engulfed the
Philippines. Alarmed, Governor-General Harrison issued a letter of
instruction on proper waste disposal in all municipalities.
• Sometime in 1902, the plumbing trade was duly recognized by the
government. The City of Manila was the model community. Master
Plumber John F. Hass became the first Chief of the Division of Plumbing
Construction and Inspection.

17. HISTORY OF PLUMBING
• Modern cities have sophisticated
water delivery and wastewater
treatment systems.
• In buildings, the plumbing system
performs two primary functions:
water supply and waste disposal.
• A complete plumbing arrangement
consists of a water supply system, a
sanitary drainage system, and a
wastewater treatment system.

18. BASIC PRINCIPLES
• Plumbing is defined as the art and science of installing pipes, fixtures
and other apparatus to convey and supply water in building and to
dispose and discharge wastewater and other liquids, gases and other
substances out of buildings in a safe, orderly, healthy, and sanitary way
to ensure the health and sanitation of life and property.
• Plumber is a title given to a person who is skilled in the field of
sanitation.
• Plumbing has two main objectives:
1. To supply water to different parts of the building
2. To remove and discharge human wastes and other substances out of
the building into the public sewer or septic tank.

19. BASIC PRINCIPLES
• Mandatory Requirements for a Drainage System
1. All pipe joints must be well fitted and tightly connected with each other
to prevent leakage of gas and liquid.
2. The drainage pipe should be graded or inclined properly for a
downward gravity flow of water towards the main sewer line or to the
septic tank.
3. The drainage pipe should be provided with adequate cleanout,
accessible for repair in case of stoppage.
4. The drainage system must be provided with a ventilation pipe that will
convey gases to the atmosphere where it can do no harm to human
health.
5. Except for the water closet, each fixture shall be provided with a
suitable trap that prevents the backflow of gases.

20. BASIC PRINCIPLES
• Degrees of Wastewater
1. Storm Water – water from rain
2. Grey Water – from laundries, washbasins, sinks, showers, & bathtubs
3. Black Water – water plus human waste both solid and liquid flushed
out of toilet and urinals

21. ELEMENTS OF PLUMBING/SANITARY SYSTEM

22. ELEMENTS OF PLUMBING/SANITARY
SYSTEM
1. Soil Pipe - any pipe which
conveys the discharge of water
closets, urinals, or fixtures
having similar functions
2. Stack - a general term used
for any vertical line of soil,
waste, or vent piping
3. Soil Stack Pipe - a vertical
soil pipe conveying fecal
matter and liquid waste

23. ELEMENTS OF PLUMBING/SANITARY
SYSTEM
4. Stack Vent - an extension
of a soil or waste stack above
the highest horizontal drain
connected to the stack
5. Vent - a pipe or opening
used for ensuring the
circulation of air in a
plumbing system and for
reducing to pressure exerted
on trap seals

24. ELEMENTS OF PLUMBING/SANITARY
SYSTEM
6. Unit Vent - an arrangement of venting so installed that one vent pipe will serve two
(2) traps
7. Wet Vent - that portion of a vent pipe through which liquid waste flow

25. ELEMENTS OF PLUMBING/SANITARY
SYSTEM
8. Branch - any part of a
piping system other than the
main riser or stack
9. Main - the principal artery
of the system to which
branches may be connected
10. Branch Vent - a vent pipe
connecting from a branch of
the drainage system to a vent
stack

26. ELEMENTS OF PLUMBING/SANITARY
SYSTEM
11. Waste Pipe - a pipe that conveys
only liquid wastes free of fecal matter
12. Drain - a sewer or other pipe or
conduit used for conveying groundwater,
surface water, wastewater, or sewage
13. Sewer - a pipe or conduit for
carrying sewage and waste liquids
14. Sewage - the liquid wastes
conducted away from
buildings/structures, also of the
stormwater
15. Sewerage - a comprehensive term,
including all construction for collection,
transportation, pumping, treatment, and
final disposition of waste

27. ELEMENTS OF PLUMBING/SANITARY
SYSTEM
16. Cleanout - a sleeve, calked
or otherwise, joined to an
opening in a pipe, into which a
plug is screwed that can be
removed for the purpose of
cleaning or examining the
interior of the pipe
17. Trap - A fitting or device so
constructed as to prevent the
passage of air, gas, and some
vermin through a pipe without
materially affecting the flow of
sewage or wastewater through
it

28. ELEMENTS OF PLUMBING/SANITARY
SYSTEM
18. House Drain - that part of the lowest horizontal piping of a plumbing system that receives the
discharge from soil, waste, and other drainage pipes inside of a building and conveys it to the house
sewer
19. House Sewer - the house sewer is that part of a plumbing system extending from a point about four
(4) or five (5) feet from the inner face of the foundation wall of a building to the junction with another
sewer

29. ELEMENTS OF PLUMBING/SANITARY
SYSTEM
20. House Trap- a trap
connected to the lowest
horizontal piping or House
Drain
21. Relief Vent – a vent
which primary function is to
provide circulation of air
between drainage and vent
system

30. ELEMENTS OF PLUMBING/SANITARY
SYSTEM
22. Public Sewer – a common sewer directly
controlled by the public authority to which all
abutters have equal rights of connection
23. Siphonage - a suction caused by the flow of
liquids in pipes
24. Spigot - the end of a pipe that fits into a bell.
Also, a word synonymously with faucet
25. Seal - the vertical distance between the dip and
crown wire of a trap
26. Roughing-In - the installation of all pipes in the
plumbing system that is in partitions and under
floors
27. Finishing - the setting of fixtures

31. ELEMENTS OF PLUMBING/SANITARY
SYSTEM
28. Sump - a pit or receptacle at a low point to which the liquid wastes are drained
29. Sleeve - a sheet metal placed when concrete is poured to accommodate future
plumbing pipes

32. ELEMENTS OF PLUMBING/SANITARY
SYSTEM
30. Pipe Chase - an opening or
space to accommodate a group
of pipes
31. Plumbing Fixtures – are
installed receptacles, devices, or
appliances which are supplied
with water, or which receives or
discharge into drainage system
which may be directly or
indirectly connected