Plumbing
- (from the Latin plumbum for lead as pipes were once made from lead) is the skilled trade of working with pipes, tubing and plumbing fixtures for drinking water systems and the drainage of waste.
Plumber
- is someone who installs or repairs piping systems, plumbing fixtures and equipment such as water heaters.
Materials
Water systems of ancient times relied on gravity for the supply of water, using pipes or channels usually made of clay, lead, bamboo or stone. Present-day water-supply systems use a network of high-pressure pumps, and pipes are now made of copper, brass, plastic, or other nontoxic material. Present-day drain and vent lines are made of plastic, steel, cast-iron, and lead. Lead is not used in modern water-supply piping due to its toxicity. The 'straight' sections of plumbing systems are of pipe or tube. A pipe is typically formed via casting or welding, where a tube is made through extrusion. Pipe normally has thicker walls and may be threaded or welded, where tubing is thinner-walled and requires special joining techniques such as 'brazing', 'compression fitting', 'crimping', or for plastics, 'solvent welding'.
Fittings and valves
Piping being placed for a sink.In addition to the straight pipe or tubing, many fittings are required in plumbing systems, such as valves, elbows, tees, and unions.
Fixtures
Plumbing fixtures are designed for the end-users. Some examples of fixtures include water closets (also known as toilets), urinals, bidets, showers, bathtubs, utility and kitchen sinks, drinking fountains, ice makers, humidifiers, air washers, fountains, and eye wash stations.
Equipment
Plumbing equipment, not present in all systems, include, for example, water meters, pumps, expansion tanks, backflow preventers, filters, water softeners, water heaters, wrenches, heat exchangers, gauges, and control systems. Now there is equipment that is technologically advanced and helps plumbers fix problems without the usual hassles. For example, plumbers use video cameras for inspections of hidden leaks or problems, they use hydro jets, and high pressure hydraulic pumps connected to steel cables for trench-less sewer line replacement.
Systems
Copper piping system in a building with intumescent firestop being installed by an insulator, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
The major categories of plumbing systems or subsystems are:- Potable cold and hot water supply
- Traps, drains, and vents
- Septic systems
- Rainwater, surface, and subsurface water drainage
- Fuel gas piping
For their environmental benefit and sizable energy savings hot water heat recycling units are growing in use throughout the residential building sectors. Further ecological concern has seen increasing interest in grey-water recovery and treatment systems.
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