Designer’s Guide Continued from page 16
efforts is that, reportedly, 87% of the nation’s potable water use is for industrial purposes and 13% is for resi- dential. Of that, 5% is for outdoor use and 8% for indoor consumption. Of the 8%, only 2.4% is used to flush toi- lets, so if all toilet flush volumes were reduced by 50% that would only save 1.2% of all domestic water usage, while industry continues to use over 87%. So as the tail wags the dog, our industry, clients and the public in gen- eral are enduring ever increasing heartache over drain line and sewer blockages for the sake of saving a rela- tively insignificant amount of water. That’s not to say that I am not in favor of saving water wherever possible, but the codes have to be changed before the ramifica- tions of water conservation create the very health haz- ards that modern day plumbing is supposed to avoid. For example, here in California, the Green Building
Standards Code went into effect at the beginning of this year. This code mandates a 20% water reduction for both residential and non-residential construction. However, the code does nothing to address the impact of that requirement on the plumbing systems. Hence, there is no benefit from reduced pipe sizing to save money on the plumbing installation. If drainage lines serving water closets were reduced in size, and if the sanitary pipe material were changed to smooth plastic, the drain line carry would be greater and the installation less
expensive. In fairness, there are committees working on correc-
tive code measures to address these very issues, but the code change process is an arduous one that takes many more years to achieve than the arbitrary reduction in fix- ture flows mandated by the 20% savings. “Politicized science” is and will remain far ahead of the true science that struggles to keep pace. An industry coalition called PERC, the Plumbing Efficiency Research Coalition, is trying to address the issues created by water conserva- tion through field studies, laboratory tests and computer models, but, in this financial climate, the monies avail- able are insufficient for PERC to work as quickly and effectively as politicized science would demand. n
Timothy Allinson is a senior professional engineer
with Murray Co. mechanical contractors in Long Beach, Calif. He is licensed in both mechanical and fire protection engineering in various states and is LEED accredited. He can be reached via email at
laguna_tim@yahoo.com.
The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not reflect those of Plumbing Engineer nor its publisher, TMB Publishing.
Circle 13 on Reader Reply Form on page 49 Page 18/Plumbing Engineer June 2011
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52