what's up guys and welcome back to another instructional video
in this video i want to cover how the plumbing works in a typical home everything we do pretty
much relies on plumbing when you think of it for a second whether it's washing your
car or brushing your teeth before going to bed you're using your home's plumbing system
a homes plumbing system is composed of four things waste drains waste vents potable water
and rainwater management so let's go through each process one by one and talk about what they do
let's start off with the drains most homes have either abs pvc or cast iron drain pipes and vents
these pipes are connected to all the fixtures in the home such as toilets sinks bathtubs and
showers when the fixture is used the waste is carried inside these drain pipes that have a
slight slope to them down the main drain up until it reaches the municipal drain under the street
i'll also show where this waste goes later in the video every here and there you'll find clean-outs
like this these are what give you access to the inside of the pipes in case there's a blockage
most homes in the u.s also have these outside so it's easier for the plumber to access it
as for pipe sizes most toilet drains are 3 inches kitchen and bathroom sinks are inch and a half
or 2 inch if it's wet vented and showers and bathtubs are 2 inches by code the main stacks
are either three inches or four inches depending on what the code asks for and your municipality
but some homes don't have municipal services so how do they get rid of their waste simple
the main drain pipe that would normally go to the sewers goes into what's called a septic tank
this septic tank which is either concrete or polyethylene separates the solids from the liquids
and flows into a leach field or drain field which then goes into the ground to get naturally
filtered the solids though eventually need to get pumped out by a vacuum truck to make sure
it functions properly now onto the venting for these fixtures and drains to function adequately
the system needs to be properly vented when a toilet is flushed for example the water pushes
the air downstream causing a negative pressure behind it the vents are what equalize this change
in pressure to prevent things like gurgling and p-traps being siphoned out which would allow for
sewer gases to find their way inside your home these vents get their air through the roof and
need to stay clear from bird nests and debris or you're assured of having problems something
else this vent serves is to relieve any pressure buildup inside the actual municipal sewer line
some cities had their manhole covers blast up 50 feet in the air because rats would chew on
electrical wires and would in turn create a spark and ignite the methane gas inside the sewers
so the vent minimizes the chance of this happening as for potable water goes
it comes from the street like the other services and typically has between 40 to 80 psi of pressure
every home with a water supply from this city has to have a shut up valve
outside just like this in case the city needs to close the water
this copper line which is normally three quarters of an inch in size comes into the basement through
the concrete slab to another shutoff valve which is only accessible to the homeowner
here we see the hot water tank your hot water tank which is either electric or gas fed is fed
cold water to then heat it up and distribute it throughout the house thanks to the city's pressure
some homes still have cpvc or copper lines but new constructions use mostly pex as it's
reliable and quick to install so back to before's question how does one get water
if there's no municipal services in rural areas people use wells a well is basically a
hole that's drilled approximately 500 feet in the ground to access groundwater via pumping
this water is pumped back up and goes through a series of apparatuses to make the water drinkable
a downside to this is if the electricity cuts out you'll need a generator to get a glass of water
and the last aspect is rainwater management in the past rainwater and sewage was combined
meaning the rainwater went into the same sewer as the waste from your house
since then they've been separated to make water management easier
so when it rains all of this water has to go somewhere right the rain that falls on the house's
roof trickles into the gutters now the gutter's job is to divert the water away from the house to
prevent water and filtrations so what most people do is install a five-foot piece onto the downspout
so the water has somewhere to go which is perfectly fine other people prefer recovering
this water in barrels to use as non-potable water to water their plants and flowers and
some actually connect them to the weeping tile or french drain the french drain is the corrugated
pipe that runs around the house's footing to catch any excess water in the ground the problem when
doing this is that the municipal drain could get overloaded very quickly and overflow so it's best
to invest in a rainwater collection system or to just let the soil absorb the water if possible
so where does all of this waste and rainwater go once it's in the municipality's hands
both of these services head down the road which eventually need to be lifted at a lifting station
which pumps the storm and wastewaters back up so they don't go too deep the rainwater
dumps itself into a nearby river and the waste continues to the sewage treatment plant where
it passes through multiple filters and treatment stages to then be released back into the nearest
river and the cycle continues the water from the river is filtered and pumped back into the city's
main as potable water which is safe to drink and that's basically how your plumbing system works
i hope this video clarified some things about how we use our water and i believe it's
important we all know how it works as without it we wouldn't have the same life quality as we have
don't forget to share and give this video a thumbs up and until the next one thanks for watching