Plumbing Basics
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. A plumber is someone who installs or repairs piping systems,
plumbing fixtures and equipment such as water heaters. The plumbing
industry is a basic and substantial part of every developed economy due to
the need for clean water, and proper collection and transport of wastes.
Plumbing also refers to a system of pipes and fixtures installed in a
building for the distribution of potable water and the removal of
waterborne wastes. Plumbing is usually distinguished from water and sewage
systems, in that a plumbing system serves one building, while water and
sewage systems serve a group of buildings or a city.
Plumbing was extremely rare until
the growth of modern cities in the 19th century. At about the same time public
health authorities began pressing for better waste disposal systems to be
installed. Earlier, the waste disposal system merely consisted of collecting
waste and dumping it on ground or into a river. Standardized earthen plumbing
pipes with broad flanges making use of asphalt for preventing leakages appeared
in the urban settlements of the Indus Valley Civilization by 2700 B.C. Plumbing
originated during the ancient civilizations such as the Greek, Roman, Persian,
Indian, and Chinese civilizations as they developed public baths and needed to
provide potable water, and drainage of wastes. The Romans used lead pipe
inscriptions to prevent water theft. Improvement in plumbing systems was very
slow, with virtually no progress made from the time of the Roman system of
aqueducts and lead pipes until the 19th century. Eventually the development of
separate, underground water and sewage systems eliminated open sewage ditches
and cesspools. Most large cities today pipe solid wastes to treatment plants in
order to separate and partly purify the water before emptying into streams or
other bodies of water. For potable water use, galvanized iron piping was
commonplace in the United States from the late 1800s until around 1960. After
that period, copper took over, first with soft copper with flared fittings, then
with rigid copper tubing utilizing soldered fittings. The use of lead for
potable water declined sharply after World War II because of the dangers of lead
poisoning. At this time, copper piping was introduced as a better and safer
alternative to lead pipes.
Water systems of ancient times
relied on gravity for the supply of water, using pipes or channels usually made
of clay, lead, bamboo wood 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".
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