CHAPTER IX
Defects in Plumbing
The materials used in house plumbing are many and various, the parts are very numerous, the joints and connections are frequent, the position and location of pipes, etc., are often inaccessible and hidden, and the whole system quite complicated. Moreover, no part of the house construction is subjected to so many strains and uses, as well as abuses, as the plumbing of the house. Hence, in no part of house construction can there be as much bad work and "scamping" done as in the plumbing; and no part of the house is liable to have so many defects in construction, maintenance, and condition as the plumbing. At the same time, the plumbing of a house is of very great importance and influence on the health of the tenants, for defective materials, bad workmanship, and improper condition of the plumbing of a house may endanger the lives of its inhabitants by causing various diseases.
Defects in Plumbing.—The defects usually found in plumbing are so many that they cannot all be enumerated here. Among the principal and most common defects, however, are the following:
Materials.—Light-weight iron pipes; these crack easily and cannot stand the strain of calking. Sand-holes made during casting; these cannot always be detected, especially when the pipes are tar-coated. Thin lead pipe; not heavy enough to withstand the bending and drawing it is subjected to.
Location and Position.—Pipes may be located within the walls and built in, in which case they are inaccessible, and may be defective without anyone being able to discover the defects. Pipes may be laid with a wrong or an insufficient fall, thus leaving them unflushed, or retarding the proper velocity of the flow in the pipes. Pipes may be put underground and have no support underneath, when some parts or lengths may sink, get out of joint, and the sewage run into the ground instead of through the pipes. The pipes may be so located as to require sharp bends and curves, which will retard the flow in them.
Joints.—Joints in pipes may be defective, leaking, and not gas-tight because of imperfect calking, insufficient lead having been used; or, no oakum having been used and the lead running into the lumen of the pipe; or, not sufficient care and time being taken for the work. Joints may be defective because of iron ferrules being used instead of brass ferrules; through improperly wiped joints; through bad workmanship, bad material, or ignorance of the plumber. Plumbers often use T branches instead of Y branches; sharp bends instead of bends of forty-five degrees or more; slip joints instead of lead-calked ones; also, they often connect a pipe of larger diameter with a pipe of small diameter, etc.
Traps.—The traps may be bad in principle and in construction; they may be badly situated or connected, or they may be easily unsealed, frequently obstructed, inaccessible, foul, etc.
Ventilation.—The house drain may have no fresh-air inlet, or the fresh-air inlet may be obstructed; the vent pipes may be absent, or obstructed; the vertical pipes may not be extended.
Condition.—Pipes may have holes, may be badly repaired, bent, out of shape, or have holes patched up with cement or putty; pipes may be corroded, gnawed by rats, or they may be obstructed, etc.
The above are only a few of the many defects that may be found in the plumbing of a house. It is, therefore, of paramount importance to have the house plumbing regularly, frequently, and thoroughly examined and inspected, as well as put to the various tests, so as to discover the defects and remedy them.
Plumbing Tests.—The following are a few minor points for testing plumbing:
(1) To test a trap with a view to finding out whether its seal is lost or not, knock on the trap with a piece of metal; if the trap is empty, a hollow sound will be given out; if full, the sound will be dull. This is not reliable in case the trap is full or half-full with slime, etc. Another test for the same purpose is as follows: hold a light near the outlet of the fixture; if the light is drawn in, it is a sign that the trap is empty.
(2) Defects in leaded joints can be detected if white lead has been used, as it will be discolored in case sewer gas escape from the joints.
(3) The connection of a waste pipe of a bath tub with the trap of the water-closet can sometimes be discovered by suddenly emptying the bath tub and watching the contents of the water-closet trap; the latter will be agitated if the waste pipe is discharged into the trap or on the inlet side of trap of the water-closet.
(4) The presence of sewer gas in a room can be detected by the following chemical method: saturate a piece of unglazed paper with a solution of acetate of lead in rain or boiled water, in the proportion of one to eight; allow the paper to dry, and hang up in the room where the escape of sewer gas is suspected; if sewer gas is present, the paper will be completely blackened.
The main tests for plumbing are: (1) the Hydraulic or water-pressure test; (2) the Smoke, or sight test, and (3) the Scent, or peppermint, etc., test.
The Water-pressure Test is used to test the vertical and horizontal pipes in new plumbing before the fixtures have been connected. It is applied as follows: the end of the house drain is plugged up with a proper air-tight plug, of which there are a number on the market. The pipes are then filled with water to a certain level, which is carefully noted. The water is allowed to stand in the pipes for half an hour, at the expiration of which time, if the joints show no sign of leakage, and are not sweating, and if the level of the water in the pipes has not fallen, the pipes are water-tight. This is a very reliable test, and is made obligatory for testing all new plumbing work.
The Smoke Test is also a very good test. It is applied as follows: by means of bellows, or some exploding, smoke-producing rocket, smoke is forced into the system of pipes, the ends plugged up, and the escape of the smoke watched for, as wherever there are defects in the pipes the smoke will appear. A number of special appliances for this test are manufactured, all of them more or less ingenious.
The Scent Test is made by putting into the pipes a certain quantity of some pungent chemical, like peppermint oil, etc., the odor of which will escape from the defects in the pipes, if there are any. Oil of peppermint is commonly used in this country for the test. The following is the way this test is applied: all the openings of the pipes on the roof, except one, are closed up tightly with paper, rags, etc. Into the one open pipe is poured from two to four ounces of peppermint oil, followed by a pail of hot water, and then the pipe into which the oil has been put is also plugged up. This is done, preferably, by an assistant. The inspector then proceeds to slowly follow the course of the various pipes, and will detect the smell of the oil wherever it may escape from any defects in the pipes. If the test is thoroughly and carefully done, if care is taken that no fixture in the house is used and the traps of same not disturbed during the test, if the openings of the pipes on the roofs are plugged up tightly, if the main house trap is not unsealed (otherwise the oil will escape into the sewer), and if the handling of the oil has been done by an assistant, so that none adheres to the inspector—if all these conditions are carried out, the peppermint test is a most valuable test for the detection of any and all defects in plumbing. Another precaution to be taken is with regard to the rain leader. If the rain leader is not trapped, or if its trap is empty, the peppermint oil may escape from the pipes into the rain leader. Care must be taken, therefore, that the trap at the base of the rain leader be sealed; or, if no trap is existing, to close up the connection of the rain leader with the house drain; or, if this be impossible, to plug up the opening of the leader near the roof.
Instead of putting the oil into the opening of a pipe on the roof, it may be put through a fixture on the top floor of the house, although this is not so satisfactory.
Various appliances have been manufactured to make this test more easy and accurate. Of the English appliances, the Banner patent drain grenade, and Kemp's drain tester are worthy of mention. The former consists "of a thin glass vial charged with pungent and volatile chemicals. One of the grenades, when dropped down any suitable pipe, such as the soil pipe, breaks, or the grenade may be inserted through a trap into the drain, where it is exploded." (Taylor.) Kemp's drain tester consists of a glass tube containing a chemical with a strong odor; the tube is fitted with a glass cover, held in place by a string and a paper band. When the tester is thrown into the pipes and hot water poured after it, the paper band breaks, the spring opens the cover, and the contents of the tube fall into the drain.
Recently Dr. W. G. Hudson, an inspector in the Department of Health of New York, has invented a very ingenious "peppermint cartridge" for testing plumbing. The invention is, however, not yet manufactured, and is not on the market.