Drain project designing opening footsteps
Drain project designing opening footsteps
Before starting any plumbing and sewage work yourself you should find out about any Local Authority rules that relate to your area.
If you are changing your current drainage, or installing a new system, you will most definitely be asked to show detailed plans of the implementation that you have in mind and it will need to be overseen as the work moves forward to ensure that it is compliant with local building rules. In many situations when you are simply replacing broken parts, there is no need for the local authority to be informed.
Surface water is basically water from rain and is handled differently from dark waste water in a modern drainage development. This can discharged into a soakaway, watercourse, surface water sewer or, particularly in older properties, into the foul water drainage system. Air escape from the drains is stopped when rainwater pipes are discharged into the foul water drains through gully traps in an older combined system. But modern systems are especially created so that dirty water and surface water remain separate. If you have a modern system it is very essential that you make sure that you do not accidentally integrate the foul water to a surface water drainage system. You should get advice from the local authority Building Department before you start any work in a situation when you are not sure about the drainage system around your house.
To properly prepare the plans and get local authority permission to commence work there is a need for you to plan the route of the waste pipes before you begin. The route should be as short and straight as possible, this will help to reduce future maintenance problems and costs. You must avoid making your pipe runs too steep. You can calculate the fall of a drain over a distance using a surveyors site level. By establishing a datum point and using a hosepipe filled with water to establish levels you can calculate the fall from the datum in a situation when do not have one of these measures available.
You need to ascertain that the foundations and structure of the building is safe when digging to install your drain ditch. If you are laying a drain run parallel to the home, you must ensure that any foundations are not undermined.
The pipes should be laid before too long a trench is dug as a new ditch can be unstable. The pipes should be laid quickly and the trench back filled after the system has been examined thoroughly and tested as required.
Be wary of the depth and soil conditions and if necessary add extra support to the ditch. It is advisable to take proper precautions. If you are not sure prop up the trench anyway to prevent it from falling. Keep the ditch as narrow as possible, but allow room to work in the ditch. The trench base must be smooth and clean, there shouldn’t be any bricks or protruding stones around. If the exiting material is not suitable then you may need to import a suitable material for the base of the ditch.
Bricks and/or any other sturdy material should never be used to prop up the pipe in the ditch. This should not be used as support for the short or the long run because it will damage the pipe, the pipe needs to be fully supported over its full lenght. For accommodation of the joints in the pipes,the bedding should be compacted in a regular way with hollows made a appropriate points. You will need to provide a continuous and uniform support for the complete length of the pipe.
It is very important that the design of the drainage system should be constructed in such a way that all parts of the pipework are accessible to a set of drain rods for future maintenance. So that is why a run of drains should be as straight as possible between two points or inspection chambers. As a general rule, any change in direction of the pipework should be provided with an inspection chamber to allow rodding access.
Keeping these points in mind, you can carry out your own drainage and plumbing work smoothly and almost professionally.