Drainage pipe

“ The allowance to be made for a less fall in the mains, has already been adverted to, and must not be overlooked. It is believed that the capacity of a three or four-inch pipe to convey water, is in general likely to be much under-estimated. ”

“ The round pipe, or the pipe, as it seems, par excellence, to be termed by English drainers, though one of the latest, if not the last form of tiles introduced in England, has become altogether the most popular among scientific men, and is generally used in all works conducted under the charge of the Land Drainage Companies. This ought to settle the question for us, when we consider that the immense sum of twenty millions of dollars of public funds has been expended by them, in addition to vast amounts of private funds, and that the highest practical talent of the nation is engaged in the work. ”

“ They are liable, too, to fill up by deposits of sand and the like, by being laid lower in some places than the parts nearer the outlet, so that the slack places catch and retain whatever is brought down, till the pipe is filled. ”

“ The collar for a one and a half inch pipe has a circumference of nine inches. The whole space between the collar and the pipe, on each side of the collar, is open, and affords no resistance to the entrance of water: while, at the same time, the superincumbent arch of the collar protects the junction of two pipes from the intrusion of particles of soil. We confess to some original misgivings, that a pipe resting only on an inch at each end, and lying hollow, might prove weak, and liable to fracture by weight pressing on it from above ”

“ The laborers would purchase a few of the smaller tools, such as Nos. 290, 291, and 301, figured in Morton's excellent Cyclopædia of Agriculture, and would try them, and then order others of the country blacksmith, differing in several respects; less weighty and much less costly, and, moreover, much better as working tools. All I require of the cutters, is, that the bottom of the drain should be evenly cut, to fit the size of the pipe. The rest of the work takes care of itself; for a good workman will economize his labor for his own sake, by moving as little earth as practicable ”

“ If steam enters a soil-pipe, it heats the water in the traps, injures joints on account of the extreme changes of temperature induced, and hastens corrosion of the pipes.
Fig. 25 shows a system of house-drainage for a city house planned in accordance with the above rules.
Fig. 26.—Field’s flush-tank.
In country houses, where there are no sewers, the best method of disposing of the house-slops is subsoil drainage. The house system may be the same as that already explained for city houses. The fluids are conducted by a pipe with tight joints to a flush-tank (Fig. 26) near the house. ”

“ For a district inhabited by 10,000 persons, a 12-inch pipe would afford a sufficient outlet, unless the amount of road drainage were unusually large, and for the largest sewers, pipes of more than 18 inches diameter are rarely used, these doing the work which, under the old system, was alloted to a sewer 6 feet high and 3 feet broad. ”

“ When once well fixed, it has no tendency to move. I would, therefore, advocate cast iron in lieu of lead soilpipes. In fixing the soilpipe which is to receive a water-closet, the trap should form part of the fixed pipe; so that if there is any sinking the down pipe will not sink away from the trap. It is, however, not sufficient to provide good material. There is nothing which is more important in a sanitary point of view than good workmanship in house drainage. ”

“ The mains should be from three to six inches deeper than the minors. The fall from one to the other may usually be made most conveniently, by a gradual descent of three or four feet to the point of junction; but with branch-pipes, the fall may be nearly vertical, if desired, by turning the branch upward, to meet the small pipe. It will be necessary, in procuring branches for sole-tiles, to bear in mind that they are "rights and lefts," and must be selected accordingly, as the branch comes in upon the one or other side of the main. ”

“ Drain opened by hand where pipes enter the ground. a to e. Pipes under ground. e to f. Pipes above ground. g. Windlass or capstan, worked by horses. h. Wire rope attached to plow, and wound round the windlass. i. Pulley round which the rope runs to keep the plow in the line of the ditch. DRAINING-PLOWS AND DITCH-DIGGERS. [247]
The man who can invent and construct a machine that shall be capable of cutting four-foot ditches for pipe-drains, with facility, will deserve well of his country.
It is not essential that the drain be cut to its full depth at one operation. ”

“ Soc., a singular instance of obstruction of drains by the roots of the mangold, as well as instances of obstructions by the roots of trees.
Obstruction by Per-oxide of Iron. In the author's barn-cellar is a watering place, supplied by a half-inch lead pipe, from a spring some eight rods distant. This pipe several times in a year, sometimes once a week, in cold weather, is entirely stopped. The stream of water is never much larger than a lead pencil. We usually start it with a sort of syringe, by forcing into the outlet a quantity of water. ”

“ If it must be put in the kitchen, it should have the place farthest from the fire.
The drain pipe of the refrigerator, which carries off the water from the melting ice, sometimes empties into a pan, sometimes connects with other pipes which carry the water out of the house. It should never connect with the other drainage of the house, nor lead to any well or sewer which receives other drainage. No traps or plumbing contrivances are perfect enough to protect food which is shut up closely with the opening of a pipe connecting even remotely with the drainage system. ”

“ He states, that there are large tracts of land having clay soil, with sand or gravel beneath the clay, which yet need drainage, and suggests that this may be effected by merely boring frequent holes, and filling them with pebbles, without ditches. In all such soils, if the mode suggested prove insufficient, large wells of proper depth, stoned up, or otherwise protected, might obviously serve as cheap and convenient outlets for a regular system of pipe or stone drains. ”

“ In this case the court at the net is two inches higher than at the ends, and on porous soil this will be sufficient to carry off the water. When the drain pipe is placed near the net the tilt from the ends toward the center should be from one to two inches.
We have more difficult drainage problems in very thick loam and clay soils. Artificial drainage of a more elaborate nature is required here, or else the courts will be muddy and sticky for days after rainstorms. Drain pipes must be laid under the courts at various places, and tilted toward one particular point. ”

“ The pitch of all pipe should be in the direction of the flow of steam. Wherever a rise is necessary, a drain should be installed. All main headers and important branches should end in a drop leg and each such drop leg and any low points in the system should be connected to the drainage pump. ”

“ All wrought iron and steel pipes must be equal in quality to “standard” and must be properly tested by the manufacturer. All pipe must be lap-welded. No plain black or uncoated pipe will be permitted.
Each building must be separately and independently connected with a public or private sewer, or cesspool, except where a building is located in the rear of the same lot with another building, when its plumbing and drainage system may be connected to the house-drain of the front building behind the house trap and fresh air inlet which shall be used for both buildings if sewer connected ”

“ Wrought-iron pipes, with screw joints, are used by the Durham House Drainage Company, the joints being gas-tight. They have the advantage of being very durable and impervious to gases, but the disadvantage of being too permanent. If it is desired to change the position of a fixture, or to connect a new one, it is easy to break a hole in a cast-iron pipe, or to remove a portion of it, but where wrought-iron pipe is used this is almost impossible. ”

“ The only kind of earthenware drains which ought to be permitted inside a house are glazed socketed pipes, well formed, well kilned, and properly laid down, the whole of the pipes having been set on a concrete bed, and afterwards covered over with properly made concrete, so as to prevent any possibility of sewage reaching the subsoil, and especially water-tanks. It is not every glazed socketed drain-pipe that is fit for laying down, for the most abominably shaped pipes are often met with. ”

“ Showing Depth of Fluid and consequent Flushing Force of Three Drains containing an Equal Quantity of Sewage.
We may consider drains under the following heads: material, form, joints, gradient, ventilation, trapping. The first essential is that they should be water-tight, so that their contents do not percolate into the surrounding soil. Socketed glazed stoneware pipes and iron pipes best fulfil this condition. The best material for making stoneware pipes is Devon or Dorset, or similar fine clay, which makes a very strong pipe. Tested pipes free from cracks and flaws must alone be used. ”

“ All drain pipes should be proved to be watertight by plugging up the lower end of the drain pipe and filling it with water. In no case should a soilpipe be built inside a wall. It should be so placed as to be always accessible. 2. The pipes should be generally 4 in. diameter. In no instance need a drain pipe inside a house exceed 6 in. in diameter. 3. Every drain of a house or building should be laid with true gradients, in no case less than 1/100, but much steeper would be preferable. When from circumstances the drain is laid at a smaller inclination, a flush tank should be provided. ”

“ The better the fall the quicker the drain will act and the more permanent it will be, as it will tend to clean itself and not fill up with silt. It is important that the outlet be entirely free, and it should be protected with stones or mason work. The roots of some trees, particularly of willows and elms, are attracted by tile drains, and often fill up the pipes. When the drain goes near such trees, therefore, it is well to cement the joints. In general practice, however, the joints should not be cemented, because a large part of the drainage water enters at those places. ”

“ This has thus far, been our own poor and unsatisfactory mode of protecting our drains. It is only better than none, but it is not permanent, and we hope to see some successful invention that may supply this want. So far as we have observed, no such precaution is used in this country; and in England, farmers and others who take charge of their own drainage works, often run their pipes into the mud in an open ditch, and trust the water to force its own passage. ”

“ First, a single drain is built, chiefly to remove surplus rain-water. It discharges little or no sewage, and the pollution of the outlet is thought to be unimportant. House-drains are afterward connected with it, so that it assumes the functions of a sewer. Then another branch sewer connecting with it is built, and from time to time more are added. So a network of pipes grows up, without system, and without adaptation of one pipe to the others. The sewers work badly, and the amount of sewage discharged at the outlet begins to make a nuisance. ”

“ A consideration, too, of the varying inclinations of surface, of which instances will frequently occur in the same field, necessitates a departure from uniformity, not in direction only, but in intervals between drains. Take, for instance, the ordinary case of a field, in which a comparatively flat space will intervene between quickly rising ground and the outfall ditch. It is clear that the soak of the hill will pervade the soil of the lower ground, let the system of drainage adopted be what it may ”

“ The outlet is the place, of all others, where obstruction is most likely to occur. Everywhere else the work is protected by the earth above it, but here it is exposed to the action of frost, to cattle, to mischievous boys, to reptiles, as well as to the obstructing deposits which are discharged from the drains themselves. In regular work, under the direction [177] of engineers, iron pipes, with swing gratings set in masonry, are used, to protect permanently this important part of the system of drainage. ”

“ This ventilation of the soil, waste, and house drain pipes prevents the bad effects on health from the odors, etc., given off by the slime and excreta adhering in the pipes, and it is accomplished by two means: (1) by extension of the vertical pipes to the fresh air above the roof, and (2) by the fresh-air inlet on the house drain.
By these means a current of air is established through the vertical and horizontal pipes.
Every vertical pipe must be extended above the roof at least two feet above the highest coping of the roof or chimney. ”

“ Not only should the outlet of the kitchen drain be kept away from the well or cistern, but no part of the drain pipe should come within twenty feet of it. The best of pipes and joints, unless frequently renewed, are apt to break, and a very small aperture leading from the drain pipe into the source of supply of drinking water may endanger not only the single household but the entire community. ”

“ In constructing a drain, it is of importance that the bottom be cut out just wide enough to admit the pipes and no more. Pipes, when accurately fitted in, are much less liable to derangement than when laid in the bottom of a trench several times their width, into which a mass of loose earth must necessarily be returned. This is easily effected in the case of soils tolerably free from stones by the use of draining spades and the tile-hook which are represented in the accompanying cut. ”