Architectural Paper (Plumbing System Paper 5000 Words)

Introduction: Based on years of practical engineering design experience and in accordance with national standard requirements, this paper discusses some characteristics of plumbing system design in newly developed residential buildings.

1. Water Meter Installation and Water Supply Branch Pipe Layout

Regarding water meter installation. For a long time, unit residential water meters were generally installed indoors in concentrated water use areas such as kitchens or bathrooms. However, increasing attention is being paid to the many problems caused by indoor water meters, including disruptions to normal life due to meter reading visits and potential risks like home invasion, compromising residential privacy and security; the difficulty and high labor intensity for management personnel reading meters; and instances of water theft where the meter reading does not match actual usage. Due to these issues, moving water meters outdoors has become an inevitable choice. The newly revised national standard ("Code for Design of Building Water Supply and Drainage" GB50015—2003, Article 3.4.17) stipulates: water meters for residential units should be relatively centralized for reading and preferably installed outdoors.

a. Centralized installation of household water meters in outdoor water meter wells

This method is commonly used in multi-story unit apartments. Generally, one centralized water meter well is set up per unit, with branch water pipes introduced into households along indoor pipe shafts, and the water company is directly responsible to the users. The advent of new water supply pipe materials—reduced-path single-pipe (internal) multi-channel water supply pipes—has solved the inconvenience caused by laying multiple water supply pipes simultaneously for projects and users, making this metering method an energy-saving and user-friendly excellent design.

b. Water meters installed on staircase rest platforms

The water supply riser is set on the platform, with one water meter box per household. The advantages are: short branch pipes for each household, saving pipe material, and relatively small pipeline head loss. The disadvantages are: dispersed water meters, increasing the labor intensity for reading personnel.

c. Water meters集中 set per floor in water meter rooms

With household water meters neatly arranged against the wall. The disadvantage is: branch pipes must be introduced into the室内 along the public corridor ceiling, requiring a suspended ceiling in the corridor.

d. Remote transmission water meters or IC card smart water meters

Remote transmission water meters calculate accurately and eliminate the need for manual reading. IC card meters require users to prepay a certain amount of water fee. Because remote transmission water meters and IC card meters are relatively expensive and still have some technical issues, they have not been widely used in practical projects yet.

2. Water Supply Branch Pipe Arrangement and Layout

As it has become common for new residences to have one kitchen and two bathrooms, and the positions of water points in the kitchen, bathroom, and balcony are relatively dispersed, the pipeline from the branch pipe to the water point is generally laid within the floor's screed layer. The outer diameter of the water supply pipe in the screed should not exceed 25mm.

2. Drainage Pipeline Layout

Article 4.3.8 of the "Residential Design Code" GB500155—2003 stipulates: drainage pipes for sanitary fixtures in residential bathrooms should not pass through the floor slab into other households. Consequently, in daily life, disputes between upper and lower floor residents due to drainage pipeline leaks are common, affecting neighborly relations.

Kitchen drainage pipeline setup

No floor drain is installed in the kitchen. The drain pipe from the sink is directly connected to the drainage riser on the household's own floor slab. Canceling the kitchen floor drain can avoid the drainage branch pipe entering the lower floor's space.

Bathroom drainage pipeline setup

To prevent bathroom sewage horizontal pipes from entering the lower floor's space, drainage pipelines are generally laid using the following methods:

• Lowering the bathroom floor slab, with the sewage horizontal pipe installed within the household above the lowered slab.
• Using side discharge. The bathroom uses a rear-outlet toilet and a side-discharge floor drain.

3. Indoor Fire Hydrant System

Installation of indoor fire hydrant boxes: For unit apartments, due to平面 position limitations, fire hydrants can generally only be明设 on staircase rest platforms. According to Article 8.3.1.5 of the "Code for Fire Protection Design of Buildings" GB50016-2006: Residential buildings over 7 stories should be equipped with an indoor fire hydrant system. Therefore, for multi-story residences, the fire hydrant may only have the outlet, without a box, water gun, or hose, etc., to save actual space on the rest platform.

4. Summary

The design of residential water supply and drainage systems is increasingly valued by users. Engineering designers should adhere to the principles of technology, safety, and economy, strive for innovation in practice, seek the best water supply and drainage design solutions, adapt to the new requirements of residential design development, and meet the continuously improving living standards.