The photo is of the toilet in the bathroom in my primary bedroom. The top is off, and the tank is empty. It kept running after the flush was complete. I tried turning the water off, but the knob was too hard to turn — at least for me. I even tried a method to unstick it based on a YouTube video, but to no avail. That method had worked for me before. Because over time minerals in water tends to make valves and knobs stick, you pour boiling hot water over a rag, cloth or old sock. Then, wrap it around the pipe directly behind the water shot-off knob. That heats the pipe up. Then spray WD-40 around the space where the pipe joins the knob. Anyway, since I couldn’t get it to work, I called a plumber. In the meantime, I had stopped the toilet from running by tying a string from the arm connected to the floating ball inside the toilet to my shower curtain rod, and that worked! I got the name of a plumber from a friend, and when he arrived, he was able to turn off the water and install a new fill valve which kept the water from running. However, we noticed water coming out around the bottom of the toilet. He didn’t have the tools to fix it, so came back a couple of days later. I believe he was going to install a wax seal except the bolts connecting the tank to the bowl were so rusty he could not get them to turn and told me I needed a new toilet. The day before he was to return to install it, he texted me that he had injured his back moving a recliner and was leaving on a 3-week cruise the next day. So, I have paid him $70 and still don’t have a working toilet! Aaaagh! Guess I will have to call another plumber now. Let’s learn more about them.
According to Wikipedia, a plumber is a tradesperson who specializes in installing and maintaining systems used for potable drinking water and for sewage and drainage in plumbing systems.
The origin of the word "plumber" dates from the Roman Empire. Roman roofs used lead in conduits and drainpipes, and some were also covered with lead; lead was also used for piping and for making baths. The Latin for lead is plumbum. In medieval times, anyone who worked with lead was referred to as a plumber; this can be seen from an extract about workmen fixing a roof in Westminster Palace; they were referred to as plumbers: "To Gilbert de Westminster, plumber, working about the roof of the pantry of the little hall, covering it with lead, and about various defects in the roof of the little hall". Thus, a person with expertise in working with lead was first known as a Plumbarius which was later shortened to plumber.
Plumbing is any system that conveys fluids for a wide range of applications. Plumbing uses pipes, valves, plumbing fixtures, tanks and other apparatuses to convey fluids. Heating and cooling, waste removal and potable water delivery are among the most common uses for plumbing, but it is not limited to these applications. In the developed world, plumbing infrastructure is critical to public health and sanitation.
Boilermakers and pipefitters are not plumbers although they work with piping as part of their trade, and their work can include some plumbing.
History of plumbing
Plumbing originated during ancient civilizations, as they developed public baths and needed to provide potable water and wastewater removal for larger numbers of people.
The Mesopotamians introduced the world to clay sewer pipes around 4000 BCE, with the earliest examples found in the Temple of Bel at Nippur and at Eshnunna, used to remove wastewater from sites and capture rainwater in wells. The city of Uruk contains the oldest known examples of brick constructed latrines, constructed atop interconnecting fired clay sewer pipes, c.3200 BCE. Clay pipes were later used in the Hittite city of Hattusa. They had easily detachable and replaceable segments and allowed for cleaning.
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 BC.
Copper piping appeared in Egypt by 2400 BCE, with the Pyramid of Sahure and adjoining temple complex at Abusir found to be connected by a copper waste pipe.
Plumbing reached its early apex in ancient Rome, which saw the introduction of expansive systems of aqueducts, tile wastewater removal and widespread use of lead pipes. The Romans used lead pipe inscriptions to prevent water theft. With the fall of Rome, both water supply and sanitation stagnated — or regressed — for well over 1,000 years. Improvement was very slow, with little effective progress made until the growth of modern densely populated cities in the 1800s. During this period, public health authorities began pressing for better waste disposal systems to be installed to prevent or control epidemics of disease. Earlier, the waste disposal system had consisted of collecting waste and dumping it on the ground or into a river. Eventually, the development of separate underground water and sewage systems eliminated open sewage ditches and cesspools.
In post-classical Kilwa, the wealthy enjoyed indoor plumbing in their stone homes.
Most large cities today pipe solid wastes to sewage treatment plants in order to separate and partially 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 piping took over, first soft copper with flared fittings, then with rigid copper tubing using soldered fittings.
The use of lead for potable water declined sharply after World War II because of increased awareness of the dangers of lead poisoning. At this time, copper piping was introduced as a better and safer alternative to lead pipes.
Systems
The major categories of plumbing systems or subsystems are:
- Potable cold and hot tap water supply.
- Sewage systems and septic systems
with or without hot water heat. Recycling
and graywater recovery and treatment
systems.
- Rainwater, surface, and subsurface
water drainage.
- Fuel gas piping.
- Hydronics, i.e. heating and cooling
systems using water to transport thermal
energy, as in district heating systems, like
for example the New York City steam
History of water pipes
Lead was the favored material for water pipes for many centuries because its malleability made it practical to work into the desired shape. It was a source of lead-related health problems in the years before the health hazards of ingesting lead were fully understood; among these were stillbirths and high rates of infant mortality. Lead water pipes were still widely used in the early 20th century and remain in many households. Lead-tin alloy solder was commonly used to join copper pipes, but modern practice uses tin-antimony alloy solder instead in order to eliminate lead hazards.
Despite the Romans' common use of lead pipes, their aqueducts rarely poisoned people. Unlike other parts of the world where lead pipes cause poisoning, the Roman water had so much calcium in it that a layer of plaque prevented the water contacting the lead itself. What often causes confusion is the large amount of evidence of widespread lead poisoning, particularly amongst those who would have had easy access to piped water, an unfortunate result of lead being used in cookware and as an additive to processed food and drink — for example as a preservative in wine. Roman lead pipe inscriptions provided information on the owner to prevent water theft.
Wooden pipes were used in London and elsewhere during the 16th and 17th centuries. The pipes were hollowed-out logs which were tapered at the end with a small hole in which the water would pass through. The multiple pipes were then sealed together with hot animal fat. Wooden pipes were used in Philadelphia, Boston and Montreal in the 1800s. Built-up wooden tubes were widely used in the U.S. during the 20th century. These pipes — used in place of corrugated iron or reinforced concrete pipes — were made of sections cut from short lengths of wood. Locking of adjacent rings with hardwood dowel pins produced a flexible structure. About 100,000 feet of these wooden pipes were installed during WW II in drainage culverts, storm sewers and conduits, under highways and at army camps, naval stations, airfields and ordnance plants.
Cast iron and ductile iron pipe was long a lower-cost alternative to copper before the advent of durable plastic materials but special non-conductive fittings must be used where transitions are to be made to other metallic pipes except for terminal fittings in order to avoid corrosion owing to electrochemical reactions between dissimilar metals.
Bronze fittings and short pipe segments are commonly used in combination with various materials.
Steel
Galvanized steel potable water supply and distribution pipes are commonly found with nominal pipe sizes from 3/8 inch to 2 inches. It is rarely used today for new construction residential plumbing. Steel pipe has National Pipe Thread or NPT standard tapered male threads, which connect with female tapered threads on elbows, tees, couplers, valves and other fittings. Galvanized steel — often known simply as "galv" or "iron" in the plumbing trade — is relatively expensive and difficult to work with due to weight and requirement of a pipe threader. It remains in common use for repair of existing "galv" systems and to satisfy building code non-combustibility requirements typically found in hotels, apartment buildings and other commercial applications. It is also extremely durable and resistant to mechanical abuse. Black lacquered steel pipe is the most widely used pipe material for fire sprinklers and natural gas.
Most typical single family home systems won't require supply piping larger than 3/4 inch due to expense as well as steel piping's tendency to become obstructed from internal rusting and mineral deposits forming on the inside of the pipe over time once the internal galvanizing zinc coating has degraded. In potable water distribution service, galvanized steel pipe has a service life of about 30 to 50 years, although it is not uncommon for it to be less in geographic areas with corrosive water contaminants.
Copper
Copper pipe and tubing was widely used for domestic water systems in the latter half of the 20th century. Demand for copper products has fallen due to the dramatic increase in the price of copper, resulting in increased demand for alternative products including cross-linked polyethylene or PEX and stainless steel.
Plastic
Plastic pipe is in wide use for domestic water supply and drain-waste-vent or DWV pipe. Principal types include: polyvinyl chloride or PVC was produced experimentally in the 19th century but did not become practical to manufacture until 1926, when Waldo Semon of BF Goodrich Co. developed a method to plasticize PVC, making it easier to process. PVC pipe began to be manufactured in the 1940s and was in wide use for drain-waste-vent piping during the reconstruction of Germany and Japan following WWII. In the 1950s, plastics manufacturers in Western Europe and Japan began producing acrylonitrile butadiene styrene or ABS pipe. The method for producing cross-linked polyethylene or PEX was also developed in the 1950s. Plastic supply pipes have become increasingly common, with a variety of materials and fittings employed.
Polyvinyl chloride/chlorinated polyvinyl chloride or PVC/CPVC – rigid plastic pipes similar to PVC drain pipes but with thicker walls to deal with municipal water pressure, introduced around 1970. PVC stands for polyvinyl chloride, and it has become a common replacement for metal piping. PVC should be used only for cold water or for venting. CPVC can be used for hot and cold potable water supply. Connections are made with primers and solvent cements as required by code.
Polypropylene or PP – The material is used primarily in housewares, food packaging and clinical equipment, but since the early 1970s has seen increasing use worldwide for both domestic hot and cold water. PP pipes are heat-fused, being unsuitable for the use of glues, solvents or mechanical fittings. PP pipe is often used in green building projects.
Polybutylene terephthalate or PBT – usually gray or black flexible plastic pipe which is attached to barbed fittings and secured in place with a copper crimp ring. The primary manufacturer of PBT tubing and fittings was driven into bankruptcy by a class-action lawsuit over failures of this system. However, PB and PBT tubing has since returned to the market and codes, typically first for "exposed locations" such as risers.
Cross-linked polyethylene or PEX – cross-linked polyethylene system with mechanically joined fittings employing barbs, and crimped steel or copper rings.
Polytanks – plastic polyethylene cisterns, underground water tanks, above ground water tanks, are usually made of linear polyethylene suitable as a potable water storage tank, provided in white, black or green.
Aqua – known as PEX-Al-PEX, for its PEX/aluminum sandwich, consisting of aluminum pipe sandwiched between layers of PEX, and connected with modified brass compression fittings. In 2005, many of these fittings were recalled.
Present-day water-supply systems use a network of high-pressure pumps, and pipes in buildings are now made of copper, brass, plastic — particularly cross-linked polyethylene or PEX, which is estimated to be used in 60% of single-family homes — or other nontoxic material. Due to its toxicity, most cities moved away from lead water-supply piping by the 1920s in the United States, although lead pipes were approved by national plumbing codes into the 1980s, and lead was used in plumbing solder for drinking water until it was banned in 1986. Drain and vent lines are made of plastic, steel, cast iron or lead.
Plumbing activities
Years of training and/or experience are needed to become a skilled plumber; some jurisdictions also require that plumbers be licensed.
Common plumbing tasks and skills include:
- Reading drawings and specifications, to
determine the layout of water supply,
waste and venting systems.
- Detecting faults in plumbing appliances
and systems, and correctly diagnosing
their causes.
- Installing, repairing and maintaining domestic, commercial and industrial plumbing fixtures
and systems.
- Locating and marking positions for pipe connections, passage holes and fixtures in walls
and floors.
- Measuring, cutting, bending and threading pipes using hand and power tools or machines.
- Joining pipes and fittings together using soldering techniques, compression fittings,
threaded fittings, solvent weld, crimp and push-fit fittings.
- Testing pipes for leaks using air or water pressure gauges.
- Paying attention — in all work undertaken — to legal regulations and safety issues.
- Ensuring that all safety standards and building regulations are met.
Dangers
There are many types of dangers to a plumber. These include electric shock, strains and sprains, cuts and lacerations, bruises and contusions, fractures, burns and scalds, foreign bodies in the eye, and hernias. Working at height or in confined spaces or working with lead and asbestos are all on-site dangers that plumbers can face.
Plumbers risk infections when dealing with human waste while repairing sewage systems. Microbes can be excreted in the fecal matter or vomit of the sufferer onto the toilet or sewage pipes. Human waste can contain infectious diseases such as cholera, typhoid, hepatitis, polio, cryptosporidiosis, ascariasis and schistosomiasis.
White House plumbers
The term "White House plumbers" was a popular name given to the covert White House Special Investigations Unit established on July 24, 1971 during the presidency of Richard Nixon. They were David Young, E. Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy. Their job was to plug intelligence "leaks" in the U.S. government relating to the Vietnam War i.e., the Pentagon Papers; hence the term "plumbers."
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