Water Lines

Plumbing Design Manual: Water Lines
Plumbing Design Manual:

Water Lines
Copyright © 2020
All rights reserved. No part of this material may be reproduced, stored in retrieval
system, or transferred, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission
of the author.
Cover design by the author.
Engr. Charles Carreon Suobiron, RMP

▪ Review Director | Ace Master Plumber Review Center
▪ Top 2 | February 2015 Master Plumber Licensure Examination
▪ Cum Laude, BS Civil Engineering | Central Philippine University
▪ Master of Management (Business Management) | University of the
Philippines Visayas
2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Objectives & Limitations 4
Definition of Terms 5
Primary Components of Water System 9
Applicable Tables from the Code 10
Design Process of Water System 17
Sample Problem on Sizing Water Lines 18
References 34
3
Objectives & Limitations
By studying this design manual, students are expected:

1. To have an overview in the Design of Residential Water
System.
2. To be familiarized with the important tables in the Plumbing
Code particularly for Plumbing Design of Water System.
3. To be able to compute the size of each component of the
Residential Water System based on the Plumbing Code.
This design manual is limited in the design of residential water system.

However, the basic principles laid down in this manual are necessary
when designing water system in buildings of other types of occupancy
such as hotels, airports, etc. This design manual will not include the type
of materials but will teach designers to compute its component’s sizes.
4
Definition of Terms
1. Air Gap – is an unobstructed vertical distance through the free

atmosphere between the lowest opening from any pipe or faucet
conveying potable water to the flood-level rim of any tank, vat or
fixture.
2. Backflow – the flow of water or other liquids, mixtures or substances

into the distributing pipes of a potable supply of water from any
source other than from its intended source.
3. Backflow Connection – is a condition or any arrangement whereby

reverse flow can occur.
4. Building Supply – is the pipe carrying potable water from the water
meter or other source of water supply to a building or other point of
use or distribution on the lot. Building supply shall also mean water
service connection.
5. Contamination – is an impairment of the quality of the potable water

which creates an actual hazard to the public health through poisoning
or spread of disease by sewage, industrial fluids or waste. Also,
defined as High Hazard.
5
6. Corporation Cock – is a stop valve placed at the connection of the

water service pipe to the water main.
7. Cross-connection – is any connection or arrangement, physical or

otherwise, between a potable water supply system and any plumbing
fixture or any tank receptacle, equipment or device, through which
enables non-potable, used, unclean, polluted, contaminated water or
other substances to enter into any part of such potable water system
under any condition.
8. Developed Length – is the length of a pipe along its centerline and

fittings.
9. Effective Opening – is the minimum cross-sectional area at the point

of water supply discharge measured or expressed in terms of: (1)
diameter of a circle.
10. Fixture Supply – is a water supply pipe connecting the fixture with the
fixture branch.
11. Fixture Unit – is an arbitrary quantity in terms of which the load

producing effects or water requirements on the plumbing system of
different kinds of plumbing fixtures are expressed in some arbitrarily
6
chosen scale. One fixture unit is equivalent to a rate of flow at 28.3

liters per minute (1 cu. ft. /minute).
12. Pipe – is a cylindrical conduit or conductor conforming to the

particular dimensions commonly known as pipe size, and is denoted
by its interior diameter or l.D.
13. Potable Water – is water satisfactory for drinking, culinary and

domestic purposes and meets the requirements of the Philippine
National Standards for Drinking Water.
14. Pressure – the normal force exerted by a homogeneous liquid or gas,

per unit of area on the wall of the container
15. Residual Pressure – is the pressure available at the fixture or water

outlet; allowance is made for pressure drop due to friction loss, head,
meter and other losses in the system during maximum demand
period.
16. Riser – is a water supply pipe, which extends vertically to one full
story or more to convey water into pipe branches or plumbing fixtures.
17. Static Pressure – is the pressure existing without any flow motion.
7
18. Water Supply Fixture Unit – refers to the fixture units of plumbing
fixtures connected to the water system. It is denoted by WSFU.
19. Water Supply System – consists of the water service pipe, water
supply line, water distributing pipe and the necessary branch pipes,
fittings, valves and all appurtenances required for the supply of
potable water.
8
Primary Components of Storm Drainage System
1. Building Supply
2. Branches
3. Riser
9
Applicable Tables from the Code
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
Design Process of Water System
17
Sample Problem on Sizing Roof Drains & Leaders
Given the building plans below, determine the size of each

component of the water system. The available service pressure is
30 psi.
18
19
Type of Building Residential Building
No. of Floors Two (2)
Available Service Pressure 30 psi
I suggest that you should highlight the lines using an Isometric Layout of
the Water Lines. The Isometric Layout below shows the highlighted
components of the water system in different colors.
20
Based on this illustration, let us convert it to a table. Let us list it in

sequence from the topmost and then the backmost to the septic tank.
21
Check out the building’s water line layout (or even the architectural floor
plan) to identify the plumbing fixtures connected to each component and
list it at the third column of the table.
Notice that Riser No. 1 is commented with “Supplies all fixtures of Branch
1.” This means that the water supplied by Branch No. 1 is flowing through
Stack No. 1. The key here is to visualize the flow of the water.
22
The demand load of each component is based from the WSFU of that
component. So, get first the WSFU of each component so you can later
determine each demand load.
Using Table 6-5 of the Code, input the equivalent WSFU for each
plumbing fixture per component.
23
Sum the WSFU values to determine the total WASFU per component.
24
Now that you have the Total WSFU per component, find the
corresponding Demand Load (GPM) based on Chart A 103.1(1) of the
UPC below.
25
26
Step 5a: According to the code, for flush tank supplies, the available
residual pressure shall be not less than 8psi (55 kPa). For this problem,
let us assume that available residual pressure of the highest fixture is
8psi.
27
Step 5b: Check the difference in elevations of the highest fixture and the
water main at the building plan. Assuming it is 16.5 ft, multiply it with 0.43
and it will result to 7.1 psi.
Step 5c:
Loss in Static Pressure from Step 5a 8 psi
Residual Pressure from Step 5b 7.1 psi
Friction Loss in Water Meter may be taken from its manufacturer.

Assuming here that it is 3 psi as indicated by a manufacturer in the meter
itself or in its purchase box. If there is difficulty in getting this data from the
manufacturer, use Chart A 1.2.
Available Service Pressure 30 psi

*taken from local water service provider
Total Available Friction Loss = 30 psi – 8 psi – 7.1 psi – 3 psi = 11.9 psi
Step 5d: Add the developed length of the water line from water meter to
the highest fixture. Using the building plans, let’s assume we got 22m or
72ft.
Step 5e:
28
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐹𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝐿𝑜𝑠𝑠

Average Permissible Friction loss per 100ft = 𝐷𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝐿𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ
𝑥 100 𝑓𝑡
11.9 𝑝𝑠𝑖
Average Permissible Friction loss per 100ft = 72 𝑓𝑡
𝑥 100 𝑓𝑡
Average Permissible Friction loss per 100ft = 16.5 psi per 100 ft
29
30
Given an average permissible friction per 100ft of 16.5 psi per 100 ft and
the given demand loads below, we can now determine the size of water
lines. There are different charts in the UPC but let us use Chart A
105.1(2) because we are going to use PVC pipes, which has a
characteristic of a fairly smooth interior.
Observe that the chart’s horizontal axis refers to the average permissible
friction (marked by a vertical magenta line) and the vertical axis refers to
the flow in gpm (marked by a horizontal line whose color is based on the
component’s color code in the previous table. Where the nearest diagonal
line intersects your determined values of x and y axis is the size of your
component.
31
32
Based on the preceding chart, the following are the size of each
component of our water system. Please take note that the diameter of
pipe on or next above the coordinate point corresponding to the estimated
total demand and the permissible friction loss will be the size needed.
Hence, you observed that we did not choose ¾” for the Building Supply
because ¾” is below the coordinate point.
33
References
1. The Revised National Plumbing Code of the Philippines

2. The 2012 Uniform Plumbing Code of the IAPMO
34

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Plumbing Design Manual: Water Lines

Plumbing Design Manual:

Cover design by the author.

Engr. Charles Carreon Suobiron, RMP

Objectives & Limitations 4

Primary Components of Water System 9

Applicable Tables from the Code 10

Design Process of Water System 17

Sample Problem on Sizing Water Lines 18

Objectives & Limitations

By studying this design manual, students are expected:

This design manual is limited in the design of residential water system.

1. Air Gap – is an unobstructed vertical distance through the free

2. Backflow – the flow of water or other liquids, mixtures or substances

3. Backflow Connection – is a condition or any arrangement whereby

5. Contamination – is an impairment of the quality of the potable water

6. Corporation Cock – is a stop valve placed at the connection of the

7. Cross-connection – is any connection or arrangement, physical or

8. Developed Length – is the length of a pipe along its centerline and

9. Effective Opening – is the minimum cross-sectional area at the point

11. Fixture Unit – is an arbitrary quantity in terms of which the load

chosen scale. One fixture unit is equivalent to a rate of flow at 28.3

12. Pipe – is a cylindrical conduit or conductor conforming to the

13. Potable Water – is water satisfactory for drinking, culinary and

14. Pressure – the normal force exerted by a homogeneous liquid or gas,

15. Residual Pressure – is the pressure available at the fixture or water

Primary Components of Storm Drainage System

Applicable Tables from the Code

Design Process of Water System

Sample Problem on Sizing Roof Drains & Leaders

Given the building plans below, determine the size of each

Type of Building Residential Building

No. of Floors Two (2)

Available Service Pressure 30 psi

Based on this illustration, let us convert it to a table. Let us list it in

Loss in Static Pressure from Step 5a 8 psi

Residual Pressure from Step 5b 7.1 psi

Friction Loss in Water Meter may be taken from its manufacturer.

Available Service Pressure 30 psi

𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐹𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝐿𝑜𝑠𝑠

1. The Revised National Plumbing Code of the Philippines

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