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Phoenix Plumbing Glossary

Definitions of the parts, valves, and terms that come up when you're dealing with a Phoenix plumbing system. Written by licensed plumbers.

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Water Treatment

Activated Carbon Filter

An activated carbon filter cleans water by adsorption, where contaminants stick to the surface of treated carbon. It removes chlorine, bad taste, odor, and many organic compounds. It comes as loose granular carbon or a solid carbon block, and it is common in whole-house units, under-sink filters, and reverse osmosis systems.

Traps and Vents

Air Admittance Valve

An air admittance valve, also called an AAV or Studor vent, is a one-way mechanical vent. It opens to let air into the drain system when suction develops, protecting the trap seals, then closes by gravity to keep sewer gas out. It is used where a normal vent through the roof is impractical.

Traps and Vents

Air Gap

An air gap is an open vertical space between a water outlet and the flood-level rim of the fixture below it, such as the gap between a faucet spout and the sink rim. That open space physically blocks dirty water from being siphoned back into the clean water supply, making it the simplest and strongest form of backflow protection.

Water Treatment

Alkalinity

Alkalinity is the measured capacity of a water sample to neutralize acid under defined test conditions. It describes the water's buffering capacity, rather than its present pH alone. A result needs its test method and reporting basis, commonly stated as calcium carbonate, to be interpreted correctly.

Pipes and Supply Lines

Angle Stop

An angle stop is the small shutoff valve where a fixture's water supply line meets the pipe coming out of the wall, found under sinks and behind toilets. It lets you shut off water to that one fixture without touching the rest of the house. Plumbing code requires a shutoff at most fixtures.

Anode Rod

An anode rod is a sacrificial metal rod inside a water heater tank that corrodes in place of the tank's steel lining, protecting it from rust. Made of magnesium, aluminum, or zinc, it slowly dissolves through electrochemical corrosion and needs periodic inspection and replacement to keep protecting the tank.

Pipes and Supply Lines

Ball Valve

A ball valve is a shutoff valve that uses a rotating ball with a hole through it to start or stop water flow. A quarter turn of the handle, 90 degrees, goes from fully open to fully closed. Ball valves are reliable, quick to operate, and less likely to seize or leak than older washer-style valves.

Pipes and Supply Lines

Beam Clamp

A beam clamp is an attachment that grips an identified structural beam or flange to carry a specified hanger assembly. In suspended piping, it can connect the hanger rod to the structure above. Its capacity and permitted arrangement depend on the clamp model, supporting member and complete load path.

Best Efficiency Point (BEP)

The best efficiency point, or BEP, is the operating flow at which an identified pump reaches its highest efficiency on the applicable performance curve. It is a point on a particular pump's chart under stated conditions. It does not, by itself, identify the installed system's operating point or the best complete equipment selection.

Water Treatment

Brine Tank

A brine tank is the smaller second tank on a water softener. It holds the salt that dissolves into a strong salt water solution called brine. During regeneration, the softener draws this brine through its resin bed. The brine rinses hardness minerals off the resin beads and recharges them so the softener can keep removing hard water.

Building Drain

The building drain is the lowest drainage piping that gathers discharge from the building's soil, waste and other drainage pipes and carries it toward the building sewer. It describes a section of the drainage system. It is not the city sewer main, and the term alone does not identify who pays for a repair.

Building Sewer

A building sewer carries drainage from the end of the building drain to a public sewer or approved private disposal system. The dividing point depends on the plumbing code applied to the project; a fixed distance from the wall is not universal. Identify the actual pipe segment before comparing repair responsibilities or methods.

Butterfly Valve

A butterfly valve controls its opening with a disc that rotates within the valve bore. With the disc across the passage it closes the flow path; turning the disc toward its open position allows flow around it. The disc's quarter-turn motion is different from a gate rising out of the passage or a bored ball rotating inside a ball valve.

Pipes and Supply Lines

Capillary Solder Joint

A capillary solder joint is a connection in which molten solder flows into the prepared narrow space between a tube and a matching fitting. Capillary action helps draw the solder through that gap. The connection depends on the joint's geometry, suitable materials and preparation, rather than a visible coating placed over its outside.

Pipes and Supply Lines

Check Valve

A check valve is a one-way valve that lets water flow in a single direction and closes automatically to block it from flowing back. It works on pressure alone, with no handle. Plumbing code requires one on sump pump and sewage ejector discharge lines to stop pumped water from draining back into the pit.

Check Valve Cracking Pressure

Check valve cracking pressure describes the specified pressure condition at which a check valve first begins passing forward flow. It is an opening threshold under stated test conditions, rather than the valve's maximum working pressure or a promise of full flow at that threshold. The manufacturer's definition and test conditions matter.

Pipes and Supply Lines

Clevis Hanger

A clevis hanger is a pipe support with a lower U-shaped strap and an upper yoke, joined so the pipe can be suspended from an overhead support assembly. An adjustable model uses the specified hanger rod and nuts to set its elevation. Its job is to carry the supported pipe load while maintaining the intended alignment.

Closet Bend

A closet bend is the long-sweep 90-degree drain elbow under a toilet. It turns waste from straight down to sideways and carries it into the drain line. It is often a 4-inch by 3-inch reducing size. It sits below the closet flange and wax ring, out of sight.

Closet Flange

A closet flange is the pipe fitting that anchors a toilet to the floor and joins it to the drain. Bolts hold the toilet to the flange. A wax ring sits on top of the flange to seal the gap. It is also called a toilet flange or closet ring.

Pipes and Supply Lines

Compression Ferrule

A compression ferrule is a ring used in a compression fitting to help grip tubing and form a seal as the fitting is assembled. The nut supplies the assembling force, but the ferrule and mating surfaces do the sealing work. Ferrule design, tubing dimensions and the fitting manufacturer's instructions must agree.

Pipes and Supply Lines

Compression Set

Compression set is the residual deformation an elastomer retains after a specified compression test and recovery period. It describes how much the material fails to return toward its original shape under those conditions. A reported result belongs to a defined test, rather than predicting when a particular plumbing seal will leak.

Corporation Stop

A corporation stop is the first valve on a home's water service line. It is tapped directly into the city water main on the utility side. It lets a plumber start a new service line without shutting off the main. Water then flows on to the curb stop and the meter.

CSST (Corrugated Stainless Steel Tubing)

CSST, or corrugated stainless steel tubing, is a flexible gas pipe used to carry natural gas or propane to appliances. Its bendable stainless steel wall installs faster than rigid black iron pipe. Traditional yellow CSST must be bonded to the home's grounding system to lower the risk of lightning damage.

Pipes and Supply Lines

CTS and IPS Sizing

CTS and IPS name different dimensional families used to identify pipe and tubing sizes. CTS means copper tube size; IPS means iron pipe size. The names describe dimensions, not necessarily the material: a plastic product can use either family. Matching nominal size labels across those families does not establish a compatible connection.

Curb Stop

A curb stop is the water utility's shutoff valve for one property. It sits underground near the property line, inside a small curb box, and is turned with a long tool called a curb key. The utility uses it to shut off a home's water without affecting the street main.

Dip Tube

A dip tube is the long plastic tube inside a tank water heater that carries incoming cold water down to the bottom, where the burner or element heats it. This keeps cold water from mixing with the hot water waiting at the top, so you get full hot-water output until the tank runs low.

Traps and Vents

Drainage Fixture Unit (DFU)

A drainage fixture unit, or DFU, is the number plumbing code assigns to each fixture to represent how much wastewater it sends into the drain system. Plumbers add up the DFUs on a pipe, then use a code table to pick the drain size. It measures load, not gallons per minute.

Traps and Vents

Drum Trap

A drum trap is an old cylindrical drain trap shaped like a can, once installed under bathtubs in homes built before the 1960s. It holds a large pool of water as its seal. Drum traps clog easily, are hard to clean, and are no longer allowed for new work under modern code.

Pipes and Supply Lines

Eccentric Reducer

An eccentric reducer joins different pipe sizes with their end centerlines offset rather than sharing one axis. Its side profile changes size unevenly. A concentric reducer keeps the two end centerlines on the same axis. The drawing identifies that geometry; the word eccentric does not establish the fitting's connection, rating or permitted installation.

Pipes and Supply Lines

Elastomer Durometer

Elastomer durometer describes a rubber-like material's resistance to indentation on a stated hardness scale. A calibrated indenter presses into the specimen and the instrument reports a value. The scale, test conditions and specimen matter; a hardness number alone does not identify a suitable replacement seal.

Escutcheon

An escutcheon is the decorative trim plate that covers the hole where a pipe or valve stem passes through a wall or floor. You see them behind a faucet handle, around a shower arm, and at a toilet supply line. The job is to look neat, not to seal.

Pipes and Supply Lines

Expansion Loop

An expansion loop is a deliberately shaped piping arrangement that accommodates calculated changes in pipe length caused by temperature. Its geometry allows the identified pipe to flex in the intended way. It is different from a water-heater expansion tank, which addresses expansion of water in a closed supply system.

Faucet Aerator

A faucet aerator is the small screened tip that screws onto the end of a faucet spout. It mixes air into the water stream, which produces a steady, splash-free flow while using less water. Aerators are a simple, cheap way to cut water use, and a clogged one is a common cause of weak flow at a single faucet.

Pipes and Supply Lines

Fitting Laying Length

Fitting laying length is a dimension used to describe the space a particular fitting occupies in an assembled piping layout. A drawing may measure from the intersection of passage centerlines to the bottom of a socket or thread. It is different from the fitting's outside overall length, and the drawing's legend defines the actual measurement.

Pipes and Supply Lines

Flare Fitting

A flare fitting connects tubing through a formed, flared tube end pressed against a matching seat. A nut holds those mating surfaces together. The seal is made at the flare and seat, rather than simply at the nut's threads. Tube material, flare geometry and the identified fitting system determine compatibility.

Traps and Vents

Flood-Level Rim

A flood-level rim is the top edge of a fixture where water would spill over if the drain clogged, such as the rim of a sink or the overflow point of a toilet. Plumbing code uses this line as the reference for backflow protection, measuring the required air gap above it to keep dirty water out of the supply.

Foot Valve

A foot valve combines a check valve with a strainer at an identified pump intake arrangement. The check function limits reverse flow, while the strainer intercepts debris entering that opening. It is a component used in specified suction systems, rather than the name for every valve or screen in a water well.

Pipes and Supply Lines

Galvanic Corrosion

Galvanic corrosion is the rapid rusting that happens when two different metals, such as copper and steel, touch in the presence of water. The water acts like a battery, and the more reactive metal corrodes fast at the joint. Plumbing code requires a dielectric fitting to separate dissimilar metals and stop it.

Gas Pressure Regulator

A gas pressure regulator is a valve that lowers gas pressure to the level an appliance needs and holds it steady. Gas leaves the utility line at a higher pressure than a furnace, water heater, or range can safely use. Regulators sit at the meter and often at each appliance.

Pipes and Supply Lines

Gate Valve

A gate valve is an older style of shutoff valve that raises and lowers a solid wedge, or gate, to open and close a water line. You turn a round handle several full turns to work it. Gate valves seal well when new but tend to seize or leak with age, so plumbers now favor ball valves for shutoffs.

Gauge and Absolute Pressure

Gauge pressure measures pressure relative to the surrounding atmospheric pressure. Absolute pressure measures it relative to an ideal vacuum. A pressure value needs that reference as well as its units; the same numerical value with a different reference describes a different physical condition.

Globe Valve

A globe valve is a valve made for throttling, or regulating how much water flows, rather than simple on-off shutoff. A disc moves up and down onto a ring seat, and water winds through an S-shaped path. That control comes with a higher pressure drop than a gate or ball valve.

Pipes and Supply Lines

Grooved Coupling

A grooved coupling joins compatible pipe ends using a specified gasket and a housing whose keys engage prepared grooves near the ends. The groove profile and coupling style are parts of the joint system. This is different from an external sleeve coupling on plain pipe ends, and its movement, pressure and service limits depend on the identified product.

Heat Trap

A heat trap is a device on a water heater's hot and cold connections that stops heated water from drifting up and out of the tank when no one is using it. Usually a pair of special nipples with an internal ball, it blocks the slow heat loss called convection, cutting standby energy waste.

Pipes and Supply Lines

Hose Bibb

A hose bibb is the outdoor faucet on the side of a house that a garden hose threads onto, also called a sillcock or wall hydrant. Plumbing code requires each one to carry a vacuum breaker, which stops contaminated water from being siphoned back into the home's drinking water.

Hot Water Recirculation Pump

A hot water recirculation pump moves hot water through the pipes so it is already warm at the tap, cutting the wait and the water wasted running the faucet. A demand-controlled pump runs only when triggered, returning the cooled water to the heater instead of letting it drain away.

Hub-and-Spigot Cast Iron Pipe

Hub-and-spigot cast iron pipe is a drainage pipe system with an enlarged hub that receives the plain spigot end of the next compatible pipe or fitting. The joint uses a specified sealing arrangement. Identifying the pipe class and joint system is essential before selecting a replacement gasket or an adapter to different piping.

Water Treatment

Ion Exchange Resin

Ion exchange resin is the bed of tiny plastic beads inside a water softener that actually softens the water. The beads are negatively charged, so they grab positively charged hardness ions like calcium and magnesium and release sodium in their place. A salt brine recharges the beads.

Pipes and Supply Lines

Mechanical Tee

A mechanical tee is a branch fitting that fastens around a compatible main pipe and connects an outlet through a prepared opening in that pipe. The fitting uses its specified housing, seal and branch connection instead of an ordinary in-line reducing tee. Its permitted pipe materials, dimensions and service depend on the identified product.

Meter Yoke

A meter yoke is the rigid bracket that holds a water meter inside the meter box. It keeps the inlet and outlet pipes at a fixed spacing and braces them. This lets the utility set or pull a meter fast. It is also called a meter setter.

Pipes and Supply Lines

Minimum Bend Radius

Minimum bend radius is the smallest permitted radius for a curve in an identified pipe or tube under stated bending conditions. It limits how tightly that product may turn. The value belongs to the material, dimensions and approved method, rather than supplying permission to bend any pipe that looks flexible.

Pipes and Supply Lines

No-Hub Coupling

A no-hub coupling is a stainless steel band that wraps a neoprene gasket to join two pipes end to end. It connects hubless cast iron drain, waste, and vent pipe without a torch or lead. Made to CISPI 310 and ASTM C1277, it is common in Phoenix cast iron repairs and repipes.

Pipes and Supply Lines

Nominal Pipe Size

Nominal pipe size is a size designation used to identify a pipe within a particular dimensional system. It is not a promise that a ruler will show that number as the pipe's inside or outside diameter. The pipe family, material standard and wall designation supply the dimensions needed to identify compatible parts.

Pipes and Supply Lines

NPT Thread

NPT means National Pipe Taper, a tapered pipe-thread designation used on identified pipe and fitting connections. The taper brings the mating threads into tighter contact as the joint is assembled. NPT identifies a thread form; it does not establish the fitting's material, pressure rating or approval for a particular fluid.

Oil-Water Separator

An oil-water separator is a device that removes oil, grease, and flammable liquids from wastewater before it reaches the sewer. It uses gravity so lighter oil floats to the top while water flows out below. Auto shops, garages, and car washes need one to keep petroleum out of the drain system.

Pipes and Supply Lines

PEX Manifold

A PEX manifold is a central hub that splits a home's incoming water into separate PEX lines, one running straight to each fixture. Because every fixture has its own line and its own shutoff at the manifold, this home-run layout lets you isolate one fixture without shutting off the rest of the house.

Pipes and Supply Lines

Pipe Flange

A pipe flange is an identified rim or plate at a piping connection that forms a bolted joint with a compatible mating face. The assembly includes the specified sealing arrangement and hardware. This pressure-piping meaning is different from a toilet's closet flange, which connects and supports the fixture at its drain opening.

Pipes and Supply Lines

Pipe Insulation Shield

A pipe insulation shield is a specified protective piece placed at an insulated pipe's support location to spread the supported load over the insulation. It helps prevent a hanger from crushing the insulation or damaging its vapor barrier. It is part of a selected support arrangement, rather than a substitute for the hanger or structural attachment.

Pipes and Supply Lines

Pipe Nipple

A pipe nipple is a length of pipe used as a connection component. A standard threaded nipple has external threads at both ends so it can join internally threaded parts. The word does not by itself identify its length, thread standard, material or permitted service.

Pipes and Supply Lines

Pipe Ovality

Pipe ovality describes how far a pipe's cross-section departs from a circle. An oval section has different maximum and minimum diameters. A measurement or percentage needs its stated dimensional reference, calculation basis and acceptance requirement; the word ovality alone does not establish damage severity or compatibility with a fitting.

Pipes and Supply Lines

Pipe Schedule

Pipe schedule is a wall-dimension designation used within a specified pipe standard and size series. Schedule 40 and Schedule 80 are familiar examples. The schedule name alone does not identify the material, permitted service or a universal pressure rating, and it does not mean the wall has the same thickness at every nominal size.

Pipes and Supply Lines

Pipe Stiffness

Pipe stiffness describes a pipe's resistance to cross-section deformation in a stated load-deflection evaluation. It is a characteristic used in structural assessment and design. The test method, product and reporting conditions belong with the value; stiffness alone does not establish a pipe's internal pressure rating or suitability for a buried installation.

Pipe Test Plug

A pipe test plug is a device used to close an identified pipe opening while a section is isolated or tested. Mechanical and inflatable designs seal in different ways and have specified size ranges and pressure limits. Selecting the plug is one part of a test setup; the pipe's permitted test method remains a separate requirement.

Pump Cavitation

Pump cavitation is the formation and collapse of vapor-filled bubbles when local pressure falls below the pumped liquid's vapor pressure. The bubbles can collapse as they reach a higher-pressure region, damaging pump surfaces and affecting performance. It is a specific fluid-pressure phenomenon, not a name for every noisy or poorly flowing pump.

Pump Curve

A pump curve is a manufacturer's performance chart showing how a particular pump's delivered flow changes with head under stated conditions. It helps compare the pump with the system it will serve. The curve applies to the identified model and configuration, rather than guaranteeing the same flow in every installation.

Pump Volute

A pump volute is the stationary scroll-shaped passage around an impeller in an identified centrifugal-pump casing. It receives liquid leaving the rotating impeller and guides it toward the discharge. The volute belongs to the liquid-handling portion of the pump; it is different from the motor, the impeller and an inlet strainer basket.

Pipes and Supply Lines

Push-Fit Fitting

A push-fit fitting, also called push-to-connect, joins two pipes by simply pushing them in, with no soldering, gluing, or crimping. Inside, a stainless-steel grip ring holds the pipe and an O-ring seals it. Listed push-fit fittings are code-approved and work across copper, PEX, and CPVC, making them popular for fast repairs.

Pipes and Supply Lines

Reducer Bushing

A reducer bushing is a compact fitting that adapts a larger connection to a smaller connection. In a socket-type plastic system, its larger spigot end can fit inside a compatible fitting while the smaller socket receives the next pipe. Other products use threaded ends. The exact end configuration and approved application must be identified.

Water Treatment

Reverse Osmosis Membrane

A reverse osmosis membrane is the semipermeable thin-film composite layer at the heart of an RO system. Water is pushed through it under pressure. The membrane lets water molecules pass while rejecting dissolved salts, minerals, and other TDS. It is the cartridge that slowly fouls and eventually needs replacing to keep the system working.

Pipes and Supply Lines

Riser Clamp

A riser clamp is a support component used in an assembly that carries vertical piping. It fits around the riser and transfers the specified pipe load into its supporting arrangement. The exact load-carrying method depends on the clamp design, pipe material and installation details; the name alone does not mean that tightening two bolts will safely hold any stack.

Rising and Non-rising Valve Stems

Rising and non-rising describe how a gate valve's stem moves while its internal gate opens or closes. A rising stem travels outward as the gate opens. A non-rising stem rotates without that outward travel while its threaded connection moves the gate inside the body. The distinction affects space and position indication, rather than proving that a valve seals.

Pipes and Supply Lines

Saddle Valve

A saddle valve is a small clamp-on valve that taps a water line by driving a piercing pin through the pipe wall, often used to feed a fridge ice maker or a filter. It is quick and cheap, but it leaks often and many plumbing codes prohibit it, so plumbers replace it with a proper tee and shutoff.

Sand Interceptor

A sand interceptor is a below-floor tank that settles out sand, grit, and heavy solids from wastewater before it enters the sewer. The heavy material sinks and cleaner water flows out the top. Car washes, garages, and industrial floors use one to keep grit from clogging the drain lines.

Sanitary Tee

A sanitary tee is a drain fitting with a gentle curved sweep. It is used to turn drainage flow from a horizontal pipe into a vertical pipe. The sweep guides waste downward so it does not clog. It is different from a wye, which is used for other turns.

Water Treatment

Sediment Filter

A sediment filter is a mechanical pre-filter that strains sand, silt, rust, and other solid particles out of water. It uses a spun, pleated, or string-wound cartridge rated in microns. Placed ahead of softeners, carbon filters, and reverse osmosis, it protects that equipment and your fixtures from grit.

Pipes and Supply Lines

Sediment Trap (Drip Leg)

A sediment trap, also called a drip leg or dirt leg, is a short capped section of pipe that hangs down from a gas line just before an appliance. It catches rust, scale, and debris carried in the gas so that grit cannot reach and clog the appliance's gas valve or burner. Fuel gas code requires one at most appliances.

Sewage Ejector Pump

A sewage ejector pump lifts wastewater and sewage from a fixture below the sewer line, such as a basement bathroom, up to the gravity sewer main. It sits in a sealed pit and passes solid waste, unlike a sump pump, which only moves clean groundwater.

Sink Tailpiece

A sink tailpiece is the outlet section below a sink's strainer or drain body that carries wastewater toward the trap. It is often a straight tube, although particular assemblies can include a branch connection or a different outlet arrangement. Its top connection, tube dimensions and lower connection must match the actual drain components.

Slip-Joint Washer

A slip-joint washer is the ring-shaped seal inside a removable tubular drain connection, commonly found under a sink. A slip nut holds the assembly together and presses the washer against the matching surfaces. The washer seals around the tube; the nut's threads supply the force. Washer shape, material and size must match that particular connection.

Pipes and Supply Lines

Specific Gravity

Specific gravity is the ratio of a material's density to the density of an identified reference substance. The ratio has no density units because like units cancel. Its meaning depends on the reference and conditions; a number labeled SG is incomplete if those details are missing.

Pipes and Supply Lines

Standard Dimension Ratio

Standard dimension ratio, or SDR, is a specified ratio of average outside diameter to minimum wall thickness for outside-diameter-controlled plastic pipe. It is a dimensional designation, not the name of a pipe material or a complete pressure rating. The material, standard and operating conditions still need to be identified.

Stop-and-Waste Valve

A stop-and-waste valve is a shutoff valve with a small built-in drain port. Closing it stops the water and lets you drain the pipe past the valve. That prevents a trapped pipe from freezing and bursting. It is common on outdoor faucet and sprinkler lines in cold weather.

Pipes and Supply Lines

Street Elbow

A street elbow is an elbow with different connection ends, commonly a male or spigot end on one side and a female or socket end on the other. That arrangement can join directly to another fitting without a separate short piece of pipe between them. The name describes connection geometry, not permission to use the fitting in any piping system.

Water Treatment

TDS Meter

A TDS meter estimates Total Dissolved Solids from water's electrical conductivity and shows the result in parts per million. It helps compare reverse osmosis feed and treated water. It does not measure hardness or identify specific contaminants, so use a hardness test to check a water softener.

Temperature and Pressure Relief Valve (T&P Valve)

A temperature and pressure relief valve, or T&P valve, is the safety valve on a water heater that opens automatically if the tank gets too hot or the pressure climbs too high. It dumps water to relieve the buildup, preventing the tank from bursting. Code sets it to open near 210 degrees or 150 psi.

Pipes and Supply Lines

Tensile Modulus

Tensile modulus describes how much tensile stress is associated with a given small strain within a material's proportional response. Commonly called modulus of elasticity or E, it is a stiffness property reported with test conditions. It is different from tensile strength, pipe stiffness and an installed pipe's pressure rating.

Thermostatic Mixing Valve

A thermostatic mixing valve blends hot water from the heater with cold water to deliver a safe, steady temperature at the tap. It reacts instantly to supply changes to prevent scalding. It also lets a water heater run hotter to store more usable hot water and fight bacteria, while still sending out tempered water.

Total Dynamic Head

Total dynamic head, or TDH, describes the total head a pump must provide at an identified operating flow. Head expresses fluid energy in an equivalent height, commonly shown in feet on a water-pump specification. It includes the system's elevation or pressure requirements and flow-dependent losses, rather than just the vertical height of a pipe.

Trap Adapter

A trap adapter is a fitting that connects compatible tubular trap tubing to the drainage piping beyond it. A common plastic DWV version has a tubular slip-joint connection on one side and a specified socket or spigot connection on the other. It adapts connection systems; it does not replace the trap or create the trap's water seal.

Traps and Vents

Trap Primer

A trap primer is a small automatic valve that feeds a little water to a floor drain trap now and then. That keeps the trap seal full so sewer gas cannot rise into the room. Primers are common on seldom-used floor drains in commercial restrooms, mechanical rooms, and restaurants.

Traps and Vents

Trap Seal

A trap seal is the small plug of standing water held in the curved bend of a plumbing trap, such as a P-trap under a sink. That water blocks sewer gas from rising through the drain into the room. Plumbing code requires the seal to be between 2 and 4 inches deep.

Tubular Drain Pipe

Tubular drain pipe is the product family commonly used for exposed sink drain assemblies, including tailpieces, trap bends and wall tubes. Manufacturers offer brass and plastic tubular parts with specified dimensions and connections. It is different from simply cutting a piece of nominal DWV pipe to the same apparent size.

Water Treatment

Turbidity and NTU

Turbidity describes an optical property of water associated with how suspended material affects light. A laboratory or instrument may report it in nephelometric turbidity units, or NTU, under a specified measurement method. The reading helps describe clarity; it does not identify every contaminant or prove that water is safe to drink.

Two-Way Cleanout

A two-way cleanout is an access arrangement that lets appropriate drain-cleaning or inspection equipment enter the line in either direction. It can serve both the upstream and downstream piping from the intended access point. Its purpose is tool access; it is not a relief valve or permission to release a sewer backup outdoors.

Water Treatment

UV Water Disinfection System

A UV water disinfection system is a point-of-entry unit that passes water past a UV-C lamp to inactivate bacteria, viruses, and protozoa by damaging their DNA. It kills germs without chemicals but does not remove chemicals or sediment, so it needs pre-filtration. It is common for treating well water.

Pipes and Supply Lines

Vacuum Breaker

A vacuum breaker is a backflow-prevention device that lets air into a water line the moment pressure drops, breaking the suction that would otherwise siphon dirty water back into the clean supply. It is the small threaded device on outdoor faucets and the anti-siphon part built into many irrigation and utility valves.

Vacuum Relief Valve

A vacuum relief valve admits air into an identified tank or piping system when a vacuum develops. Its purpose is to limit harmful negative-pressure conditions that could siphon water out or damage equipment. The required model, location and application depend on the equipment design and manufacturer's instructions.

Valve Flow Coefficient (Cv)

A valve flow coefficient, commonly shown as Cv on a specification, is a measure used to relate flow through a valve to pressure drop under defined conditions. It reflects the valve's flow resistance. It is different from connection size, maximum pressure rating and the flow that an installed system will actually deliver.

Traps and Vents

Vent Stack

A vent stack is a vertical pipe in a plumbing system's drain-waste-vent network that supplies outside air to the drainage pipes so trap seals aren't pulled dry by suction. It connects near the base of a drainage stack and runs up through the roof, distinct from a stack vent, which extends a soil or waste stack upward.

Washing Machine Outlet Box

A washing machine outlet box is a recessed plumbing assembly that provides a finished, accessible location for the washer's water connections and, on many models, its drain-hose opening. The box houses or organizes specified plumbing components. It is not the washer hose, the complete drain standpipe or a pan that catches water beneath the appliance.

Pipes and Supply Lines

Water Hammer Arrestor

A water hammer arrestor is a small device installed near a quick-closing valve, such as a washing machine's, that absorbs the pressure surge created when water flow stops suddenly. A sealed piston and gas chamber cushion the shock, preventing the loud banging noise and pipe damage known as water hammer.

Water Meter

A water meter is the device a utility uses to measure how much water a home uses. Most home meters are positive-displacement types that fill and empty a fixed chamber, like a nutating disc or oscillating piston. A dial called the register shows the total. You can also use it to spot leaks.

Wax Ring

A wax ring is a donut-shaped seal, made of pure petroleum wax, placed between a toilet's base and its floor flange. It compresses when the toilet is set in place, creating a watertight, airtight seal that stops leaks and blocks sewer gas from entering the bathroom. It is designed for single use.

Y-Strainer

A Y-strainer is a piping component with a screened pocket branching from the main flow passage in a Y-shaped arrangement. The screen captures specified debris before it reaches downstream equipment. Its shape does not establish the permitted fluid, pressure, temperature, screen opening or drinking-water approval.

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