BATH, n. A kind of mystic ceremony substituted for religious worship,
with what spiritual efficacy has not been determined.
Ambrose Bierce,
The Devil’s Dictionary, 1911
I have read that some people as long ago as 3300BC and as far away as ancient India and Rome had plumbing systems and bathtubs and even flushing toilets, but my own North Carolina history is dotted with outhouses, hand water pumps, and homemade soap. My step-father, born in 1901, chuckled as he told us a tale about how he and some other boys turned over the outhouse at school around 1913, only to find that the Principal was inside! Turns out that tipping over outhouses on Halloween night was also a popular prank back in the 1930’s, but the kids had to be careful not to fall in! My mother grew up with an outhouse that was used during the day and a chamber pot to be used during the night. She can describe vividly how very cold it was to use one if you had to get up on a winter night in an unheated house. Anyone who has ever hauled a heavy, bucket of dripping water knows what a wonderful thing it is to turn on a faucet and have water flow from it like magic. Being near a water source is necessary for life, and being able to have a system of pipes that brings water into the house definitely makes life much more comfortable and convenient. Those pipes keep the world a cleaner place as well, especially since throwing waste out a window from a chamber pot was still common practice until the early 1900’s. Many of us remember hearing the old saying for a person who was either a n’er do well or had a poor economic background: “He didn’t have a pot to piss in, nor a window to throw it out of.”
The United States has made a lot of progress in plumbing in just a century, most of it since World War II. For a while, pipes were made from hollowed out logs, then came lead, ceramic, copper, concrete, galvanized steel, brass, ductile iron, and plastics. Sealants have been explored and modified, changing as pipes have improved from oakum (a mixture of pitch and hemp or jute fiber) to rubber gaskets, solder for copper, and now adhesives that fuse CPVC pipes together. Today, not content to simply have water piped in and waste piped out, we like for the water to be clean, tasty, hot or cold, with a sufficient amount of water pressure, and piped through a system that doesn’t leak, decay, or house bacteria…and that is also environmentally friendly with good conservation.
with what spiritual efficacy has not been determined.
Ambrose Bierce,
The Devil’s Dictionary, 1911
I have read that some people as long ago as 3300BC and as far away as ancient India and Rome had plumbing systems and bathtubs and even flushing toilets, but my own North Carolina history is dotted with outhouses, hand water pumps, and homemade soap. My step-father, born in 1901, chuckled as he told us a tale about how he and some other boys turned over the outhouse at school around 1913, only to find that the Principal was inside! Turns out that tipping over outhouses on Halloween night was also a popular prank back in the 1930’s, but the kids had to be careful not to fall in! My mother grew up with an outhouse that was used during the day and a chamber pot to be used during the night. She can describe vividly how very cold it was to use one if you had to get up on a winter night in an unheated house. Anyone who has ever hauled a heavy, bucket of dripping water knows what a wonderful thing it is to turn on a faucet and have water flow from it like magic. Being near a water source is necessary for life, and being able to have a system of pipes that brings water into the house definitely makes life much more comfortable and convenient. Those pipes keep the world a cleaner place as well, especially since throwing waste out a window from a chamber pot was still common practice until the early 1900’s. Many of us remember hearing the old saying for a person who was either a n’er do well or had a poor economic background: “He didn’t have a pot to piss in, nor a window to throw it out of.”
The United States has made a lot of progress in plumbing in just a century, most of it since World War II. For a while, pipes were made from hollowed out logs, then came lead, ceramic, copper, concrete, galvanized steel, brass, ductile iron, and plastics. Sealants have been explored and modified, changing as pipes have improved from oakum (a mixture of pitch and hemp or jute fiber) to rubber gaskets, solder for copper, and now adhesives that fuse CPVC pipes together. Today, not content to simply have water piped in and waste piped out, we like for the water to be clean, tasty, hot or cold, with a sufficient amount of water pressure, and piped through a system that doesn’t leak, decay, or house bacteria…and that is also environmentally friendly with good conservation.
The system chosen for the new house is a Home-Run Plumbing System, and our plumber of choice is Gary Ballard, of Ballard Plumbing Company in Harbinger, NC. Although the Home-Run System is new to the Outer Banks and new to Ballard Plumbing, Gary and the crew did a beautiful job of putting it together well. Here’s how it works (with a nod of thanks to the Internet): Home-run systems act as control centers, or manifolds, for hot and cold water that feed supply lines to individual fixtures. They consist of a plastic or metal plumbing manifold and flexible plastic piping. Generally, home-run systems use cross-linked polyethylene piping (PEX), which is suitable for hot water use and resistant to temperature extremes, chemical attack, and creep deformation. Because of the flexible piping, home-run systems can be installed more quickly than rigid plumbing systems, with only one fitting at the manifold, one transition fitting at the fixture, and no need for piping tees and elbows. However, fittings and couplings are available for special situations, such as repairing damaged piping or creating changes in direction that are tighter than the minimum bend radius allowable for the piping.
A manifold plumbing system is similar to a breaker box for the electrical system in the home. The manifold provides a common location from which all the plumbing fixtures are supplied. Some manifolds feature fixture shut-off valves allowing the user to stop water flow to individual fixtures from one location. Others are termination manifolds, which may feed the plumbing requirements for a room or set of rooms and reduce the number of fittings required in the plumbing system.
Home-run systems equalize pressure, which allows for several fixtures to be used at the same time without dramatic changes in pressure or temperature. No more getting scalded in the shower because your spouse decides to brush his teeth at the same time! In addition, PEX piping can be sized 1/8” smaller in diameter than piping in a “tree” type conventional piping system for some fixtures. That means that hot water arrives at fixtures faster, and less hot water is left standing in the pipes after a draw. PEX piping can reduce heat loss from water in the pipe because it is a better thermal insulator than copper. Because manifolds are installed in easily accessible locations, plumbing upgrades and repairs are simplified. Each outlet from the manifold typically has its own valve, making repairs at the fixture much easier.
Some care must be taken with PEX tubing. It may melt, distort or crack if exposed to excessive heat, and should not be exposed to freezing or sunlight. Abrasive surfaces that can damage PEX should be avoided, and there should be at least 12” of vertical clearance and 6” of horizontal clearance from heat sources, like light fixtures and heating appliances. Manifolds should be installed near, but not too close, to the water heater, with minimum clearances of 36” vertical and 18” horizontal between a thermoplastic manifold and a water heater. Also, there is some concern that the closed-cell dense polyurethane insulating foam (containing isocyanates and polyols) may react with the PEX and cause premature failure, so it is wise to sleeve portions of PEX that may be exposed to that type of insulation. Take a look at: http://www.pexsupply.com/
If you are interested, there are several videos on You Tube demonstrating how to make PEX connections and install a manifold. Meanwhile, here's the Ballard Plumbing crew working on our house:
