Chapter 1 — Sanitary Drainage Systems

this pressure reduction is negligible; it Table 1-1 Residential Drainage Fixture Unit (dfu) Loads
amounts to only a small fraction of an Fixture Drainage Fixture Units (dfu) IPC UPC
inch (a millimeter) of water. What causes Bathtub 2 3
appreciable pressure reductions is the Clothes washer 3 3
partial or complete blocking of the stack Dishwasher 2 2
by water flowing into the stack from a
Floor drain 3 * * Trap loadings
horizontal branch.
Laundry tray 2 2 1¼" 1 dfu
A small increase in pneumatic pres-
Lavatory, single 1 1 1½" 3 dfu
sure will occur in the building drain
Lavatory, in sets of 2 or 3 2 2 2“ 4 dfu
even if there is no complete blocking of
the airflow by a hydraulic jump or by Shower (each head) 2 2 3" 6 dfu
submergence of the outlet and the build- Sink (including dishwasher and garbage disposer) 3 3 4" 8 dfu
ing sewer. This is due to the decrease in Water closet (1.6-gpf gravity tank) 4 4
cross-sectional area available for airflow Water closet (1.6-gpf flushometer tank) 5 5
when the water flowing in the drain has Water closet (1.6-gpf flushometer valve) 4 4
adapted itself to the slope and diameter
of the drain. mended fixture unit values. The plumbing engineer
must conform to local code requirements.
FIXTURE DISCHARGE A dfu is a quantity of load-producing discharge in
­CHARACTERISTICS relation to that of a lavatory.
The discharge characteristic curves—flow rates as a Dr. Hunter conceived the idea of assigning a fixture
function of time—for most water closet bowls have unit value to represent the degree to which a fixture
the same general shape, but some show a much lower loads a system when used at the maximum assumed
peak and a longer period of discharge. The discharge flow and frequency. The purpose of the fixture unit
characteristics for various types of water closet bowls, concept is to make it possible to calculate the design
particularly low-flow water closets, have a significant load of the system directly when the system is a com-
impact on estimating the capacity of a sanitary drain- bination of different kinds of fixtures, each having a
age system. Other plumbing fixtures, such as sinks, unique loading characteristic. Current or recently
lavatories, and bathtubs, may produce similar surging conducted studies of drainage loads on drainage sys-
flows in drainage systems, but they do not have as tems may change these values. These include studies
marked of an effect as water closets. of (1) reduced flow from water-saving fixtures; (2)
Drainage Loads Single-family dwellings models of stack, branch, and house drain flows; and
contain certain plumbing fixtures—one or more (3) actual fixture use.
bathroom groups, each consisting of a water closet,
a lavatory, and a bathtub or shower stall; a kitchen STACK CAPACITIES
sink, dishwasher, and washing machine; and, possibly, The criterion of flow capacities in drainage stacks is
a set of laundry trays. Large buildings also have other based on the limitation of the water-occupied cross
fixtures, such as slop sinks and drinking water coolers. section to a specified fraction (rs) of the cross section of
The important characteristic of these fixtures is that the stack where terminal velocity exists, as suggested
they are not used continuously. Rather, they are used by earlier investigations.
with irregular frequencies that vary greatly during Flow capacity can be expressed in terms of the
the day. In addition, the various fixtures have quite stack diameter and the water cross section:
different discharge characteristics regarding both Equation 1-2
the average rate of flow per use and the duration of a 8/3
Q = 27.8 × rs5/3 × D
single discharge. Consequently, the probability of all
the fixtures in the building operating simultaneously where
Q = Capacity, gpm (L/s)
is small. Assigning drainage fixture unit (dfu) values
rs = Ratio of cross-sectional area of the sheet of
to fixtures to represent their load-producing effect
water to cross-sectional area of the stack
on the plumbing system was originally proposed in D = Diameter of the stack, in. (mm)
1923 by Dr. Roy B. Hunter. The fixture unit values
were designed for application in conjunction with the Values of flow rates based on r = ¼, 7⁄24, and 1⁄3 are
probability of simultaneous use of fixtures to establish tabulated in Table 1-2.
the maximum permissible drainage loads expressed Whether or not Equation 1-2 can be used safely to
in fixture units rather than in gallons per minute predict stack capacities remains to be confirmed and
(gpm, L/s) of drainage flow. Table 1-1 gives the recom- accepted. However, it provides a definite law of varia-
tion of stack capacity with diameter. If this law can be