Vertical Effluent

How are things flowing in your apartment?

Thinking about sewage and the infrastructure that transports it once its flushed, or poured away down a drain got me thinking about the processes involved in managing the multiple and constant flows of raw sewage that travel from homes that are varying in size and style with any number of drains and for that matter toilets, and can be a one story house with one toilet or a high rise apartment building with numerous homes and their various toilets enclosed within.

I did some searching and came across a few PDFs:

• ANALYSIS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN 8 UNIT APARTMENT BUILDING
• Part 4 Designing the building
• Planning Guidelines for Water Supply and Sewerage
• Building & Plumbing handbook

ANALYSIS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN 8 UNIT APARTMENT BUILDING by Byron Antine, Jr. was written in 2011, an American source, only mentions sewage twice in the entire ten chapter PDF. The first time in Site & Property Description a paragraph on the Impact Fees that the construction faces for sewer tap-in. Then once more in Development Issues, just to say that the local Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) requires the submission of a 537 Sewer Planning Module, documentation of where the sewage will flow to be treated and consequently release. Though no mention of how exactly the sewerage is setup in an eight unit apartment, but then it is more of a proposal for the building than a step by step how to guide.

Part 4 Designing the building, a twenty two chapter PDF broken into three sections. The first Amenity focuses on the interior, on maximising natural light, ventilation and the optimal spacial design of an apartment, and reducing the noise pollution. The second Configuration focuses on the exterior design. The third Performance is on the management of the energy, water, waste and maintenance of the building. The chapter waste does not actually talk about sewage (only rubbish) in fact in the whole PDF is sewage free! When talking about the designing of rooms for maximum space, the bathrooms are not mentioned….

Planning Guidelines for Water Supply and Sewerage, an eleven chapter PDF, loaded with jargon! Essentially it is a step by step planning guide, loaded with flow charts and tables that list of all the risk factors involved and what you need to consider when planning water supply and sewerage. Again no mention of how it is done.

Building & Plumbing handbook a fifteen chapter PDF. Talks about connection points and flow control with illustrations but only of a one story house. It does not elaborate into the workings of how an apartment is connected and flows from multiple vertical drains are controlled. Only that is is the developers and builders are responsible for establishing the location of sewer connection points prior to starting any works, to ensure that the building (house or apartment) is located in the correct position!

I wasn’t able to find the exact process, but I will continue to search and update this when I am successful.