USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Tewksbury > Town of Tewksbury annual report 1955-1960 > Part 19
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Recommend indefinite postponement.
ART. 21. To see if the Town will vote to accept the following Plumbing By-Law in accordance with Chapter 142, Section 13 of the General Laws, as amended, prescribing regulations for the materials, construction, alteration and inspection of all" pipes, tanks, faucets, valves and other fixtures bv, and through which water or sewage is used and carried. Board of Health
PLUMBING RULES AND REGULATIONS
SECTION 1. After acceptance of the following plumbing regu- lations, all persons who desire to engage in, carry on or work at the business of plumbing within this jurisdiction shall be registered or licensed by the State Examiners of Plumbers, in accordance with the
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provisions of Chapter 142, General Laws.
Every plumber before commencing work in a building, shall first, except in the case of the repair of leaks, file at the office of the Board of Health, upon blanks provided for that purpose, a notice of the work to be performed; and no such work shall be done in any building except in accordance with plans, to be submitted, if re- quired, which shall be approved by the einspector of plumbing and a permit issued therefore. Permits to perform plumbing shall be issued to licensed plumbers only. Permits may be recalled if the conditions are violated.
SEWAGE DISPOSAL
SECTION 2. The plumbing of each biulding shall have an inde- pendent connection to a public sanitary sewer outside of building, unless in the opinion of the Board of Health a separate connection is not feasible. If a public sanitary sewer is not available, the sew age shall be discharged into a cesspool or into a septic tank with an overflow into a cesspool or into a subsurface distribution system, the plans of which must be approved by the Board of Health before the connection is made.
DRAINAGE SYSTEM
SECTION 3. Drain and connecting ventilation pipes, vents and back air pipes shall be of sufficient size, and made of extra heavy cast iron pipe coated with hot tar or asphaltum if underground, and if above ground shall be made of extra heavy cast iron pipe, cast iron screw pipe, or of not less than iron size brass or copper pipe (or of copper tubing type K or L, with sweat type fittings) within the building. Galvanized or plain cast iron fittings and galvanized pipe may be used on vents only. Connections between screw pipe and fittings shall be made with pipe and fittings of the same material, where practicable. Recessed fittings shall be used on drainage pipes and connections between such fittings and pipes shall be made with sharp tapered threads, and an approved pipe joint compound. No slip joints, unions, or flanges shall be used on the threaded wastes or vents except that slip joints may be used on inlet side of trap to connect fixtures. Where other than hub and spigot pipe is con- nected to cast iron hubs the joint shall be made by means of a caulking sleeve.
Threaded pipes shall be either cast red metal or seamless iron size brass or copper pipe, size and weight corresponding with pipe to be connected. Cleanouts, plugs, stoppers or any other fittings used in drainage system shall correspond in weight and material with above description.
Drain pipes above ground shall be secured by irons to walls, suspended from floor beams by strong iron hangers, or supported on brick piers at points sufficiently close to keep them in alignment and carry the weight of pipe and contents. Proper manholes shall be supplied to reach cleanouts and traps. Every drain pipe shall have
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a fall of not less than one-quarter inch per foot, and shall be extend- ed from a point five feet outside the inside face of the wall un- obstructed, unless special permission has been granted by the Board of Health for the use of a running trap at the entrance to building; to and through the roof, undiminished in size, and to a height of not less than two feet above the roof and not less than one foot above the top of any window or opening within fifteen feet, and not less than eight feet above the roof if the roof is used for a garden or similar purpose. The drain pipe shall be supplied with a Y branch fitted with a brass cover cleanout or with an iron stopper if required, on the direct run, at or near the point where the drain leaves the building. Changes in direction shall be made with long angle and long sweep bends, and all connections with horizontal or vertical pipes shall be made with Y branches. Soil and waste pipes shall have the proper TY or Y branches for all fixture connections. Saddle hubs or double hubs shall not be used. All drain pipes shall be exposed to sight within the building, if such exposure is practicable, and shall not be subjected to pressure where they pass through the wall. All joints in hub and spigot cast iron pipe shall be made with oakum and molten lead, run full and caulked gas and water tight, and no cement joints nor connections between iron and cement or tile pipe or brick drains shall be made within any building.
Soil and Waste Pipes Shall Not Have Less Than The Following Diameters:
Minimum branch waste 11/2 inches
Minimum branch waste for urinals 2 inches
Branch waste for sinks
11/2 inches
Branch waste for wash trays 11/2 inches
Main waste 2 inches
Main waste for sinks, five floors or more 3 inches
Soil pipe (except as provided in section 7) 4 inches
Branch waste for sink and tray combination 2 inches
Slop sink waste
3
inches
Minimum branch waste for sinks equipped
with grease traps
2 inches
STEAM EXHAUSTS
No steam or vapor or water of a temperature over one hundred and thirty degrees Fahrenheit shall be discharged from any premises into a sewer, drain or catch basin, nor shall any matter or thing be discharged into any sewer which may tend to cause obstruction of the sewer, or a nuisance or deposit therein or an injury thereto.
All pressure steam boilers connected to the drain shall be con- nected with a blowoff tank of a capacity not less than thirty percent of the largest boiler connected with such tank. The location of and the connections to said blow-off tank shall be subject to the approval of the Board of Health.
No steam exhaust or steam drip, unless it be connected with
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the blow-off tank shall be supplied with a vapor pipe not less than two inches in diameter which shall be carried above the roof and above the highest windows of the building.
The Board of Health may require such additional means of cooling the blow-off tanks by the injection of cold water or otherwise as may be necessary to reduce the temperature of the water passing from the blow-off tank so that it shall not exceed one hundred and thirty degrees Fahrenheit. The discharge from blow-off tanks shall be carried ten feet outside the building before entering house sewer.
TRAPS
SECTION 4. The waste pipe of every independent fixture shall be furnished with a separate trap, which shall be placed as near as practicable to the fixture which it serves. A combination sink and tray may be connected with the house drain through one drum trap or through a two-inch 1/2 S brass trap, when outlets are not over three feet six inches apart; but the outlet of each fixture shall enter the trap separately. Lead bends for water closets or slop sinks shall not be used to connect waste from other fixtures. The connections between drainage pipes and earthenware traps shall be made by means of brass or iron flanges caulked, soldered or screwed to the drainage pipes and bolted to the earthenware and the joint made of grafting wax, red or white putty, except in the case of water sealed flanges where an approved gasket may be used. All traps shall be of open form, and traps depending upon con- cealed partitions to retain their seal will not be approved, except for earthenware fixtures, where the trap seal is plainly visible. Trap screws for cleaning purposes shall be placed in all metal traps, and where such traps are placed in connection with fixtures, they shall be so installed that the water seal will protect the trap screw from sewer air. Traps shall be of cast iron or brass, except that drum traps shall be of brass. 4" x 8" brass drum trap can be used for bath-tub and lavatory waste with a maximum overall run of 7 feet.
SPECIAL TRAPS Special Wastes and Traps
SECTION 5. Drainage from stables, garages, laboratories, special fixtures and kitchens shall be installed in accordance with plans approved by the Board of Health.
When liquid wastes from barns, stables, manure pits and the stable yards are permitted to enter the sewer system, they shall be intercepted by a properly trapped catch basin of suitable size and design.
All discharge lines from garages, service pits, washstands, and other structures where gasoline, naphtha or other inflammable oils or compounds are used shall be provided with a catch basin, prop- erly trapped, or gasoline and oil interceptor approved by the Board of Health, so designed as to safeguard against the entrance of sand, oil, gasoline, or other inflammable compound into the sewers. The
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device shall be ventilated with a separate pipe to a point three feet above the roof. These catch basins and interceptors shall have the accumulated oil, gasoline, or other inflammable liquids, sand, silt or other solids, removed at regular intervals.
Grease interceptors or grease traps of a type approved by the Board of Health shall be installed on the waste pipes from all pot or dishwashing sinks or machines in every kitchen, pantry or serv- ing room, except in private dwellings and in cases where said sinks or machines are connected directly to an outside grease trap by means of independent waste pipes. The trap shall be placed as near as practicable to the fixture which it serves, shall be of suffi- cient size, easily accessible to open and clean. Every building from which, in the opinion of the Board of Health, grease mav be dis- charged in such quantity as to clog or injure the sewer shall have a grease trap located outside the building at a point approved by the Board of Health.
Waste and vent pipes, traps and fittings serving fixtures in chemical laboratories shall be of approved acid-resisting materials made for the purpose. The arrangement of piping shall be subject to the approval of the Board of Health. So-called acid-resisting hub and spigot cast-metal pipe of the same dimensions as extra heavy cast-iron hub and spigot pipe or other approved corrosion-resisting pipe may also be used for waste and vent pipes.
CLEANOUTS
SECTION 6. Cleanouts, known as Boston Regulation Pattern, shall be placed at changes in direction and at foot of vertical stack, or other points necessary to make all portions of horizontal drain- age system accessible for cleaning purposes.
BACK AIR PIPES, VENTS, ETC.
SECTION 7. All branches of soil or waste pipe, if more than twenty feet in developed length, shall be extended through the roof undiminished in size or re-vented into the main vent system. Traps shall be protected from siphonage or air pressure by iron, brass or copper air pipes of a size not less than the waste pipes they serve. Continuous systems shall be used and back air pipes shall not be connected to the trap or branched into the waste pipe except where a continuous vent is not practicable. Back air pipes shall enter the waste pipe within thirty-six inches measured horizontally of the trap and shall be a continuation of the waste pipe. Air pipes for water closet traps shall be of two inches internal diameter if for not more than three fixtures and less than thirty-five feet in length; if for not more than three fixtures or more than thirty-five feet in length, they shall be of three-inch internal diameter. Air pipes shall run as direct as practicable, and if one and one-half inches in diameter shall not exceed thirty feet in length. Two or more air pipes may be connected together or with a vent pipe, but, in everysuch case with connection shall be above the top of the fixture.
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The traps for the upper fixtures on a line of soil or waste pipe if within five feet horizontal developed length of the stack and the outlets of which connect independently to the stack, shall not require a special air pipe unless the outlets are branched into the stack more than eighteen inches below the floor line, or if the waste pipes from said traps are less than three inches in diameter and have more than 1/4 inch per foot pitch. Diameters of vent pipes shall be not less than two inches for main vents through less than seven stories, three inches for water closets on more than three floors, and for other fixtures in more than seven stories. All vent and air pipes shall be undimished in size passing through the roof. Vent lines shall be connected at the bottom with a soil or waste pipe or with a drain, in such manner as to prevent accumu- lation of rust scale and properly to drip the water of condensation. Offsets shall be made at an angle of not less than forty-five degrees. Drain, soil, waste and vent pipes shall be supported at least every eight feet on horizontal runs, and at least once to every story on vertical lines. In buildings where a series of bath-rooms or kitchens are located directly over each other and have a common soil or waste pipe the back air pipe required shall be a vent line connect- ing each outlet branch close to the water closet connection or outlet from the sink trap, each branch vent to connect to vent line above the top of the highest fixture on each floor, the vent line to connect to main vent line above the top of the highest fixture in the build- ing. In the case of batteries of water closets, the special air pipe from each trap may be omitted, provided that the soil or waste pipe, undiminished in size for batteries up to and including four such water closets is continued to a point above the roof of re-vented into the main soil pipe system above the top of the uppermost fixture. Stall urinals and floor drains may have the same system of battery ventilation, providing the waste pipe is one inch larger than the traps of the fixtures they serve. The waste pipes from urinals shall be the size of the discharge opening in urinal and in no case shall it be less than two inches in diameter, unless wall hung, and in such case an inch and a half trap may be used.
Plumbing fixtures on the top floor level, in relation to the stack into which they enter, may enter into not less than a 4" soil or waste stack without requiring any other vent than the continu- ation of the soil or waste stack as a vent through the roof of revented into the vent system above the highest fixture; provided that all such fixtures shall enter said stack independently; that the waste pipe from said fixtures shall have a pitch of not more than 1/4 inch per foot; that the traps from said fixtures shall be placed not more than five feet from the soil or waste stack (developed length).
All garbage disposal appliances connected to a plumbing system shall be connected to the waste or soil pipe independent of any other fixture with not less than a 2" waste pipe and shall be vented as per above.
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SCHEDULE OF BACK AIR PIPES AND VENTS FOR FIXTURES
Fixures
Size of Pipe (Inches)
Greatest Length Allowed (feet)
Maximum Number of Fixtures
11/2
30
3
Baths, sinks, basins, urinals,
2
70
9
sink and tray combination
3
70
21
ยง 2
35
3
Water closets or slop sinks
3
70
9
TESTING AND INSPECTION
SECTION 8. Pipes or other fixtures shall not be covered or con- cealed from view until approved by the Board of Health, except when in the case of an emergency or repair of leaks, this would be impracticable. All work, including emergency and repair work, shall be examined and/or tested within two working days after notice is received by the Board of Health that it is ready for inspection. Plumb- ing shall not be used unless, when roughed in the wastes, vents, back air pipes and traps are first tested, in the presence of a repre- sentative of the Board of Health, by water or sufficient air pressure if such test practicable, and a final inspection shall be required when plumbing work is completed, and, if satisfactory, a certificate of ap- proval shall be issued therefor to the plumber who signed the appli- cation.
WATER CLOSETS, ETC.
SECTION 9. Every building shall have such number of water closets as the Board of Health may require. Every building where persons are employed shall have at least one water closet for every fifteen persons employed therein; and in any building where persons of both sexes are employed, separate accomodations shall be furnished for both men and women. No trapped plumbing fixture shall be located in any room or compartment which does not contain a win- dow having an area of at least 3 square feet placed in an external wall of the building or which is not provided with an approved sys- tem of ventilation. Every enclosure, the walls and doors of which extend from floor to ceiling and in which is located one or more water closets or urinals shall have similar ventilation requirements. The Board of Health may, by special permission, grant authority for installing a different system of ventilation than that described here- in. Water closets shall be flushed by water from tanks or by flusho- meter valves capable of delivering 5 gallons of water to the closets in 10 seconds or in the case of urinals, 2 gallons of water in 10 seconds. Water from water closet or urinal flush tanks shall be used for no other purpose.
All plumbing fixtures and the materials of which they are made
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shall be subject to the approval of the State Board of Examiners of Plumbers.
Drinking fountains and bubblers shall not be installed in such manner or location as to be readily contaminated.
SECTION 10. No water closet, urinal or any other fixture, ap- pliance, appurtenance or device shall be directly supplied from a water distribution system through a flushometer, or other valve, faucet, bibb or device, unless such flushometer or other valve, faucet, bibb or device and outlet therefrom is set at least 1.5 times the diameter of the outlet plus .50 inches above the maximum water level or the water is supplied to the outlet by way of an approved siphon breaker or vacuum breaker installed in approved manner.
All flushometers and backflow preventers (siphon breakers or vacuum breakers) shall be subject to a laboratory test by and the approval of the Department of Public Health. Backflow preventers shall be of the moving part and air vent type which shall be of such size and proportions as to allow an ample flow of water to fixture, a complete functioning unit installed separately or contained wholly within the flush valve body between the flush valve mechanism and the fixture. The preventer shall be of non-corrodible material, shall not leak under any degree of back pressure and shall operate quietly. The device shall prevent a reduction of pressure in the flush pipe greater than one inch of water when the outlet end of the flush pipe is closed or submerged in water and a vacuum of 20 inches of mercury is applied on the supply side.
The critical level shall in no case be below the outlet connec- tion, and when the critical level is above that point it shall be shown by a horizontal line not less than 1/4 inch long and clearly stamped on the body the symbols C-L or C/L. When not indicated the critical level shall be considered as being at the level of the outlet end of the device. The critical livel of backflow preventers when installed shall be located at least 4 inches above the flood level of the fixture (maximum water level) except where existing supplies, which do not permit an elevation of 4 inches, must be accomodated, the elevation of the critical level may be placed not less than 2 inches above the flood level of the fixture. Each backflow preventer shall be clearly marked with the manufacturer's name and sufficient ad- ditional information to identify it from any other model that is made or has been made by him.
STORM AND SURFACE WATER
SECTION 11. All roofs and paved areas, yards, courts and court vards shall be drained into the storm water drainage system but not into the separate sewers intended for sewage only except where the storm sewer is above the area way, in which case the area may be connected with the sanitary sewer if properly trapped and approved by the Board of Health.
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When drains used for this purpose are connected with the com- bined sewerage systems they shall be effectually trapped. One trap may serve for all such connections but traps must be set below the frost line or inside of the building. Where there is no storm sewer accessible such connections shall be discharged in such manner as not to flow upon a public way or adjoining land.
Wherever a surface drain is installed in a cellar or basement it shall be provided with a deep sealed trap and backwater valve. Drain pipes from fixtures subject to backflow from sewer shall be supplied with backwater valves.
INDIRECT, REFRIGERATION AND SPECIAL WASTES
SECTION 12. No waste pipe from a refrigerator, ice-box or cold room, any receptacle where food is stored, any sterilizer, auto- clave, sterile water tank or any receptacle used to treat, process or store surgical or hospital supplies and equipment or any receptacle for storing or dispensing drinking water except drinking fountains which are properly trapped and vented shall connect directly with any house drain, soil or waste pipe. Such waste pipe shall in all cases empty over an open sink, floor drain or other fixture that is properly supplied with water, connected, trapped and vented the same as any other fixture and an air gap of at least twice the diameter of the waste pipe shall be provided between the waste pipe and the receiving receptacle or waste pipe except that an open waste fitting or an approved backflow preventer will be permitted in lines from receptacles not subjected to a vacuum or directly connected to the water supply.
MECHANICAL DISCHARGE SYSTEM
SECTION 13. Fixtures that discharge into tank and from tank to pump or ejector shall be protected from siphonage with not less than a four-inch pipe up and through the roof. Tank shall be vented and vent pipe from tank may be connected to vent stack not less than twenty feet in height from tank. No gravity fixture shall be vented into this system. Tank vent shall be same size as waste or soil pipe. No fixtures shall be connected to the discharge pipe from an ejector or pump between the ejector or pump and the point where it enters the house drain or sewer. When the drain is subject to backflow a check valve shall be used.
HOT WATER TANKS AND SAFETY APPLIANCES
SECTION 14. No range boiler, tank, vessel or container, fer- rous or non-ferrous, in which water is to be heated or stored under pressure for domestic, culinary or sanitary purposes, in this section and in sections eighteen and nineteen referred to as hot water tanks, shall be sold or offered for sale unless it is plainly marked by the
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manufacturer, by stamping into the metal of the tank, or on a metal plate permanently attached to the tank, in a conspicuous place, as follows:
A. Manufacturer's name or registered trade mark.
B. Rated capacity of hot water tank in United States gallons.
C. Hydrostatic pressure in pounds per square inch at which the tank has been tested by the manufacturer, following the words "Tested to."
D. Maximum allowable working pressure in pounds per square inch.
Notwithstanding the requirements of the preliminary paragraph and paragraphs A to D, inclusive, of this section, the markings therein referred to shall not be required, in the case of cast iron hot water fronts, so called, or hot water tanks that are insulated or en- closed in a jacket or casing, to be stamped into the metal thereof or to be stamped on a metal plate permanently attached thereto; pro- vided that any manufacturer selling such hot water fronts within the Commonwealth shall in writing certify to the Department of Public Safety and the Board of State Examiners of Plumbers that every such water front sold by him complies with the pertinent pro- visions of law; and provided, further, that any manufacturer of hot water tanks that are insulated or enclosed in a jacket or casing which are to be sold within the commonwealth shall certify in writing to the Department of Public Safety and the Board of State Examiners of Plumbers that every such tankless water heater coil or element, or hot water tank manufactured by him complies with the pertinent provisions of law, and shall permanently attach to the largest seg- ment of said jacket or casing, in a conspicuous place, a metal plate which has stamped into the metal thereof the requirements of para- graphs A to D, inclusive.
SECTION 15. No hot water tank shall be repaired, relocated or installed and connected, unless it meets the following construction requirements:
A. The actual capacity of a hot water tank shall be within seven and a half percent of the capacity stamped on the tank.
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