Water
Designing homes to use water efficiently, reduce costs and cope with more frequent droughts or storms.
Sanitary plumbing and drainage
Sanitary plumbing refers to the supply of water to fixtures and connected appliances that use water in their operation.
Drainage refers to the discharge from the fixture or appliance through pipes and stacks to a sewage system.
Generally:
- sanitary plumbing consists of the pipes, fixtures and appliances that are above ground
- drainage refers to the pipework system that carries foulwater away from buildings and is usually below ground.
Find out about:
- objectives
- statutory requirements
- building design considerations
- sanitary plumbing systems
- drainage systems.
Objectives
Sanitary plumbing and drainage aims to safeguard people from:
- illness due to infection or contamination as a result of personal hygiene activities
- loss of amenity due to the presence of unpleasant odours or the accumulation of offensive matter resulting from sewage disposal.
To do this, sanitary plumbing and drainage must be designed to carry discharges away so that they:
- do not cause nuisance or health risk
- prevent foul air and gases that are generated in sewers, drains and plumbing systems from entering buildings
- minimise the risk of blockage
- minimise noise generated by the flow within the system
- allow for access and cleaning
- are durable.
Statutory requirements
Installation of sanitary plumbing and drainage systems in New Zealand must be in accordance with NZ Building Code clause G13 Foul water or AS/NZS 3500 National plumbing and drainage.