CHAPTER 6

Soil Pipe
Any pipe that receives and conveys discharges of water closet, with or without the discharge coming
from other fixtures to the house drain or house sewer is called Soil Pipe
The word Soil is affixed to pipe installation that carries human waste coming from water closet. Minus
the waste coming from water closet, said installation is called Waste Pipe. Soil pipe installed vertically is
called Soil Stack and Soil Branch when installed horizontally

The National Plumbing Code on Soil Pipe Provides:

1. That, at least one of the vertical stacks in the plumbing system must extend full size through the roof
for the following purposes
a. To ventilate and dispose of the sewer gas above the roof
b. To prevent siphoning of the water trap seal by force of suction
c. To prevent the possibility of back pressure which may force the water seal off the fixture trap
2. Any structure with a house drain installed, must have at least one soil stack or stack vent, extended
full size above the roof not less than 30 cm long and should not less than 75mm diameter or the size of
drain whichever is smaller.
3. As a general rule, vent stack must be extended and terminate through the roof of the building. When
the roof is to be used other than protection from the elements of weather, the vent stack should be
extended no less than 2.00 meters above the roof Vent extended above the roof.

Installation Requirements
To start with the soil pipe roughing-in, the plan layout of the entire building installation must be
prepared. This includes the location of fixtures, size of the partitions, location of doors and windows as
well as the lowered ceiling that will conceal the soil and waste pipe branches.

The location of electric outlets and boxes, cabinets and other building necessities has to be set up. The
soil pipe is generally placed before the mounting of partitions. Passing the soil pipe through any of this
facility unit would be a reflection on the mechanical ability of the plumber, and a fault that would be
exceedingly hard to correct.

The Plumbing Code on Soil Pipe Installation Provides that:

1. The Soil Pipe shall be properly concealed or embedded in columns, walls or partitions, installed
prior to the construction of the building
2. The entire installations in building such as the location of fixtures, thickness of the partitions, location
of doors and windows, drop ceiling, electrical layout and outlets and their relations with each other
shall be considered in the pre-planning stages prior to the rough-in work
3. The soil branch that will directly receive waste from water closet shall be short and direct as
practicable
4. Soil Pipe joints shall be tight and free from liquid or gas leak. Installation workmanship shall be strictly
in accordance with the standard practice of the trade involved
5. Soil pipes not embedded in concrete wall, columns or partitions shall be anchored rigidly by means of
metal hangers.
6. That changes from vertical to horizontal directions shall be done by using:
a.) ¼ bend
b) Long sweep ¼ bend
c.) Two 1/8 bend or
d.) Combination of Y and 1/8 bend

Size of the Soil Pipe

So far, there is no definite mathematical formula ever formulated to determine the size of the Soil Pipe
required for a particular installation. This is maybe because of the variable conditions relative to its
service
However, it would be certain that all fixtures connected to the plumbing system, would never be used or
flush simultaneously at one point in time. And it would be more impossible for the soil pipe to be
carrying a maximum load from all the fixtures connected to it in one single moment

The Fixture Unit

In the absence of a definite formula to use in finding the size of a soil pipe, the Uniform Plumbing Code
Committee formulated the Fixture Unit data as the maximum waste discharges per minute interval of a
particular fixture.

The Plumbing Controversy

At one time, the plumbing industry introduced radical changes from a traditional policy to one involving
scientific principles for plumbers guide. One example is the old rule which says: "six water closets, six
wash basins and six bathtubs were considered the maximum load that a 100 mm or 4" soil pipe could
possibly accommodate. The rule further stipulated that:"In case one more water closet was added to
the installation, a 125 mm or 5" soil pipe was required
In so short a time, the regulation was amended increasing the allowable load from 6 to 10 water closets
for a mm pipe diameter.
The experiment showed that a 100 mm diameter soil pipe could effectively serve up to 840 Fixture Units
or 140 water closets without overloading the pipe. Transparent plastic pipes were used during the
testing, and it was found that even if these water closets were used continuously at the same time,
flushing at one point in time is statistically improbable. Moreover, the experiment revealed that proper
ventilation of the fixture traps, and careful installation of the pipe has contributed much to the
efficiency of the system, rather than by increasing the size of the pipe.

The Experiments Conducted by the Uniform Plumbing Code Committee Revealed that:
1. Instead of increasing the diameter of the pipe, the ventilation of fixture traps should be looked into
because it promotes efficiency of the entire plumbing installation
2. The use of the right kind of fittings and proper installation, plus the strict observance of the pre-
scribed slope of the pipe, contributed primarily to the effectiveness of the drainage system
3. Under a certain condition, more fixtures may be added to the installation without fear of being over-
taxed (see report of the Uniform Plumbing Code Committee of 1949.)
4. The experiments further revealed that Wet Venting is safer under certain conditions. Stack Venting
for one or more storey building has proven to be satisfactory
5. Long drain wet vented bathtub are safe, provided that the pipe is installed with a slope not greater
than 2% or 2 centimeters fall per meter length

The Soil Branch

The Soil Branch is a soil pipe installed horizontally with lateral or vertical connections that receives the
discharges of water closet with or without additional plumbing fixtures

General Conditions in Installing Soil Branch

1. The Soil Branch being concealed in floors, partitions or lowered ceiling should be accessibly provided
with sufficient number of cleanouts
2. Cleanout should be installed wherever changes of soil branch directions are made
3. Cleanout should be the same in diameter as the soil branch
4. Cleanout should be located at the farthest end of the branch away from the vertical soil pipe
5. The use of short radius fittings on soil branch when making a change of direction such as short
sanitary Tee, ¼ bend and short L should be avoided.
6. A long radius fitting shall be used for a horizontal to horizontal or vertical to horizontal change of
direction. In some instances, the use of short radius fitting is only permitted on a vertical to horizontal
change of direction
7. Soil branch shall be graded properly and carefully aligned. Crooked joint should not be allowed
8. The efficiency of a horizontal waste installation depends upon the Scouring or Self-cleaning action
for every discharge of waste. Soil branch having a slope more than 2% fall has the tendency of
separating the solid waste from the liquid. Water flows faster on high pitch leaving the suspended
materials at the bottom of the pipe. On the other hand,pipes with grade less than 2% is also susceptible
to

Size of the Soil Branch

The flow of waste inside a horizontal pipe, particularly the soil branch, is much different from those
inside the vertical stack. As previously explained, the expected efficiency of a liquid flow inside a
horizontal pipe depends upon the scouring action for every discharge. If this action
could be attained in every pipe installation, stoppage problem could be avoided.

A. Prohibited Fitting:
1. Double Hub, Double Tee or Double Y branch should not be permitted on soil pipes or horizontal
lines.
2. The drilling and tapping of house drain, soil pipe and waste or vent pipes and the use of saddle hubs
or bends are strictly prohibited

B. Dead End Fittings

Dead-end connections in any drainage installation should not be permitted. This portion of the plumbing
system will only accumulate waste and sludge