Category Archives: Plumbing Posts

Weird MEP History: The Common Cup

by Craig G. Malesic, LC, PMP, EIT Note: This is the first installment of an occasional series, Weird MEP History, which deals with interesting and sometimes strange facts and tidbits throughout the history of mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems. We all know what a “Water Fountain” looks like, Right? We call them Water Fountains, Drinking Fountains, […]

Too Hot, Too Cold, or Just Right? Emergency Plumbing Fixture Compliance

  by Richard M. Lindemon, PE, LEED AP At the table in the kitchen, there were three bowls of porridge. Goldilocks was hungry. She tasted the porridge from the first bowl. “This porridge is too hot!” she exclaimed. So, she tasted the porridge from the second bowl. “This porridge is too cold,” she said So, […]

What is a Trap Primer – and Why is it Required?

by Steven R. List, PE, ICC Were you ever in a building that had a putrid odor? More than likely it was sewer gas emitting from a floor drain. All plumbing fixtures, including floor drains, are required to have traps. A trap looks like a “U” shape pipe. If you look below your kitchen or […]