Plumbing 



207 



there are, to say nothing of the annoyances, decided indications that one of these 

 days something will happen something swift and snappy, with lots of gush 

 attached and the plumber will eat turkey. For a service where the pressure 

 does not exceed thirty or forty pounds per square inch this system works well. 

 In cases of high-pressure service the indirect or tank-supply system is by 

 far the best. On the principle that a column of water will rise as high as its 

 source only, the extreme pressure is removed by making a new source of supply 

 in a tank one story above the highest floor to be supplied. This breaks the 

 service, so that instead of having the extreme pressure of the initial source we have 

 a low pressure afforded by the extra height of the tank, which for all ordinary 

 domestic purposes is sufficient. 



Such a system is shown in Fig. 34. The supply pipe, entering the house from 

 without, is carried horizontally under the cellar floor timbers to a point directly 

 beneath the end of the tank. From this point it is carried vertically to the top of 

 the tank, and the flow of water is there controlled by a ball cock. An overflow is 

 provided to the tank, which, in this case, is carried to the house gutter, and contains 

 a trap (T) to prevent outside invasion. The tank is further provided with a 

 drain from the bottom (C) which connects with the overflow pipe; it is fitted with 

 a stop cock. The pipe connection from C to the gutter should be large (say i^ 

 inches), so that the flow of water and fine sediment may not be retarded during 

 the cleaning process, which should be frequent. To faciliate the cleaning a 



hose-cock attachment is attached to the high-pressure 

 service. This would also be handy in case of fire. 



The outlet to the low-pressure service is raised slightly 

 above the bottom of the tank to avoid its being fed with 

 sediment. The pipe itself is carried down through the 

 centre of the plumbing system, supplying closet tanks, bowls, 

 bath tub, sinks, hot-water boiler and laundry tubs. 



There is one advantage of the large tank outside the 

 considerations of its ordinary use it serves as a storage in 

 case the supply is temporarily cut off from the street. Those 

 who may have had some experience in this line will at once 

 see the great advantage. 



There is one objection to the above system, and that 

 is that the tank water, while it may be wholesome enough 

 ordinarily, is not very palatable for 

 drinking purposes, as well as being 

 normally warm. To obviate this diffi- 

 culty a combination of the two systems 

 may be used, and the cold water supplied 

 to the kitchen sink be direct from the 

 main (see Fig. 34). If desirable, the 

 high-pressure pipe may be tapped on the second floor as well, but this, as in the 

 case of the kitchen sink, should have heavy plumbing, and not the light fixtures 

 usually forming a part of the bathroom fittings. The faucet, too, should have a 

 large outlet, as the smaller its sectional area as compared with that of the 



Boiler 



\ 



Fig- 35. Section through hot-water boiler and water back. The 

 arrows show the direction of the flow of water 



