If you’ve had new plumbing installed, you’ve probably noticed that the plumbers run a pipe out and up from your drain line at some point. What’s that all about? Why do you need to vent your drain pipes? There are a few good reasons.
First, while waste and water travel down drainpipes by gravity, the free flow down those pipes can be impeded not only by solid waste blockages, but by trapped gas. In order for waste to easily and quickly travel to a septic tank or city sewer system, the air pressure in your drain pipes needs to be neutral. However, the waste that goes down your drain pipes almost invariably emits gases. If those gases have no way to be released into the air, they will stay in the pipes and may prevent wastes from going where they need to go. As a result, plumbing codes generally require that every plumbing fixture have an attached vent.
The other principal reason to vent your pipes is to prevent the leakage of gas into your house. Technically, internal or external traps are used to keep sewer gases out of your house. A trap is a J, S or U-shaped fixture with a vent attached, that allows gas to escape up and out of the house through a sealed pipe while waste travels down.
You want to put your drain-waste vent at the lowest point in your house’s drain system, just before it attaches to the septic or city sewer system. The drain pipe typically runs through a wall and releases gas through the roof.
Public Service Plumbers
5610 Dyer Street
Dallas, Texas 75206
(214) 753-4633
We offer plumbing installation and repair services to individuals and businesses throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth area, including Highland Park, University Park, Preston Hollow, Lakewood, Lake Highlands, Richardson, Plano, Frisco, McKinney, Allen, Coppell, Garland, Mesquite, Addison, Kessler Park, Farmers Branch, Grapevine, Southlake, Flower Mound and Lewisville.