Water and Drains Glossary Part 1
Grease trap—See Interceptor.
Hot water—Potable water heated to at least 120°F–130°F (49°C–54°C) and used for cooking, cleaning, washing dishes,
and bathing.
Insanitary—Unclean enough to endanger health.
Interceptor—A device to separate and retain deleterious, hazardous, or undesirable matter from normal waste and permit normal sewage or liquid waste to discharge into the drainage system by gravity.
Main vent—The principal artery of the venting system, to which vent branches may be connected.
Leader—An exterior drainage pipe for conveying storm water from roof or gutter drains to the building storm drain, combined building sewer, or other means of disposal.
Main sewer—See Public sewer.
Pneumatic—Pertaining to devices making use of compressed air as in pressure tanks boosted by pumps.
Potable water—Water having no impurities present in amounts sufficient to cause disease or harmful physiologic effects and conforming in its bacteriologic and chemical quality to the requirements of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Safe Drinking Water Act or meeting the regulations of other agencies having jurisdiction.
P & T (pressure and temperature) relief valve—A safety valve installed on a hot water storage tank to limit temperature and pressure of the water.
P-trap—A trap with a vertical inlet and a horizontal outlet.
Public sewer—A common sewer directly controlled by public authority.
Relief vent—An auxiliary vent that permits additional circulation of air in or between drainage and systems.
Septic tank—A watertight receptacle that receives the discharge of a building’s sanitary drain system or part thereof and is designed and constructed to separate solid from liquid, digest organic matter through a period of detention, and allow the liquids to discharge into the soil outside of the tank through a system of open-joint or perforated piping or through a seepage pit.
Sewerage system—A system comprising all piping, appurtenances, and treatment facilities used for the collection and disposal of sewage, except plumbing inside and in connection with buildings served, and the building drain.
Soil pipe—The pipe that directs the sewage of a house to the receiving sewer, building drain or building sewer.
Soil stack—The vertical piping that terminates in a roof vent and carries off the vapors of a plumbing system.
Stack vent—An extension of a solid or waste stack above the highest horizontal drain connected to the stack, sometimescalled a waste vent or a soil vent.