The April 2019 issue of PM Engineer takes an expansive look at the challenges engineers face sizing grease interceptors and how the issue affects municipal sewer systems across the country. Also this month, read exclusive stories about a hydronic water pipeline system installed at a new Four Seasons resort in Calistoga, California, and the value siphonic drains provide in a new manufacturing facility in McPherson, Kansas. Julius Ballanco’s column examines the definition of graywater in plumbing codes, and John Siegenthaler, P.E., gives details for bypassing thermal storage.
Scary descriptions of “monster fatbergs” that have blocked sewer water in Baltimore and the U.K. make for effective newswriting. But clogged-artery metaphors and gross-out tactics aside, fat, oil and grease (FOG) do pose an expensive threat to sanitary sewer collection systems.
The new Four Seasons resort under construction in Napa Valley required an underground network of nearly a mile of pipe to provide hydronic hot and cold water to the new complex. Not just a luxury Four Seasons hotel, the resort, which is scheduled to open this fall, will have 85 guest rooms, 20 private residence villas and a six-acre private vineyard.
Gravity often dictates storm drainage design. Pipe can only run so far with pitch before crossing over into livable space. At times, it requires a leader to drop down in the middle of the building, with the only solution being to excavate a long distance — still accounting for pitch — through the interior to reach the civils.
The plumbing industry is changing quickly, and the biggest catalyst of that change is technology. New products are coming to market, the Internet of Things is influencing product design, and connectivity is becoming less of a novelty and more of a commodity.
The International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO) recently published the monograph of proposed changes to the WE-Stand, which is short for Water Efficiency and Sanitation Standard. The document was previously identified as the Green Supplement.
In my last two columns, I discussed the business case for why one-on-one meetings are the single best management tactic to improve retention and results, proving the benefits through numerous sources of data. But what does a good one-on-one look like?
Many renewable energy systems have thermal storage tanks that bridge the gap between when energy is available from the heating source, and when that energy is needed by a heating load.
There’s an old saying, repeated in the recent novel “Asymmetry” by Lisa Halliday, about how “the foreign journalist who travels to the Middle East and stays a week goes home to write a book in which he presents a pat solution to all of its problems.
KAI underwent a corporate restructuring as parent company KAI Enterprises with four new subsidiaries — KAI Design, KAI Engineering, KAI Build and KAI 360 Construction Services — each with its own president.
Jomar Valve named Noah Dinger as VP of sales, John Keep as a marketing content specialist and Lauren Berenato as the new national specifications manager.
The symposium will be co-convened by the American Society of Plumbing Engineers (ASPE), the Alliance for Water Efficiency (AWE), the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO), and Plumbing Manufacturers International (PMI), in cooperation with the World Plumbing Council (WPC).
At the 2019 Kitchen & Bath Industry Show (KBIS), the latest 3D-printed faucet from DXV received the top prize, “Best of Show” in the Best of KBIS awards.
Smith-Cooper International’s product combination for shotgun installations in wet pipe fire protection systems includes a UL-listed and FM-approved grooved riser check valve with trim kit package.
Slant/Fin’s commercial line of VGH boilers feature next generation duo stainless steel water tube heat exchangers with larger water passages to increase the heat output for its size, Slant/Fin says.
The Victaulic System Solution for CPVC Pipe is the industry’s first grooved mechanical pipe joining system designed specifically for use on chlorinated polyvinyl chloride/ polyvinyl chloride (CPVC/PVC) pipe, Victaulic says.
Aquatherm and McElroy partnered to offer the industry’s first polypropylene hot tap tool. This innovation allows the installation of branches to a live service line, eliminating service disruption, Aquatherm says.