Too much air

[ICE]

The inspection was for under-slab plumbing. There is no head test......but it is filled with air.

A lot of air.

 

[Joe.B]

2022 CPC
723.0 Building Sewer Test.
723.1 General. Building sewers shall be tested by plugging the end of the building sewer at its points of connection to the public sewer or private sewage disposal system and completely filling the building sewer with water from the lowest to the highest point thereof, or by approved equivalent low-pressure air test. Plastic DWV piping systems shall not be tested by the air test method. The building sewer shall be watertight.

 

[steveray]

Did you get a PSI? guys have a hard time getting those to stay on with a water test here....

 

[wwhitney]

2022 CPC
723.0 Building Sewer Test.
723.1 General. Building sewers shall be tested by plugging the end of the building sewer at its points of connection to the public sewer or private sewage disposal system and completely filling the building sewer with water from the lowest to the highest point thereof, or by approved equivalent low-pressure air test. Plastic DWV piping systems shall not be tested by the air test method. The building sewer shall be watertight.

Since the section you quoted is in Part II - Building Sewers, I conclude that restriction only applies to testing the building sewer. Oddly, 712.3 on air testing the drainage system has no such restriction.

Cheers, Wayne

 

[Joe.B]

Since the section you quoted is in Part II - Building Sewers, I conclude that restriction only applies to testing the building sewer. Oddly, 712.3 on air testing the drainage system has no such restriction.

Cheers, Wayne

Correct, outside the building (712) vs. inside the building (723). I made the assumption that the picture was showing what would become a foundation for a building because that looks like a footing, but it's quite possible that's a patio slab w/o a building.

 

[wwhitney]

I made the assumption that the picture was showing what would become a foundation for a building

Yes, I am assuming that the DWV under test is under a future building. In which case testing with air is allowed, but it's supposed to be 5 psi. : - )

Cheers, Wayne

 

[Joe.B]

Interesting, you have me thinking here. Once again, we are reading the same code, and interpreting it differently. But even if we are, part I does have a similar restriction.

712.0 Testing.
712.1 Media. The piping of the plumbing, drainage, and venting systems shall be tested with water or air except that plastic pipe shall not be tested with air. The Authority Having Jurisdiction shall be permitted to require the removal of cleanouts, etc., to ascertain whether the pressure has reached all parts of the system. After the plumbing fixtures have been set and their traps filled with water, they shall be submitted to a final test.

 

[Joe.B]

After a deeper read I think part I vs. part II is not inside vs. outside. Part I is titled "Drainage Systems" which is defined in chapter 2 as:

Drainage System. Includes all the piping within public or private premises that conveys sewage, storm water, or other liquid wastes to a legal point of disposal, but does not include the mains of a public sewer system or a public sewage treatment or disposal plant.

Part II is titled "Building Sewers" which is defined as:

Building Sewer. That part of the horizontal piping of a drainage system that extends from the end of the building drain and that receives the discharge of the building drain and conveys it to a public sewer, private sewer, private sewage disposal system, or another point of disposal.

Does that mean that Part II is the lower portion, outside of the building, and Part I is the entire system up to the publicly owned portion? Guess I had that totally wrong.

 

[wwhitney]

ut even if we are, part I does have a similar restriction.

712.0 Testing.
712.1 Media. The piping of the plumbing, drainage, and venting systems shall be tested with water or air except that plastic pipe shall not be tested with air.

OK, I totally missed that bolded part, I was reading too quickly. So you are correct that testing plastic with air is not allowed in either case. But if you agree that the picture shows drain pipes under the footprint of the future building, then 712.1 is the applicable citation, not 723.1.

Cheers, Wayne

 

[wwhitney]

After a deeper read I think part I vs. part II is not inside vs. outside. Part I is titled "Drainage Systems" which is defined in chapter 2 as:

I agree that Part I has requirements both within the footprint of the building and outside of it, while Part II applies only outside the footprint of the building. Part I often has different requirements for "Underground DWV" than it does for "Building Sewer," see for example Table 701.2. I take "Underground DWV" to be within the footprint of the building. So I think when 712.1 refers to "The piping of the plumbing, drainage, and venting systems" it is excluding the building sewer, which is covered by 723.1. Not 100% sure, though.

Cheers, Wayne

 

[Beniah Naylor]

That is crazy high PSI...

Are there any plastic pipe manufacturers that permit air-testing their products?

Here is what Charlotte Pipe thinks about air testing...