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Whole House Trap

= + =

FOR: Less fittings used, ...less [ initial ] cost, ...only one trap

to be addressed / concerned with.

AGAINST: Only one trap to protect the entire house from

sewer gasses.........If this trap becomes compromised, or loses

its seal, things "could" go wrong pretty quickly, and it could

be costly to repair if under a slab-on-grade foundation.

+ = +
 
Not required by code.

Last place a plumber can look to find a diamond ring the homeowners wife accidentally flushed down the toilet - true story. Keeps the sewer rats out of the plumbing system,the original intent of house traps. Assists in determining location of UG plumbing in house and to lateral.
 
I concur with Keystone the initial reason these came out were for the sewer rats--then they learned how to swim!! The intent is not one trap versus many as you would still have sewer gas coming thru fixtures thruout the entire building drainage system.
 
Remove 3 of these on older homes when I used to do construction work. There were traps on all fixtures inside creating a double trap system. They always created issues with proper flow and the sewer guys could never get threw them with thier snakes. My parents had back up every 4 years prior to outside trap being removed. No problems since, 15 years later.
 
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