Testing Drain Lines

Does anyone know a good link that talks about testing drain lines? I searched and searched.....I just replaced all the cast iron with 4inch PVC, and I want to test all the connections. Any hints? I read use a 10ft column of water which creates ~ 10psi. In order to fill it up, I would need to fill up 16 feet up. Is that the best way?

Thanks,

Dan

GeronimoDF said:

Does anyone know a good link that talks about testing drain lines? I searched and searched.....I just replaced all the cast iron with 4inch PVC, and I want to test all the connections. Any hints? I read use a 10ft column of water which creates ~ 10psi. In order to fill it up, I would need to fill up 16 feet up. Is that the best way?

Thanks,

Dan

Click to expand...

That would be OK. In some towns we had to flood the system through the roof.
That put a 30' head on the pipe.

John

I think it depends on what code you use in NY. I would fill the all of the waste piping with water until it came out of the vents on the roof. The 10ft head of water results in around 5 lbs of pressure. The idea is to have at least a 10ft head of water over the HIGHEST joint in the system which would mean your last vent joint. Sometimes that's not possible so just filling the system with water through the roof should be adequate.

You can fill the system with air if it makes any easier or less mess. Just cap off all the outlets and adapt to a pressure guage on one outlet (just like a gas test).