Plumbing Systems

 Plumbing is by far one of the most important systems in our homes and buildings. In the United States water comes from two types of sources, municipal water plants, private on-sight wells, or rainwater harvested. With these two sources of indoor water, there are different types of water and they have specific uses. Portable water is water that has been deemed acceptable drinking water. Black water is waste water that contains sewage and this is not safe for any use indoor. Gray water is waste water from sinks, bathtubs, and washing machine



Plumbing is referred to as "the introduction and elimination of water and human by-products to and from a building" (Tucker page 155).  Plumbing systems can be broken down into two simple categories; water supply and water waste. Water supply systems are operated under pressure whereas water waste operates by gravity, which is where slopes in plumbing is needed. In the United States, toilet flushing takes up an average of 21% of residential water use, this has caused some discussion about how to create high-efficiency toilets to help cut back on water usage. For a toilet to be classified as "high-efficiency" it must use less than 1.28 gallons per flush. There are several types that fit under this category; low-flush toilets, dual-flushing toilets ,waterless urinals, and low-water urinals. 

Dual-flushing toilets are designed to flush according to its usage, if less water is required only one flush is used versus two. Waterless urinals have not been very well received as they can cause odors to form. Low-water urinals, however, do not have an odor issue and reduce water usage by 85%.  













Accessible Bathroom Designs 

ADA accessibility is a very large part of the interior design world, bathrooms are an area where special designs are used to meet these standards. These apply to spaces like public restrooms and a hotel room bathroom. These can also be implemented in private residencies when needed. Showers can provide issues for those with wheelchairs accommodations, shower and tub combos as well as shower stalls with a lip at the bottom can create problems. One of the images I found shows a shower stall that is flush with the bathroom floor, this allows for those with wheelchairs or those who have difficulty getting over the tubs or lip to easily access the shower. 


Handrails are another key component to ensuring a bathroom is safe for those with ADA accommodations. These are items that need to be placed in several areas of a bathroom; showers, besides the toilet, and by sinks. These help people maintain their balance and safety when in these spaces. 



Another item that is important in an ADA accessible bathroom is to ensure the sink/vanity accommodates for those in wheel chairs. If a vanity goes all the way to the floor, those in a wheelchair would run into the cabinets and not be able to wash their hands. Having the space below the sink be open so those in wheelchairs can fit underneath the sink to wash their hands is needed. The height of these sinks may also need to be lowered to allow for further accommodation. 



Comments

  1. Erica GonzalezOctober 30, 2021 at 10:53 AM

    Meaghan, I think you did a great job covering the information we read in Chapter 6 this week. I really enjoyed the examples you went over including accessible bathroom designs. It's important to think about the bathroom floor and how it transitions to the shower. If its flush, it allows for those with wheelchairs or those who have difficulty getting over the tubs or lip to easily access the shower. As designers its important to think about these obstacles for certain individuals and provide good designs to make their everyday lives better.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Emmaline DaveyOctober 30, 2021 at 6:54 PM

    I think you did a great job at summarizing the chapter information and you picked a great picture you show of what a low-flush toilet looks like. I also enjoyed how you went not specific parts of a bathroom that you could make ADA approved. You talked about the advantages of it and gave a basic but good photo of what you were talking about.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Professor VanderNoordaaNovember 3, 2021 at 4:24 PM

    Meaghan,
    Great summary of Chapter 6. I appreciate your discussion of the different types of water and their uses as well as high efficiency toilets. The three examples of Accessible bathroom design showed key attributes necessary for accessibility and ADA compliance. Well done 50/50 total points.

    ReplyDelete

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