Ground Up Plumbing – St Francis Anoka Hennepin Credit Union.
If you’ve ever taken a shower and heard a toilet flush, you begin to understand that water system design is tricky. Do you know what happened when you got scalded in the shower? The toilet flush demanded a water flow of cold water only (unless you flush your toilet with hot water) which dropped the pressure in the cold water part of the water distribution system. As the pressure drops, the flow drops. On the hot water side, though, no flush, no pressure drop, no change in flow. So in the shower you get the same amount of hot water and less cold water…and that’s not good.
A well designed water system reduces this effect. When the pipes are sized correctly for the likely flows, the pressure drops of another use has a smaller effect. Of course, most plumbing Codes further protect the person in the shower by now requiring a temperature actuated mixing valve at the shower that prevents scalding.
Water system design, then, must account for water flows (in gallons per minute), pressure drop from friction in pipes and from elevation changes (in psi) and water velocity (in feet per minute). These varying factors, along with never knowing which combination of plumbing fixtures will require water at the same time makes the water system design complicated.
Project Description
Client: Anoka Hennepin Credit Union
Location: St. Francis, MN
Year Completed: 2014
Plumber: Dave & Elliot
New Construction of the St Francis Anoka Hennepin Credit Union.