John Lansing, US recipient of the WPC 2018 Education and Training Scholarship, has submitted his comprehension report A Comparison of British and American Plumbing Engineering Standards and Practices. The WPC scholarship provided Lansing the opportunity to engage with engineering societies in the United Kingdom during June of 2019, including the Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering (CIPHE) and the Society of Public Health Engineers (SoPHE), as well as consulting engineers, plumbers, and researchers at Heriot-Watt University studying water supply and drainage systems in buildings.
From the report:
Widespread adoption of sanitation technologies in the United Kingdom and United States in the 19th and early 20th century led to some of the first drafting of standards regarding the design and installation of plumbing systems. British and American plumbing methodologies have played an influential role in the development of plumbing standards and practices internationally, with many aspects developed in isolation, enabling contrasting comparisons to be made between the two systems. These comparisons may prove useful as plumbing design standards in both the US and UK face challenges revising traditional guidance to reflect modern building drainage system theory, water conservation measures, as well as other factors that impact the adaptability of plumbing systems to climate change mitigation measures. The specific comparisons made between national approaches are selective and focus on water supply and drainage systems while giving technical insight from past and present research. Key variations and similarities between the national and regional methodologies are featured to highlight how the discipline of plumbing engineering remains shaped by empirically derived practices from the last century.
Read the full report here: A Comparison of British and American Plumbing Engineering Standards and Practices (Lansing).