Installation Guide

103
INSTALLATION PROCEDURES
In any test, proper safety procedures and equipment
should be used, including personal protective equipment
such as protective eyewear and clothing. Installers
should always consider local conditions, codes and
regulations, manufacturer's installation instructions, and
architects'/engineers' specifications in any installation.
Testing with or use of compressed air or gas in PVC / ABS
/ CPVC pipe or fittings can result in explosive failures and
cause severe injury or death.
• NEVER test with or transport/store
compressed air or gas in PVC / ABS / CPVC
pipe or fittings.
• NEVER test PVC / ABS / CPVC pipe or
fittings with compressed air or gas, or air
over water boosters.
• ONLY use PVC / ABS / CPVC pipe or
fittings for water or approved chemicals.
• Refer to warnings in PPFA User Bulletin
4-80 and ASTM D 1785.
Testing and Inspection
Once the roughing-in is completed on a plastic piping system,
it is important to test and inspect all piping for leaks.
Concealed work should remain uncovered until the required
testismadeandapproved.Whentesting,thesystemshould
be properly restrained at all bends, changes of direction, and
the end of runs.
There are various types of procedures used for testing
installed plastic systems. However, a water or hydrostatic
test is a technically superior test method for inspecting
a completed plastic piping system installation and is the
testing procedure recommended by Charlotte Pipe. It is
also the most recommended test in most plumbing code
standards. The purpose of the test is to locate any leaks at
the joints and correct them prior to putting the system into
operation. Since it is important to be able to visually inspect
the joints, a water test should be conducted prior to closing
in the piping or backfilling of underground piping.
Testing DWV System
Water Test
The system should be properly restrained at all bends,
changes of direction, and the end of runs. To isolate each
floor or section being tested, test plugs are inserted through
test tees in the stack. All other openings should be plugged
or capped with test plugs or test caps.
WhentestingFoamCorepipe, alwaysuseexternalcapsto
eliminate the possibility of leakage through the foam core
layer of the pipe.
Fill the system to be tested with water at the highest point.
As water fills a vertical pipe it creates hydrostatic pressure.
The pressure increases as the height of the water in the
vertical pipe increases. Charlotte Pipe recommends testing
at 10 feet of hydrostatic pressure (4.3 pounds per square
inch.) Filling the system slowly should allow any air in the
system to escape as the water rises in the vertical pipe. All
entrapped air in the system should be expelled prior to the
beginning of the test. Failure to remove entrapped air may
give faulty test results.
Once the stack is lled to “ten feet of head,” a visual
inspection of the section being tested should be made to
check for leaks. If a leak is found, the joint must be cut
out and a new section installed. Once the system has been
successfully tested, it should be drained and the next section
prepared for testing.