| Both sides previous revision Previous revision Next revision | Previous revision |
| plum:plumbing [2026/03/10 12:42] – external edit 127.0.0.1 | plum:plumbing [2026/03/26 18:33] (current) – external edit 127.0.0.1 |
|---|
| # Plumbing | This topic is part of [[gt:buildings|Buildings & construction]] and [[gt:water|Water & sewage]]. |
| | ====== Plumbing ====== |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| ## What is plumbing? | ===== What is plumbing? ===== |
| |
| Plumbing is about installing and maintaining the infrastructure required for obtaining water, getting rid of sewage and waste water, heating water and central heating. It's one of the 'dark arts' of the building industry, but unlike electrics, there are a lot of plumbing jobs that you can do yourself, safely and legally. | Plumbing is about installing and maintaining the infrastructure required for obtaining water, getting rid of sewage and waste water, heating water and central heating. It's one of the 'dark arts' of the building industry, but unlike electrics, there are a lot of plumbing jobs that you can do yourself, safely and legally. |
| |
| |
| ## What are the benefits of plumbing? | ===== What are the benefits of plumbing? ===== |
| |
| Well if you want to install your own eco-friendly facilities such as [solar hot water](/watr/water), a back-boiler on a [wood stove](/wstov/wood_stoves), [rainwater harvesting](/watr/water), greywater recycling, a [wind pump](/wipm/wind_pumps) or a [ram pump](/hram/hydraulic_ram_pumps), you're going to need some basic plumbing skills. Those skills will also be handy in maintaining the hot and cold water systems (as well as the central heating) in your house. You can become more self-sufficient, and your knowledge will be very useful in just understanding your systems, and whether they're working properly or efficiently. You may even think about taking up plumbing as a career (people will always need plumbers). | Well if you want to install your own eco-friendly facilities such as [solar hot water](/watr/water), a back-boiler on a [wood stove](/wstov/wood_stoves), [rainwater harvesting](/watr/water), greywater recycling, a [wind pump](/wipm/wind_pumps) or a [ram pump](/hram/hydraulic_ram_pumps), you're going to need some basic plumbing skills. Those skills will also be handy in maintaining the hot and cold water systems (as well as the central heating) in your house. You can become more self-sufficient, and your knowledge will be very useful in just understanding your systems, and whether they're working properly or efficiently. You may even think about taking up plumbing as a career (people will always need plumbers). |
| |
| |
| ## What can I do? | ===== What can I do? ===== |
| |
| First learn how the plumbing in your house works. There's a lot of basic information in books and online these days, and it's a good idea to read up before diving in (see resources). Get a good reference book. The best we've come across is Treloar's _Plumbing_, which covers everything you need to know about household water, sewage and heating in the UK. Build up a toolkit and find out where your stop cocks are in case of emergency. For practical experience, hang out with someone who knows what they're doing, or attend a course. | First learn how the plumbing in your house works. There's a lot of basic information in books and online these days, and it's a good idea to read up before diving in (see resources). Get a good reference book. The best we've come across is Treloar's _Plumbing_, which covers everything you need to know about household water, sewage and heating in the UK. Build up a toolkit and find out where your stop cocks are in case of emergency. For practical experience, hang out with someone who knows what they're doing, or attend a course. |
| |
| |
| ## Further resources | ===== Forum ===== |
| | |
| | This topic belongs to the section [[gt:buildings|Buildings & construction]]. You can ask questions or add information on the corresponding [Forum section](https://forum.growingthecommons.org/t/buildings). |
| | |
| | It is also in the section [[gt:water|Water & sewage]] (Forum: [Water & sewage](https://forum.growingthecommons.org/t/water)). |
| | |
| | ===== Further resources ===== |
| |
| - [Association of Plumbing & Heating Contractors](https://aphc.co.uk/find-an-aphc-member/) - find a local plumber | - [Association of Plumbing & Heating Contractors](https://aphc.co.uk/find-an-aphc-member/) - find a local plumber |
| |
| |
| | |
| | ===== Related topics ===== |
| | |
| | - [[watr:water|Low-impact water supply]] |
| | - [[sewg:sewage|Low-impact sewage treatment]] |
| | - [[rain:Rainwater harvesting]] |
| | - [[sohw:Solar hot water]] |
| | - [[wlur:Waterless urinals]] |
| | - [[hram:Hydraulic ram pumps]] |
| | - [[wipm:Wind pumps]] |
| | - [[heat:Heat pumps]] |
| | - [[sept:Septic_tanks|Septic tanks & drainage fields]] |
| | - [[biom:Biomass boilers]] |
| | - [[diys:DIY]] |
| |
| |
| ## Related topics | |
| |
| |
| ## Specialist curators of this topic | ===== Specialist curators of this topic ===== |
| |