| AX |
Access point |
Where the drain can be accessed |
| BT |
Buchan trap |
A device made from fireclay in a domestic sewer pipe to prevent vermin entering the pipe |
| Catch pit |
Catch pit |
A pit in a drainage system in which matter that might otherwise block a sewer is collected before it is removed |
| Cistern |
Cistern |
For catching and storing rain water |
| EYE |
Rodding eye |
A removable cover on the opening within a drain pipe that helps remove an obstruction by drain rods |
| FAI |
Fresh air inlet |
A line of pipe run from the house side of the main trap and opening into the outer air |
| FG |
Floor gully |
Acts as a drain in a floor to take the waste water to the main sewer |
| Foul drain |
Foul drain |
A drainpipe that carries off waste from a plumbing fixture |
| Foul sewer |
Foul sewer |
Designed to carry contaminated wastewater to a sewage works for treatment |
| FT |
Final test (date) |
Date final test of system carried out |
| GB or grease trap |
Grease box or trap |
Designed to intercept most greases and solids before they enter a wastewater disposal system |
| GLY, gully or GY |
Gully |
A point that water can enter the drainage system |
| IB |
Internal branch |
The point where a pipe branches and usually becomes individual to one owner |
| IE |
Inspection eye |
A pipe fitting equipped with a plug that can be removed to enable examination or cleaning |
| IT |
Interceptor trap |
A device in a domestic sewer pipe to prevent vermin entering the pipe |
| LT |
Liverpool trap |
A device in a domestic sewer pipe to prevent vermin entering the pipe |
| M / H or manhole |
Manhole |
The top opening to the sewage system |
| Ogee joint or O.G. |
Ogee joint |
Type of rigid pipe joint – may be used for surface water drains and sewers |
| Overflow |
Overflow pipe |
Allows water to escape from water storage tanks when the level is too high |
| PVC |
Polyvinyl chloride |
Material pipe made from Polyvinyl Chloride material |
| RE or rodding eye |
Rodding eye |
A pipe fitting with a removable plug which provides access for inspection or cleaning of the pipe run |
| RG |
Road gully |
Covered by a metal grid and usually found at the edge of a road, it is used to collect and drain water off the paved surface into a piped system or roadside ditch |
| RG |
Reversible gully trap |
A type of device in a domestic sewer pipe to prevent vermin entering the pipe |
| RG |
Rectangular gutter |
Part of the rainwater goods, rectangular in shape |
| RP |
Rodding pit |
A pipe fitting with a removable plug which provides access for inspection or cleaning of the pipe run |
| RW |
Rainwaste / water |
Part of the rainwater goods |
| Soakaway |
Soakaway |
Permeable ground suitably prepared to receive water |
| SHT |
Shaft |
Shaft |
| Silt trap |
Silt trap |
To isolate grit, silt or leaves in surface water before it enters rainwater drainage system |
| SLP |
Sea level pressure |
Plumbers must be aware of the atmospheric pressure to ensure that they avoid creating ‘negative’ pressure or vacuums within pipework systems |
| SP |
Soil pipe |
A sewage or waste-water pipe |
| Standpipe (SP) |
Standpipe |
Old tenements did not have plumbed mains water, there was a standpipe at the stair entrance |
| Surf.W. |
Surface water |
Rainwater that falls on the ground, on roofs and roads, pavements and paths |
| Surface water sewer |
Surface water sewer |
A sewer that takes rainwater that falls on ground, roads, roofs and paths |
| SW |
Storm Water |
Removes and disposes of water from the surface of a pavement |
| SVP, SWVP or VP |
Soil waste vent pipe |
Pipes that run vertically from the below ground drainage system to just above the roof gutter level, SVP vents smells and odours from the drainage system and allows air into the system |
| T |
Trap |
A device in a domestic sewer pipe to prevent vermin entering the pipe |
| T / E or TE |
Testing eye |
Plug that allows access to the inside of a pipe |
| Trap |
Trap |
A device in a domestic sewer pipe to prevent vermin entering the pipe |
| WC |
Water closet |
Toilet |
| WP |
Waste pipe |
Pipe that takes sink or bath waste water |
| WVP |
Waste and vent pipe |
A plumbing system with an oversized waste pipe that also serves as a vent pipe |
