Advice Needed on Drain Pipe Material

Hey gang, I'm doing a little research on floor/trench drains. I'm being told that the first TWENTY feet of drain line must be cast iron, due to being in proximity to boiling water. Sounds ridiculous to me- I certainly don't have cast iron drain lines in my kitchen and the chance of any "boiling" wort making it out of the kettle, onto the floor, and into the drain seems rather small.

Any plumbing code experts out there? I couldn't find anything in the UPC.

call local plumbing inspector he will know and you won't have any complaints from him

Well that would take a lot of the fun out of reading the rambling digressions of drunken plumbers on hbt

I'd call the building department and talk to the plumbing inspector like hillybilly suggested. I just looked through the 2012 IPC (International Plumbing Code) and I didn't see anything about requiring cast iron pipe for floor drains, however it does reference ASME A112.6.3 which might have more information.

The code says the following about trench drains:

SECTION 412
FLOOR AND TRENCH DRAINS
412.1 Approval. Floor drains shall conform to ASME
A112.3.1, ASME A112.6.3 or CSA B79. Trench drains shall
comply with ASME A112.6.3.
412.2 Floor drains. Floor drains shall have removable strainers.
The floor drain shall be constructed so that the drain is
capable of being cleaned. Access shall be provided to the
drain inlet. Ready access shall be provided to floor drains.
Exception: Floor drains serving refrigerated display cases
shall be provided with access.
412.3 Size of floor drains. Floor drains shall have a drain
outlet not less than 2 inches (51 mm) in diameter.
412.4 Public laundries and central washing facilities. In
public coin-operated laundries and in the central washing
facilities of multiple-family dwellings, the rooms containing
automatic clothes washers shall be provided with floor drains
located to readily drain the entire floor area. Such drains shall
have a outlet of not less than 3 inches (76 mm) in diameter.

Thanks for the info! I can't get access to the ASMI code yet ( thanks a lot, internet) but from the snippets I can find it appears to deal with the drains themselves and perhaps particularly the screens and grates associated with them and not so much the twenty feet of pipe post-drain.
The same source also just told me that ABS hasn't been allowed in plumbing in "twenty years" when my state's adoption of the UPC specifically includes ABS pipe and fittings as being super-duper for DWV .
Reckin' I'll have to use my durned telephone instead of my internets. Appreciate the input, feel free to chime in with any more.

I've used PVC before for ten years and no problems. Making a new brew place now and ABS all the way.

Good luck,

Well no worries about PVC, that is very standard here. ABS is still plastic but a different compound. You have no problems running ABS (which I believe is rated for 180f) instead of something rated for boiling as far as your local authority goes?

Not sure about local codes?, I plan to dump wet waste into the lawn for watering-not into sewer line. Not sure if I have ever put boiling stuff into the brew drain before, but probably not, so ABS should work regardless of codes. I know dealing with codes can be extra work, especially if you're going to sell your house with the mods you make. I've been there and decided not to do that again (not every home buyer sees a nanobrewery in the garage as a good thing, LOL). Good idea to make it legal, hillhouse...

Good luck,

hillhousesawdustco said:

Well no worries about PVC, that is very standard here. ABS is still plastic but a different compound. You have no problems running ABS (which I believe is rated for 180f) instead of something rated for boiling as far as your local authority goes?

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