Durgo valve position

[dobbslc]

I need some advice on the position of a Durgo valve (air admittance valve) in my bathroom.
I don't think I can hide the pipe upstand and valve in the toilet boxing so will I be ok to fit it in the cupboard about six metres away?
Do I even need one?
There another two toilets, sinks, showers etc going into the round pot outside, there's already a Durgo valve in the upstairs toilet.
Thanks.

 

[voipio]

Functionally, at least, provided that the cupboard is not hermetically sealed, and offers reasonably free air movement past closed cupboard doors, it should work OK. Otherwise, a cupboard vent would be required. The downside of keeping the vent in the cupboard, is the slightest leak back through the valve, into the cupboard, will create noticeable smells in the cupboard.

The Building Regulations don't seem to exclude cupboard mounting, They state that "Air admittance valves should be located in areas which have adequate ventilation, should be accessible for maintenance and should be removable to give access for clearance of blockages."

 

[Gareth J]

Wherever you put it, make sure it's accessible enough to service or cap off after it's been inspected and/or it then fails. I don't know if you can get ones that are more reliable than others but I swore a lot at our builders when I had to dismantle a cupboard, then work blind, around a corner to get at one that had failed and was making the place stink. I guess the builders had also failed to read the accessible part of the building regs.

After blanking off it relied on the stack of other connected loos I guess and has not been a problem.

 

[dobbslc]

This is why I'm wondering if I can get away without one.

 

[Gareth J]

This is why I'm wondering if I can get away without one.

I guess you could install everything but the valve and try it out. If you get issues (with water sucking out of the loo when others flush...?) then install. Or shorten and hide the cupboard riser if no issue.

 

[dobbslc]

Liking that idea

 

[addjunkie]

Our upstairs bathroom similar, no valve fitted, relies on others in the system. Very occasionally theres a smell from the shower drain…..still not sure if its the shower not used very often (two others) and water seal evaporating, or a slight over vacuum pulling water seal-out. Still trying after 10 years to figure it out, Im 62 so in about 25 years I'll give up worrying about it.

 

[gaz1]

I need some advice on the position of a Durgo valve (air admittance valve) in my bathroom.
I don't think I can hide the pipe upstand and valve in the toilet boxing so will I be ok to fit it in the cupboard about six metres away?
Do I even need one?
There another two toilets, sinks, showers etc going into the round pot outside, there's already a Durgo valve in the upstairs toilet.
Thanks.

no its too far away the best option for the valve fitted on is the last item on the run so if toilet is the last item you want a tee and then elbow and then valve

This is why I'm wondering if I can get away without one.

if you dont fit one stuff can self syphon rather well and that toilet can be sucked clean of water

Our upstairs bathroom similar, no valve fitted, relies on others in the system. Very occasionally theres a smell from the shower drain…..still not sure if its the shower not used very often (two others) and water seal evaporating, or a slight over vacuum pulling water seal-out. Still trying after 10 years to figure it out, Im 62 so in about 25 years I'll give up worrying about it.

check if you have antivacs on they do fail so they may need replacing

certain plumbing gets away with not fitting the valves as they have a sink connected with an antivac trap that slots in the top of the soil pipe some times this works and stops the toilet water being sucked out much lower than whats needed

 

[dobbslc]

Tell me more about these antivacs @gaz1

 

[Smallfry]

Boxed it in behind the bath panel on the tee that the soil pipe runs into. Been there twenty years with no problem.

Its there to prevent vacuum in a dead end, which is only really going to occur if the unmentionables are quite large or a nice bung of paper, wimmins things, baby wipes, embarrassingly soiled undergarments fill the diameter of the pipe. I dont think a vent elsewhere would stop this.

 

[dobbslc]

I better use 160mm pipe then...

 

[gaz1]

theres no need to use bigger pipes standared 4" is ample enough to use

as for telling you how antivac traps work they stop the flow of water within the drain pipes sucking all of the water out of the trap by letting in a little bit of air into the drainage system

toilets dont have an antivac on them as they need the flow of water to shift the crap out of the toilet and if no air is within the pipe then all of the water will be sucked out of the toilet pan trap
then you get a smelly room that toilet water trap is not there to stop rats from climbing into the house as many people might think
its there to stop the methane drain smell coming back into the house