Orangeburg pipe is a type of home sewer pipe used in many properties built from 1945 to 1972. Also known as “no-corrode” pipe, Orangeburg is a type of bituminized fiber pipe made from a mixture of hot pitch and wood pulp.
Understanding Orangeburg Pipes
Orangeburg pipes, also known as bituminous fiber pipes, were widely used as sewer pipes in the United States during and after World War II, especially from the 1940s to the early 1970s. These pipes were made from layers of wood pulp impregnated with coal tar pitch.
There are three main types of sewer systems: Sanitary sewers, stormwater sewers and combined sewers. Some households are attached to septic systems, but these systems do not attach to offsite sewer systems.
Cast Iron Sewer Pipes: These were installed most often between the 50's and 70's and will last 75-100 years in most residential applications, so you can expect your 1950 Cast Iron Pipe to fail as early as the year 2025.
Your sanitary sewer lateral is the pipe that carries your wastewater from your home (toilets, sinks, showers, laundry, floor drains, etc.) to the public sanitary sewer main that is typically in the street. Just like roofs and driveways, maintaining a lateral is the homeowners' responsibility.
Main drains are located in the walls and floors of your home, while sewer line drains are located outside underground. Each drain pipe in your home is connected to a different household fixture on one end, including toilets, sinks and bathtubs, and the other end is connected to the main sewer line.
A manhole (utility hole, maintenance hole, or sewer hole) is an opening to a confined space such as a shaft, utility vault, or large vessel. Manholes, typically protected by a manhole cover, are often used as an access point for an underground public utility, allowing inspection, maintenance, and system upgrades.
Polybutylene pipe was commonly used from 1978 – 1995 and is a gray flexible pipe. PEX is a plastic flexible pipe that comes in white, blue, orange, red and a translucent milky white clear. This piping came about to replace polybutylene plumbing.
PVC is unarguably the easiest sewer line pipe material to handle. The extremely smooth surface inside the pipe allows solids and liquids to pass without forming clogs. PVC pipes can work for most residential and commercial applications. They are more versatile because they come in diverse shapes and sizes.
If your home was built before the 1960s, there is a chance that it contains galvanized piping. This material is constructed of steel coated with zinc to keep it from rusting. Galvanized pipes start to fail as their zinc coating erodes, allowing the interior walls to rust, corrode, and develop calcium deposits.
What is a main line? Simply put, your mainline is your sewer line. And all your drains connect to your main line. Your main line is also the line that goes from your house to the city connection or your septic tank.
In the late 1950s and into the 1970s, cast iron and transite, an asbestos-cement combination material, was used. In the late 1950s, orangeburg pipe, also called fiber conduit, was also used. This was made from pitch and wood pulp layered together. In the late 1970s and still used today is plastic PVC or ABS pipe.
What kind of plumbing pipes were used in the 70s? Plastic. Plastic plumbing pipes in the form of ABS and PVC became widely used in residential construction in the 1970s.
PVC pipes are white or light-colored and made of a plastic called polyvinyl chloride. They're most commonly used for plumbing and drainage. PVC pipes are more flexible than ABS pipes, making them ideal for a wide range of applications.
Plastic (ABS and PVC) became the top choice for new sewer lines in the late 1960s and early 1970s due to its affordability, ease of installation, and resistance to root intrusion.
The line from the house to the sewer is called the lateral line or just lateral for short. The line in the street is the sewer line and when two sewer lines connect to a single line that line is called a collector or a main line. If two main lines connect then the line they connect to is called a trunk line.
A soil pipe, also known as a soil vent pipe (SVP), is a vertical pipe that is used for the transportation of sewage into sewer systems. This could be from toilets, urinals and even bidets. It's also known amongst some as a soil stack pipe, stink pipe or drain waste vent.
Be aware that Schedule 80 PVC piping is also gray in color like PVC conduit piping, but Schedule 80 is a plumbing pipe, similar to the white Schedule 40 PVC piping. Therefore, Schedule 80 pipes should not be used as an electrical conduit.
Selling a house with polybutylene pipes can be challenging due to the known issues and potential risks associated with these outdated plumbing systems. Polybutylene pipes, used in residential construction from the 1970s to the mid-1990s, have a history of failure, causing leaks and significant water damage.
Polybutylene (often abbreviated as PB) is a form of plastic that was used in residential plumbing systems from 1978 to 1995. Some experts believe as many as 10 million homes were built with these pipes.
Can sewerage and sewage be used interchangeably? No! Sewerage and sewage are regularly used interchangeably, however, this is actually incorrect. Sewage refers to the waste that is discharged, whereas sewerage/sewers are the structure that the discharge goes into.
Fatbergs occur in sewer systems around the globe, in cities and smaller towns. An obstruction can be any type of rough surface capable of snagging debris.
Maintenance Hole Cover: In some regions, including California, “manholes” have officially been renamed “maintenance holes.” This terminology shift aims to make the vocabulary more gender-neutral and reflective of the broader range of people who work in utilities and maintenance roles.