Economical drainage of high-rise buildings can be a tricky task to achieve, however the Sovent fittings from Geberit aim to do just that. Justin Felix reports.

Geberit Sovent, a single stack drainage system, was developed in 1959 by Fritz Sommer, a renowned vocational school director in Switzerland. The aim of the development was to substantially increase the performance of a soil and waste drainage system which would subsequently eliminate a separate vent stack and reduce the diameter of the stacks in multi-storey buildings. This specially formed branch fitting, which was originally patented by Geberit, reduces the pneumatic pressure fluctuations in stacks, preventing the siphonage of traps.

The end result is an innovative drainage system for multi-storey buildings that offers an economical and high-performance alternative to conventional – parallel vented – stack systems.

To show the benefits of the Geberit Sovent stack, a 10-storey hydraulic demonstrational and test tower was built in Bern, Switzerland. During the sixties and seventies, the system was furthermore tested in multi-storey buildings, privately and governmentally owned; installations in New York, Tokyo, Paris and Stockholm, and has received wide design code recognition as a result.

“Due to the impact of increased positive and negative forces associated with high rise construction stack work, a fully sealed system manufactured from a strong and flexible material is essential for this type of application,” Matthew Lloyd, Hydraulic Sales Engineer for Geberit, NSW explains.

“Cast iron had initially been the material of choice due to its ability to withstand these greater forces; however, Geberit as always, has been driving innovation in piping technology and recently introduced the next generation of the Sovent fitting.”
Today’s plumbers have the advantage of using the new High Power 110mm and 160mm Sovent fittings manufactured from High Density Polyethylene.

“Geberit’s Sovent stack is fully sealed ensuring a strong, flexible, light weight piping system that is easy to install in any high-rise application as has been the case with many Sovent projects in Australia. Some of which include: Sydney University Centre for Obesity, Meriton – Infinity Apartments, Evolve Apartments Jacksons Landing – Lend Lease and the Millennium Medical Institute at Westmead Hospital,” Matthew explains.

The Sovent system prevents hydraulic closures in the discharge stack caused by floor connections, thus enhancing the flow capacity of the discharge stack. At the same time, Sovent ensures a supply of air between branch discharge pipe and discharge stack, thus making it possible to dispense with parallel ventilation pipes. In addition, a partition prevents foam or splash water from entering the branch discharge pipe.

Geberit Sovent is a multi-junction fitting that maintains consistency in velocity speed while being compact in size. Some further unique characteristics include:

– Capable to meet loading capacities that are equivalent to a fully vented modified system with smaller stack size
– It is a fully sealed system that is able to withstand greater positive and negative forces of stack work
– Increases stack loading which future proof stack work load capacity
– Versatile branch joining possibilities
– Requires less space in vertical stacks
– Less venting
– WaterMark approved and complies with AS3500
– Greater flexibility in Hydraulic and Architectural design
– Onsite technical support team
– In-store product support specialists

“The economic benefits of the Geberit Sovent system become obvious when it is used in 5-storey buildings (or more) with the ability to extend branch lines up to 10m unvented. This reduces the additional labour cost and the extra pipe associated with standard venting installations to cope with high flow rates,” Matthew says.

Both the Geberit Sovent 110mm and 160mm fittings have up to 6 connection possibilities and the connections are sealed – allowing the installer to connect one or more connections as required. Prefabrication is also possible off site and is becoming increasingly common among plumbers.

“Installing the Geberit Sovent stack follows the same rules as the installation of conventional drainage systems. HDPE pipes and the Sovent fitting can be easily jointed using electroweld sleeve couplings and by butt welding. Geberit welders are available for hire or purchase from Reece plumbing stores and training is available on site or in the Geberit Sydney Training Centre, with those trained receiving a certificate of competency,” Matthew says.

With the Geberit Sovent fitting, Geberit offers an inexpensive and innovative alternative to the conventional design of drainage systems in high buildings – can you afford to look past it?

Geberit
www.geberit.com.au