Showerthought: That abandoned building on Gratiot taught me more about commercial plumbing than any course

Spent a Saturday pulling a backflow preventer out of a 1920s warehouse near Eastern Market and the old brass fittings showed me how real commercial systems were built, has anyone else found a weird spot that changed how you work?

3 comments

3 Comments

wadebailey1mo ago

Yeah, but did that old brass actually hold up when you tested it under modern pressure?

finleyl5516d ago

Tested some 1920s brass on a residential line last spring and yeah, @diana155 is right about the pressure rating thing lol. I swapped it out for a modern Watts before the city even showed up, felt like gambling enough just having it on there for a day.

diana1551mo ago

Look up Detroit Water and Sewerage Department code for commercial backflow. The 1920s brass you found was spec'd for a different pressure rating than what they require today. You might have gotten away with it on a Saturday inspection but that old fitting could fail under current line pressure. I've seen those vintage setups crack during winter freeze cycles. Just because it worked then doesn't mean it's safe now.