Our SVP!

Soil Vent Pipes or SVPs to their friends; You may not know much about them, but thats because they are the unsung hero of Sanitary pipework.

You may be wondering 'What purpose does a soil vent pipe serve?', you may even be wondering 'How does a soil vent pipe affect me in my day to day life?'

Well let me put your mind at ease. According to: http://www.homesurveyor.net/Glossary/glossary.html, a soil vent pipe can be defined as 'A vertical wide pipe into which toilet and other waste appliances discharge which is ventilated at its upper end to prevent syphonage.' This basically means that the waste from your WC is taken out of your house through the SVP and down into the sewers and away to be treated.

As the waste is leaving your house it passes through a trap which means that once it is beyond this point the odour and gases from the waste will not be able to re enter your property. This is a nice touch from SVP as no one wants odorous gases wafting through the house.

There are three different types of SVP: Cast Iron, Plastic and Asbestos. If you wish to identify which one of the three your SVP is then this can be achieved in the extremely scientific way of erm...tapping it. If it emmits a 'hollow' sound then it is probably plastic. Cast iron and Asbestos are relatively similar to each other in sound and so it is important to listen carefully. Cast iron gives a metallic slightly shrill noise while asbestos is slightly duller and denser sounding.

If it transpires that your SVP is made out of asbestos then don't worry just yet. Asbestos is only a hazardous substance when provoked, so be careful not to crack the pipework. If it is in need of decoration, it would be unwise to sand the old layer of paint off before repainting as this would cause the dangerous particles in the asbestos to be transmitted into the air. It may be sensible to hire a specialist contractor to remove a defective asbestos SVP before intalling a modern plastic pipe.

Soil Vent Pipes should be capped so as to prevent things falling or climbing into the pipe and potentially blocking it. Birds are a common cause of blocked pipes.

So here's to our friend the Soil Vent Pipe. Keep up the good work.