WATER DEMAND CALCULATOR STUDY
Stantec Architecture Inc. was commissioned by IAPMO to develop a prototype Single Family Residence plumbing plan, a 6-Unit Family Residence plumbing plan, and a 45 – Unit Family Residence plumbing plan in order to compare the cold and hot water sizing criteria associated with IAPMO’s – Water Demand Calculator (WDC) to the sizing methods contained within the Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC) the International Plumbing Code (IPC) and the International Residential Code (IRC).
- The plumbing industry has long recognized that building potable water systems in today’s buildings are oversized.
- This presents a growing health and safety concern, as problems associated with declining water quality, such as Legionella, have been steadily increasing in recent years and are strongly correlated to water aging due to longer water residence times in plumbing systems.
- Responding to this need, IAPMO initiated a project to develop the WDC to provide a new water supply sizing method that takes modern water usage patterns into account.