Is a discharge pipe required for a TPR valve (Ontario)

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Gj55

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Just had a home inspection done (selling our house) and the inspection flagged there was no discharge pipe for the TPR valve. Do we need to have one installed, and if so, what should it cost? My reading of the Ontario plumbing Code seems to indicate it’s optional.

http://www.buildingcode.online/1119.html

Our tank is a 50-gallon gas. Installed about 2 years ago.

Thanks for any input.
 
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hj

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WHERE the discharge pipe ends up is optional, as long as it complies with the regulations, but the actual pipe is NOT optional, since a spraying valve could NEVER be safe during a discharge cycle.
 

Cacher_Chick

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All you need is a length of pipe that will terminate a few inches from the floor. This is perhaps the only application I would ever recommend using galvanized pipe.
 

Reach4

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Measure how long the distance is from that T+P valve. You could go to a hardware store or plumbing supply store and tell them you want a 3/4 inch galvanized pipe, threaded one end, and cut to the distance you measured minus maybe 2 inches. You can install it yourself, I would think.

Some places even allow CPVC, with a threaded adapter glued on, for that. Ask the hardware store what is normal for your area.

Or call the plumber. Quick and easy. There will be a minimum usually, so consider what else needs doing in the same trip.
 
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Jadnashua

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You hope that the valve never opens by itself. But, if it does, the water could be nearly boiling or the pressure could be excessive, or both. That's why you need a pipe to direct it down.

Many of those valves have threads on the outlet, so all you have to do is screw on an appropriately sized pipe. To seal the threaded connection, you should use some pipe dope or PTFE tape. The parts should cost less than about $20, and even if you need to buy a pipe wrench and some tape, it is likely to be way less than a plumber. It's a 5-minute, if that, job, if you can screw in a light-bulb, you can probably do it yourself. It should be tighter than you can get it by hand, which is why the pipe wrench, or you could use some slip-joint pipe pliers.
 

Dj2

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In my city it has to have a 3/4"metal pipe that leads to the outside, within 6" off grade.
 

Cjlambert

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Yes, it is required. I’m not sure what you could have read that would have indicated otherwise.

7.6.1.12 in the code.

150-300mm from pipe end to floor is what the code calls for in Ontario, and the rest of Canada as well.

Toronto only gets cold in the fall, winter and spring.
 

Jadnashua

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If there's a slow leak or periodic discharge, and the pipe is long enough and a portion of it is in frigid weather...ice could and likely would build up in it. Otherwise, yes, normally, the pipe is dry, and a discharge would likely be hot enough to make it to the end without freezing. If it's not sloped properly, that, too, could have some nasty end results.
 

Cacher_Chick

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Cacher, what difference does "cold" make? The pipe should NEVER have standing water in it.

I was thinking more about the sheet of ice in the yard.

I don't understand why anyplace would want to pipe it outside, because if it is being tripped for a valid reason, I would want to know it immediately. If it it dumping outside somewhere, most people would not pay it any attention at all.
 

hj

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It is piped outside so it does not cause damage in the house/building. Our code states that it MUST discharge where it does not cause damage or injury. AND, it must discharge DOWNWARDS, 6" to 12"above the ground, not through the wall as that one photo shows. Oh, wait, that is a plumbing VENT and has nothing to do with a T&P valve discharge.
 
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