| Plumbing Manifolds: Circuit Breakers for Water
Dana Bres
Industrial Revolution
The design of every home requires compromises among different and often competing goals: comfort, convenience, durability, energy consumption, maintenance, construction costs, appearance, strength, community acceptance, and resale value. Often consumers and developers make the trade-offs among these goals with incomplete information, increasing the risks and slowing the adoption of innovative products and processes. This slow diffusion negatively affects productivity, quality, performance, and value. This department of Cityscape presents, in graphic form, a few promising technological improvements to the U.S. housing stock. If you have an idea for a future department feature, send your diagram or photograph and a few well-chosen words to dana.b.bres@hud.gov.
This article reflects the views of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Over time, the status quo for distributing water in homes has been the use of pipes in decreasing sizes that branch out to water-using appliances in the home. The plumbing manifold, which acts like a circuit breaker for water, is a viable alternative to the status quo. The manifold saves money and natural resources.
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