The phrase “plumbing engineer” might sound like a fancy five-dollar term to use when “plumber” sounds too pedestrian. For example, if your annoying old 8th grade English teacher comes to visit and the toilet breaks, you might say something like, “Ouch! Sounds like it’s time to take advantage of some of the best handiwork from my local home engineer.” plumbing! Really, and such.”

Luckily, your boring eighth grade English teacher didn’t bring your fussy eleventh grade science teacher with her, because you’d be wrong.

You call in a plumber to fix a broken toilet, fix a leaky pipe, or unclog a stubborn drain. Plumbers are a vital component of the professional engineering community, but a plumber is not the same as a plumbing engineer.

So what is a plumbing engineer, you ask? The easiest way to make the distinction is to think of the plumbing engineer as the guy who designs the system, and the plumber as the guy who maintains it’s. You would call Jack the plumbing engineer to map out the hot and cold water system in the new house you are building; you’d call joe the plumber to fix it when a gasket wears out.

Plumbing engineering is related to design, planning, creation and execution. A plumbing engineer designs a piping system for a new building or a series of buildings, making sure that every pipe connection is solid and every delivery method efficient. He chooses the correct materials to ensure the system will last for years with minimal maintenance. If you get a top-notch plumbing engineer, you probably won’t need to call the plumber very often.

The Complete Building Design Guide, a comprehensive web-based information resource for contractors, designers, and architects, provides a good working definition of plumbing engineering:

The plumbing engineer is involved with overlapping systems in the mechanical, civil, and chemical engineering disciplines. The plumbing engineer is in a key position to influence a facility’s water efficiency, sustainable site, energy, fire protection, and pollution systems.

Plumbing engineers are qualified to oversee a wide range of public and private construction projects:

• When a new shopping center needs a stormwater management system, the engineering company designing the center would hand the job over to a plumbing engineer.
• A plumbing engineer might work closely with a fire protection engineer to make sure a new sprinkler system is working properly.
• An entire team of plumbing engineers could design a sewer system for a new housing development.