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soil

Soil is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Earth's body of soil, called the pedosphere, has four important functions:

as a medium for plant growth
as a means of water storage, supply and purification
as a modifier of Earth's atmosphere
as a habitat for organismsAll of these functions, in their turn, modify the soil and its properties.
Soil is also commonly referred to as earth or dirt; some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from soil by restricting the former term specifically to displaced soil.
The pedosphere interfaces with the lithosphere, the hydrosphere, the atmosphere, and the biosphere. The term pedolith, used commonly to refer to the soil, translates to ground stone in the sense fundamental stone, from the ancient Greek πέδον 'ground, earth'. Soil consists of a solid phase of minerals and organic matter (the soil matrix), as well as a porous phase that holds gases (the soil atmosphere) and water (the soil solution). Accordingly, soil scientists can envisage soils as a three-state system of solids, liquids, and gases.Soil is a product of several factors: the influence of climate, relief (elevation, orientation, and slope of terrain), organisms, and the soil's parent materials (original minerals) interacting over time. It continually undergoes development by way of numerous physical, chemical and biological processes, which include weathering with associated erosion. Given its complexity and strong internal connectedness, soil ecologists regard soil as an ecosystem.Most soils have a dry bulk density (density of soil taking into account voids when dry) between 1.1 and 1.6 g/cm3, while the soil particle density is much higher, in the range of 2.6 to 2.7 g/cm3. Little of the soil of planet Earth is older than the Pleistocene and none is older than the Cenozoic, although fossilized soils are preserved from as far back as the Archean.Soil science has two basic branches of study: edaphology and pedology. Edaphology studies the influence of soils on living things. Pedology focuses on the formation, description (morphology), and classification of soils in their natural environment. In engineering terms, soil is included in the broader concept of regolith, which also includes other loose material that lies above the bedrock, as can be found on the Moon and on other celestial objects.

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  1. S

    Fitting new soil pipe to access chamber

    Hi all. Not sure if it's a plumbers job or another trade but thought I'd ask. I am installing a new toilet downstairs next to an outside wall. There is a 3 way inspection/access chamber about 1.5 metres outside this point which I plan on going into. It has one inlet in use from the upstairs WC...
  2. S

    There are drips down through my house along the soil stack

    Hi, I live in a house that is 20yr old. There is a single soil stack running from the top floor (of three) through the first floor bathroom and then through the kitchen to the drains. A while back I started to hear a drip hitting the kitchen ceiling (now with some ceiling evidence too) from...
  3. L

    Soil pipe going outside.

    Hi, I've not posted for a while, not a plumber, but a keen DIYer who likes to try and do things without bodging if I can. Basically I'm wanting to create a cloakroom toilet in our utility room, theres already hot and cold feed so thats one job made slightly easier, thankfully. The problem I'm...
  4. M

    Clay to 110mm plastic soil pipe fitting

    Has anyone seen this fitting before clay to 110mm plastic
  5. C

    connecting to soil pipe

    Hi , i'm new to this forum & would like some advice , i have an upstairs bathroom & was wondering if i could put a cloackroom loo downstairs , my worry is how do i connect to the existing soil pipe , or is it possible to dig under where the new loo will be in case the soil pipe runs along the...
  6. M

    Soil pipe/fittings 110mm sizes!

    It's not every day I deal with 110mm soil pipes, therefore I do not have a selection of different fittings at hand to try what combination fits my needs. I have therefore been trying to locate on- line the actual sizes eg length of push-fit tee, spread of branch, before I can purchase the best...
  7. A

    Soil pipe connection?

    Fitting a new toilet onto this old cast soil pipe that only fits in about 2inches. It's coming through the wall at an angle and can't be changed because of an extension below. The new pan connector keeps dripping on a full flush any ideas on a solution other than silocone which the old one had...
  8. S

    Old Hunter soil pipe socket O-ring woes :(

    Hi all, Have got an old 60/70s PVC soil stack, the Toilet is going into a Hunter branded socket which has an old O-ring design (quite flat with 3 or 4 ribs on it). It's painted in a fetching pink/purple colour in the photo. Tried to revive it with some grease before inserting a short length of...
  9. T

    Non-Standard pipe connection - please help!

    Hi, I have an opening on the 'manifold' (I think that's what its called) on my soil pipe. It appears to be a non-standard size - about 51mm internally. I'm trying to connect a 40mm floplast solvent weld pipe, and can't find a boss adaptor that even nearly fits. I can't cut a new hole above...
  10. L

    Can the bottom section of this soil stack be turned?

    I'm a DIYer and have a problematic toilet setup to fix: The waste pipe was installed too high for waste to flow out from a standard toilet spigot, so I want to install a wall-hung toilet on a frame to get some extra height. To put it where I want it though, I'll need to rotate the bottom...
  11. M

    2 soil stacks 1 vent - will it work?

    Hi, I'm wondering if this is allowed or will work in the UK. We currently have all our waste water connecting to a single vented stack. The pipes from the toilets etc connect to the vertical stack via a horizontal pipe as you would expect. I'm about to renew all the soil pipes. We have 2 entry...
  12. I

    soil stack adaptor query

    Hi Oracles of all things plumbing, I have to replace a cast iron soil stack which is simple enough, done a few up here in Scotland, however, client wants to retain the 3" toilet waste as he does not want an enlarged hole making in a newly rendered wall, which 110 to 75mm fitting is best? trying...
  13. T

    Job in Leyton E10 - Cast Soil Stack Replacement

    I need a quote to replace a soil stack ( cast ) in Leyton e10. The stack is already in plastic at the bottom. There also needs to be amendment to branch to accomodate a change of position of the bathroom in the upstairs flat. BTW - this is one up/ one down flat arrangment. There is access to...
  14. D

    Soil pipe base - solution acceptable?

    Had a collapsed/cracked collar on the 90deg angled piece that my soil pipe sits in which is leaking water so has needed replacing. Access has been through the outside wall to inside as the soil pipe is internal and boxed in. Now I was expecting the plumber to fit a ‘rest bend’ but a 90 degree...
  15. B

    Soil pipe cross flow between sink and shower

    Attached is a ground floor picture of the soil pipe in our home. There was originally a toilet which has now been permanently capped off and you can also see a sink waste pipe attached. My plan is to drill out one of the 50mm sockets directly opposite the current sink waste for a new 40mm...
  16. jklondon

    Noisy Soil Stack - Any suggestions please

    We have a bathroom where drainage runs across the house to soil stack. After shower especially in night when there is high temperature difference between inside and out there is clicking noises that impacts our bedroom (1) and more annoyingly our 3rd olds room (2)! I am wondering what could be...
  17. W

    Soil vent - reduced pipe size

    Following a first-floor bathroom remodel done poorly by a plumber in our house a couple of years ago I have stripped everything out and I'm starting over and plan to install our original 'vision' carefully and properly. I found that the 110mm vent stack was terminated just below a hole in the...
  18. P

    How to connect to this soil pipe

    I took the boxing out from around this toilet yesterday to find this old style clay(?) or concerete (?) soil pipe. The existing toilet has a 90 deg spigot on the back but obviously the replacement is a nomal modern one. Can I just break the solid seal around the old spigot, whip it out and then...
  19. D

    Adding soil stub stack to existing branch external to internal detail

    Morning all, as always can never find an exact existing thread / discussion where I don't feel like I'm making one too many assumptions. Can I get a quick sense check on the below, always wanting to work 1 step ahead, eventually planning to add an en-suite to my existing loft conversion. Got...
  20. paul72

    Soil vent in bedroom!!!

    I currently undertake a plethora of jobs for a client and they have states that they have an unpleasant smell emanating from their bedroom. On inspection there is a box section with 2 circular vents on each side where the horrendous odour is coming from. It looks like during construction of the...
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