An extensive range of fittings is available for joining pipes together and for connecting them to taps, cisterns and so on. Straight connectors, bends and tee junctions are most commonly used for joining pipes. In addition to these there are ‘tap’ connectors designed for fitting to male iron threads (taps and ball valves), ‘tank’ connectors which have two flanged surfaces for attaching to the side of a water storage cistern, and various adaptors for changing from iron or lead pipe to copper or stainless steel.
Fittings are also available which are designed to permit a reduction in pipe bore. Other, not so common ones, include drain-off cocks, stop ends, blanking off discs, swept tees, and obtuse bends. This is not a complete list of available fittings. Manufacturers issue catalogues of their fitting range and it is well worth acquiring a copy for reference purposes. For joining copper or stainless-steel pipe, two types of fitting can be used-compression and capillary