World Plumbing Council Report
ZVSHK Bathroom Design for All
On 14 March, the German Sanitation, Heating and Air Conditioning Association (ZVHSK) awarded its ‘Bathroom Design for All’ product award to five prize-winners at the international ISH 2013 trade fair in Frankfurt, Germany. Günther Hoffmann, department director at the BMVBS Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development, representing the minister and patron of the award Dr Peter Ramsauer, attended the award ceremony.
Manfred Stather, president of ZVSHK, was delighted with the results of the competition. “The response has far exceeded our expectations. 55 product submissions from Germany, Austria, Denmark, Italy, Brazil and Japan show that manufacturers all over the world have recognised the market potential of developing attractive bathroom products according to the principles of Design for All”.
The five ZVSHK ‘Bathroom Design for All’ awards, judged by an international panel of experts, went to: FSB for A-Flex, a flexible wall-mounting system for drop-down support rails and foldaway shower seats; Hansgrohe for ShowerSelect, a highly intuitive-to-use shower thermostat; HEWI for its Comfort and Care washbasin, featuring integral cut-outs that can serve as hand grips and supports for added safety; HSK for its Walk In Easy Comfort shower enclosure which unites design aspects with comfort and safety; Keramag for 4Bambini child-friendly washbasin system.
The five award winners were selected from 25 nominated products spanning almost the entire range of bathroom products: from well-designed, high-quality bathroom furniture and fitting elements to tap fittings and mounting systems developed in conjunction with end users to optimise their suitability and ease of use. Building on this year’s success, ZVSHK intends to run the Product Award competition again at ISH in 2015, and to promote it as a key aspect of the ZVSHK’s ongoing activities in the field of Bathroom Design for All. In future, the aim is to link the competition with an associated scientific project, and to broaden its international reputation by establishing further collaborations with institutions abroad.
A clean start
Hygienic toilet facilities help villagers in northern Vietnam to achieve good health, privacy and a clean environment.
“My family has lived here for over 25 years but we only just built a proper toilet three months ago,” says Hien, a farmer from the north of Vietnam. “My wife and I spent close to a week completing the work. We should have made the toilet long ago.” Prior to constructing their new toilet, a makeshift pit in the corner of the yard was the only option for Hien’s family when nature called.
Hien decided to build their new toilet after he and other members of his village participated in a water and sanitation group discussion facilitated by World Vision with the support of StarKids. “Our eyes were opened to see the detrimental effects that unhygienic water and sanitation practices have had on our health,” he says. “I was one of the first to register to construct a new toilet for my family.”
“Only four families had a proper toilet when World Vision first arrived in our village,” recalls Cu, the leader of Hien’s village. Now, six months from the day that the village participated in the water and sanitation discussions, 82 families have made themselves a hygienic toilet. We continue to encourage the remainder to make their own toilets with support from our village water and sanitation team.”
In addition to assisting community members to construct hygienic toilet facilities, the World Vision water, sanitation and hygiene project in Hien’s village also strengthens water and sanitation networks, training them to raise awareness on the importance of clean water and sanitation.
Calendars with picture messages about water and sanitation have been distributed to every family in the village as a daily reminder about good hygiene practices that protect the environment and water sources.
For Hien’s 14 year old daughter, Phuong water and sanitation improvements in her village have made a world of difference. I felt really scared and uncomfortable to use our previous toilet, especially at night and on rainy days,” recalls Phuong.
“Now I can tell my friends that my family has a hygienic toilet. Through the water and sanitation training I’ve gained from my teachers and shared with friends at school, I’ve also learned how to practise good personal hygiene and protect the environment.”
The World Plumbing Council joins project in Nepal
The WPC was very pleased to be able to support the WorldSkills Foundation and Healthabitat, an award winning Australian not-for-profit organization, working with a local Nepalese organization, the Community Health and Development Society (CHDS) as part of a Nepalese Village Sanitation Program, Nepal Sanitation Studio in January 2013.
The ‘Sanitation Studio’ was a week-long project in Dhulikhel village, Nepal, combining an experienced team of plumbers (including representatives from the World Plumbing Council, WorldSkills Foundation, Global Founding Partners IAPMO and RMIT University), with a team of Australian architecture students, working alongside community representatives to design and install new toilets, rainwater and biogas systems.
The key aim of the Sanitation Studio was to work with the existing skilled Nepalese Team to develop the design process and construction details of toilets to further improve health by the safe removal and treatment of human waste. In the words of Paul Phaleros of Healthabitat, “the studio was a great way to use the passion of young people, students, and also experienced people, an experienced plumbing team, to not to come over the top of a Nepalese Team, that have been building toilets for a few years now, but to actually improve the quality of all parts of the toilet. Also to improve the way we design them and to help the Nepalese team with the tools they can use to better work with local families and villages to design and build toilets.”
The Nepalese Village Sanitation project commenced in late 2006, with Healthabitat working with the villagers to plan the first stage of the sanitation phase, including discussions about design of the toilet buildings, using biogas digesters and/or septic tanks for waste management, the need for water, accessing supply and storage.
Since July 2007, a total of 58 toilets with either septic tank (38) or biogas (20) waste systems have been built in Bhattedande. Villagers have been instructed in toilet maintenance and regular hygiene including hand washing with soap. Two local women have been trained to inspect and report any faults with the toilets as part of the ongoing maintenance.
In 2011 the project moved into two more villages, Arubot and Dandegaun. A skilled team developed from the Bhattedande project, in coordination with the management of the CHDS team, leads the project in the next two villages. Each village develops a local management committee whose members are encouraged to participate in the activities of the project, some of whom have gained employment in the project.
Healthabitat works with the villagers to plan the first stage of the sanitation project which includes discussions about the design of the toilet buildings; using a biogas digester or septic tank for waste management; the need for water and collecting water from the toilet roof and storing the water in a tank for dip flushing and hand washing; making an agreement about how the partners will work together.
Villagers access water at 10 tap points located throughout the village. They gather water from these 10 taps twice a day when water is released from a header tank. They fill buckets and metal vessels and carry them back to their homes. The local plumber and construction coordinator work with Healthabitat to set up water quality testing. Water quality testing commenced and the local villagers are trained to complete the testing regularly over 12 months.
Water meters are also installed to measure average daily use from 3 of the 10 tap points located throughout the village. Plumbing repairs and modifications were commenced on the first day of the project. Since then, a reticulated water supply has been put into Bhattedande village. The project partners agree to start Stage 1 of the toilet building project by constructing only two toilets, one with a biogas and one with a septic waste disposal system.
The project is managed by CHDS Nepal, using local labour and materials. This ‘trial’ allows for all partners to gauge their ability to effectively work together, plus the villagers will have a chance to observe the process of construction, view the results, assess their appropriateness and apply any modifications if necessary for the continuation of the project.
Plumbing Association of Taiwan
During the ISH Trade Fair the World Plumbing Council, represented by director Rich Prospal and Secretariat Stuart Henry, took time to meet with members of the Plumbing Association of Taiwan. Jin Luo, Senior Director of IAPMO was instrumental in bringing the meeting together, initially with the association Chairman Mr. Wu Yih-Dar, and then with many of their manufacturing members who were also at ISH exhibiting their products and innovative technology.
The Chairman, Mr. Wu Yih-Dar had recently been elected along with his board of directors and is committed to growing the strength and strategic direction of their association. They plan to work on the success of their predecessors in bringing together government, academic organisations and industry to enhance the development of industry technology and innovation, enabling members to access resources, grow market share and increase their international competitiveness.
The Association has recently launched a number of training courses to benefit members including technical training and business management, along with a new generation of education, health and environmental seminars.
The World Plumbing Council wishes the Plumbing Association of Taiwan and its members all the best in its efforts to ensure the plumbing industry continues to flourish and supports the environmental sustainability of their region.
The New Geberit AquaClean Sela
The new WC complete solution from Geberit AquaClean is intended to be elegant yet also exude normality and calm. The precise surfaces and contours underline the overall aesthetics and user-friendliness. The WC is a welcome addition to the Geberit AquaClean family of products, and fits with almost any bathroom design, without obviously looking like a WC with shower function.
With this design, Matteo Thun has created a product that meets the requirement for pure design in the bathroom. This is also reflected in the name of the product: ‘Sela’ is the name of the source of the river Inn, which rises in the Engadine valley in the Swiss mountains. The Geberit AquaClean Sela embodies the freshness and cleansing power of Swiss mountain waters – fresh and clean in terms of function, and understated and calm in terms of design. It satisfies the requirement for pure design in the bathroom and the desire for the freshness that Geberit AquaClean provides.
The Geberit AquaClean Sela is outstanding in terms of both design and technology. Whereas conventional WC complete solutions with shower function tend to be quite cumbersome, Geberit has succeeded in integrating all the technology, as well as the connections for power and water supply, into the ceramic unit. The technology is housed in two installation and technical openings which provide the necessary space to accommodate the electricity and water connections as well as the water heater and functional unit. This is concealed by an elegant, flat housing mounting. This means that the Geberit AquaClean Sela is flatter and does not look immediately like a WC with integrated shower function. It is also much easier to install. Thanks to these openings, the installer can mount the ceramic unit on the wall and fit the connections from above.
10th World Plumbing Conference
The 10th World Plumbing Conference will be held in New Delhi India on 14-15 November 2013. There’s a lot to do in New Delhi including travel by train through the desert state of Rajasthan, explore the colourful town of Jaipur and Amber Fort before heading to Agra and the majesty of the Taj Mahal.
You can do that either before or after the conference, which is set to be one of the biggest yet.
Robert Burgon, immediate past WPC Chairman will be there as will two other Past Chairmen and you can guarantee that there will be a lot of discussion about global matters of plumbing importance.
Visit www.worldplumbing.org