World Plumbing Day shines
Launched on short notice in October 2009, the world plumbing community did well to galvanise the industries in their respective regions to celebrate this new and important day.
“There are international days for all sorts of causes and their purpose is always about awareness raising,” WPC chairman, Robert Burgon says. “World Plumbing Day is no different and we simply want to make more and more people realise that plumbing is a significant industry and a major contributor to public health and the environment. This year we chose the theme Plumbing-Vital to Global Health with the intention being that we highlight just how much our industry contributes to both the health of our people and the health of our planet.”
The aim of WPD is to involve local communities to spread the word about the importance of plumbing and Robert feels this is the only way to bring about the required results.
“Our idea is that WPC members, and indeed any organisation or individual in the global plumbing industry, takes the opportunity to do something in their country or even their city as a way of alerting their fellow citizens to our industry. The more local activity there is, the more chance we have of the message being seen and understood.”
To bring awareness to the day, Robert listed a range of solutions that organisations could undertake to help fix the ongoing marketing and branding problems that the plumbing industry must deal with.
“Our dedicated website www.worldplumbingday.org listed some suggested activities which range from conferences, motions in Parliaments, letters to newspaper editors and talks in schools.”
Plans were developed and executed in countries including Australia, China and South Africa. In Robert’s home country, two prominent Scottish plumbers stood in a busy shopping street in Glasgow (Scotland’s largest city) with placards proclaiming the importance of plumbing. A motion was laid in the Scottish Parliament where a reception also took place addressed by prominent speakers including Professor John Swaffield.
Robert launched the first World Plumbing Day at a press conference in Beijing, China in conjunction with the ISH China exhibition, organised by WPC’s special industry partner Messe Frankfurt.
Dr Michael Peters, who is a member of the board of management of Messe Frankfurt, said of the initiative: “I can only congratulate the initiators of their idea of holding a World Plumbing Day and, therefore, of emphasising the importance of the plumbing industry in terms of health care and environmental protection. After all, ensuring an adequate supply of drinking water and hygienic conditions through suitable installations is a subject of worldwide relevance. And who could better draw public attention to the important role played by the sanitation, heating and air conditioning sector than the World Plumbing Council.”
Once proceedings were completed in Beijing, Robert flew to Australia for the World Plumbing Council meeting in which the representative countries discussed how they celebrated World Plumbing Day.
Here is a snapshot of events that took place around the world.
Australia
In Victoria, the Plumbing Industry Commission (PIC) pulled out all the stops, hosting six breakfasts across all regions of the State including Melbourne, Bendigo, Ballarat, Geelong, Shepparton and Traralgon.
Attended by over 300 practitioners, the Melbourne event also saw actor Shane Jacobson (aka Kenny) attend to talk about his role as Australia’s most famous plumber.
PIC general manager Shayne Le Combre called the event “a good start” and said it presented two opportunities.
1. Emphasise the link between fresh water access and sanitation and reflect on parts of the world where there is a lot to be done with sanitary conditions.
2. Recognise the role of plumbing practitioners and the importance of what they deliver.
Victoria also printed up t-shirts, drinking glasses, posters and made themselves available to local media and radio.
New South Wales took a slightly different, more political approach to Victoria by bringing the State government into the equation and trying to make them aware of the day. Master Plumbers NSW general manager Paul Naylor, who hosted the World Plumbing Council during their stay in Australia, spent time with the Planning Minister’s advisor spruiking the day and coming up with a Dorothy Dixer to be presented in Parliament. They also formulated a joint press release to go to media outlets.
Western Australia also received media coverage. Plumbers Licensing Board manager Phil Payne told one local newspaper, “The work of more than 5200 licensed plumbers in WA makes our lives easier, cleaner and greener.
“This day is all about raising awareness of the vital work licensed plumbers undertake in the community.
“It is crucial that consumers always use only licensed plumbers to ensure they are getting professional service and value for money from a trained and qualified tradesperson.”
In Queensland they celebrated with the official 2010 MPAQ launch of events, training and the new look Master Plumber magazine. In fact all Master Plumber organizations across the country had a hand in celebrations. Some events were bigger than others, but it was a good start and lays the foundations for further recognition in future.
Canada
Across the North American border, the Winter Olympics were taking much of the attention. However, notification was sent to the Prime Minister and each member of the plumbing community was sent a Happy Birthday WPD message.
China
In Beijing where WPD was launched, the WPC in conjunction with the Plumbing Facilities Committee of China Metal Structure Association and Messe Frankfurt organised a technical forum at which a number of distinguished speakers made presentations.
The event was held in conjunction with ISH and attracted 200 engineering students from the Technic, which was a mighty achievement and bodes well for the education of these students in future.
The event also made the national news program on television.
India
India was very busy in promoting WPD. Eleven chapters across the plumbing organisation in India had a meeting, inviting senior government officials along with members of the medical fraternity to discuss plumbing issues.
A special edition of Indian Plumbing Today was circulated along with 5,000 posters which made their way to construction sites across the country. 10,000 stickers were also printed and placed on cars and bikes.
A full page advertisement was placed in the socially conscious newspaper, The Hindu and one organisation placed huge banners across the city.
President of the Indian Plumbing Association Sudhakaran Nair commented that this was “a question of reaching out to people and making them aware.”
Sudhakaran also made the point with t-shirts bearing the WPD logo were also manufactured and that the logo was designed by young Indian graphic designer Anuja Khokhani of Ahmedabad. The logo illustrated the four key elements with which plumbing is associated: water, health, energy and environment. It is hoped that the logo will be used widely for future World Plumbing Days; drawing awareness to the fact that plumbing is far more important than many people think in both developed and developing countries.
New Zealand
A memorandum of understanding was created with the plumbing regulator to enhance strategic planning and collaboration moving forward.
South Africa
At the time World Plumbing Day was celebrated in South Africa, the tragedy of a gas cylinder explosion brought home the importance of safety in plumbing and plumbing maintenance. Fortunately the 11 people in the house were unharmed, but the industry in this country saw fit to try to turn the negative into a positive by holding events that pushed home the safety message.
Trinidad
Scott Fabres owns his own plumbing business, Plumbing Solutions, in the island nation of Trinidad, a country that is suffering severe water shortages. To promote WPD and the significance of plumbing, particularly in his own country, Scott gave an interview to the Trinidad Express newspaper.
Scott explained to the paper that World Plumbing Day is for the purpose of promoting better health worldwide explaining to people the relationship between good health and proper plumbing.
“Most people don’t understand the implications of not having clean water because they turn on their tap and there it is. Here we have people that complain over bit having water for two days or three days a week, but there are people that don’t have any water at all.”
Plumbing Solutions is in the process of becoming a member of the Council. Scott says, “We want to stop people from seeing the plumber as a nuisance that comes when there is a problem, dragging dirty tools through your home. The intention is to get the utilities here to join because there is a need to come together for the good of the industry and the people. We want to bring education on conservation of water and contamination.”
Plumbing Solutions hopes to spearhead a number of initiatives for 2011. One is a colouring competition for school children that will bring education about the industry to schools to ensure the future.
England and Wales
As Blane Judd, the chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering explained, the United Kingdom is thinking big.
Blane met with water suppliers in Hong Kong to discuss the issues and also launched an appeal to 100,000 plumbers to donate one pound each to erect a statue of an apprentice plumber at Cannon St Station, which has played a vital role in plumbing history.
The origin of the Fellowship of Plumbers is uncertain, but as early as 1365 the Fellowship working out of Canon Station was in a sufficiently strong position to prepare Ordinances which were presented to the Aldermen for their approval. The Ordinances indicated that it was the desire of the craftsmen that their work should be well done. The First Article provided that the plumber should submit himself to examination by the best and most skilful men in the trade in order that he might be certified so that “the trade might not be scandalised, or the commonalty damaged and deceived by folk who do not know their trade”.
Blane’s hope is that the statue will be unveiled in 2011. All who contribute to the statue being built will be recognized in a commemorative book.
Further to this, and in the immediate shadow of WPD, 50 branch chairmen from regions across England wrote to the local newspapers to garner good media exposure.
United States of America
The American Society of Sanitary Engineering’s (ASSE) Rich Prospal had members send out 10,000 press releases to media outlets. The ASSE with the help of IAPMO also tried to get a resolution passed in the Senate to recognise WPD. They hope to make this happen next year. The ASSE also created a postage stamp to recognise the day.
IAPMO’s Russ Chaney also made the point that in a big coup industry representatives were interviewed by CBS News in a story about the importance of managing natural resources.
Taking the lead from Scotland, the plumbing industry in the USA also approached school students to create posters. 200 posters were created and the students who created the best ones all received a WII.
It’s not just nations who have been involved either. US company Calculated Industries held a draw to give away three plumbing calculators specifically designed for plumbers. The PlumbingCalc Pro Flow and Dimensional Math Calculator are designed for those who install and maintain plumbing systems.
WPD is designed to create awareness that plumbing is not just about fixing pipes; it is plumbing as a whole of system solution that is the message being touted. World Plumbing Day is about the value of sanitation.
“I believe that in developed countries, effective sanitation is usually taken for granted (until something goes wrong),” Robert says. “In developing countries where there is often no effective sanitation, then there is a lack of awareness of just how significant even basic sanitation could be. We should never miss the chance, wherever we might be, to stress the importance of sanitation and the role which our industry plays in the design, installation and maintenance of such systems.”
Robert continues, “Our hope is that on World Plumbing Day, the world will come to realise that plumbing is essential in protecting both the health of our people and the health of our planet. Where countries have developed plumbing systems, the role of our industry is often taken for granted. In developing countries, many people have yet to discover the real difference that plumbing can make. WPC hopes that newspapers and all other forms of media will help many more people to understand that our industry is a key player in so many aspects of society.”
Robert was happy with the first World Plumbing Day, but is realistic that the aims will take time to achieve.
“We are delighted with the response to the first ever World Plumbing Day. Plumbing organisations in many countries used the Day as an opportunity to raise the profile of the industry. Apart from the official launch in Beijing, China (which captured the attention of the principal Chinese TV media), some 200 delegates attended a World Plumbing Day Technical Forum in that city. There were events throughout the world with Australia, India and USA being some of the most active countries. International days are all about raising awareness and I have no doubt that awareness of the health and environmental roles of the plumbing industry is greater now than it was prior to 11 March. However, we have a long way to go before it is generally accepted that good plumbing is directly linked to good health and to the environmental challenges facing the world. Much more needs to be done and we hope that World Plumbing Day 2011 will build on the success of this year.”