PRACTICES 33
33 ensuring they have clean water while wastewater is carried away .
David : So where did that journey take you in the early days of your career ?
Robert : So when I started out in Pretoria the guy I learnt from was named George Mashlangu , who has taught many other plumbers in the region . He was the one who taught me that you mustn ’ t just do what you do , you must understand why you are doing it . He didn ’ t just teach me about pipe sizing and how to fix a geyser , he taught me the knowledge behind what everybody sees . It kind of made me realise that , as I like to tell my apprentice , we are not just plumbers , we are water transfer scientists . It all comes down to how you are able to figure out a way for water to go from point A to B .
David : I ’ ve heard other plumbers compare the trade to being similar to being a doctor due to the fact that plumbers look after the health of the nation .
Robert : That ’ s true , but even doctors still need plumbers to bring them fresh , clean water in order to practice their work .
David : That ’ s very true . Are there any particular anecdotes from your time as a plumber ?
Robert : Yes , there was one project we took on about two years ago in 2021 where the client had a lot of issues with the building they were based in ; they had one shop on the top floor and then a basement level as well . All the water would flow down to the basement through the shop , which caused continuous problems with leaks and blockages . They called in various plumbers but they couldn ’ t get the issue resolved . I went into this project and had a look at it and I saw they had just been using PVC piping which kept getting dislodged and leaking everywhere . I took on some new piping I had never tried before – HDPE . I ’ d seen people use it and heard about it but I hadn ’ t as of yet physically tried it myself at that stage . This was a new challenge for me , and to make matters more interesting , we could only work at night due to the fact that the drainage went through a supermarket on the ground floor and we couldn ’ t work on the plumbing on the floor above while there were people below us . So because we weren ’ t allowed to work during the day , we worked through the night . Nonetheless , we completed the project successfully and when the engineers came through to sign off on the work they were stunned when I told them I had never done something like that – they said it was some of the best work they had seen , even compared with people who had been doing it for ten years or more . I still feel proud whenever I drive past that place , two years later and they still haven ’ t had any further issues .
David : As a maintenance plumber you ’ re often seeing someone else ’ s job they ’ ve previously done , so what ’ s the most unusual system you ’ ve come across in your experiences and had to fix ?
Robert : I think the weirdest thing I ’ ve seen as a plumber was when we were called out the one day to fix a client ’ s pipes . We chopped open the wall and we found that the previous guy had used empty silicone tubes as piping . He had cut off the end pieces and pushed them into one another to form a pipe , and now the problem with silicone is that most glues will not adhere to it correctly and so it was full of leaks . I think they must have got the project and then run short of a small piece of pipe and instead of going out and buying some he had hollowed out some silicone tubes and made pipes out of that .
David : A quick fix always leads to problems down the line . To close off , do you have any advice for apprentice plumbers out there ?
Robert : Firstly , ensure that when you are a fully qualified plumber you manage to get a good supplier , one thing I have learnt is that your plumbing supplier is one of the most important entities that will keep you in business . Also , when I interviewed the apprentice I have right now I said to him that the main thing about plumbing is to understand why you are doing something , so ask lots of questions . If you are installing a geyser or a pipeline , ask about the different aspects which go into those things . Ask enough questions so that when you get a challenging client you won ’ t have to turn around and say that you don ’ t know something . Every client thinks that their emergency is more urgent than anyone else ’ s problems and that ’ s an important thing for you to realise as an apprentice . You need to expand your knowledge and understanding in any way possible . Ask questions , do some research and read Plumbing Africa magazine ! My apprentice reads every issue . PA
April 2023 Volume 29 I Number 2 www . plumbingafrica . co . za