DESIGN: DEAR MR PLUMBER
37
SA standard for
water conservation
Efforts are being made to produce a standard for water conservation. I
sincerely hope it will become a reality in the near future, as the water
situation in the country is in dire straits.
By Vollie Brink, Pr Eng
These efforts got me thinking about what we can do to
both save and use less water. I think everyone is famil-
iar with some of the proposals that have been made,
such as the brick in the cistern and washing a car using
a bucket of water instead of a hose. Should the Minister of Water and Sanitation not urgently
promulgate a revision of SANS 10400-XA that all pipes must
be marked in such a manner that the position of any pipe
must be detectable and such that it can be replaced and
fixed to lessen the occurrence of leaks?
One of the problems that was identified, is the leaking pipes
of the water supply authorities, which account for massive
water wastage and loss of income. My personal view is that
just as many massive water leakages occur in buildings and
in the reticulation on properties. All of those are feasible. The biggest problem with pipe
leakages is to locate the position of the piping. Where
necessary, pipe sleeves must be pro