Plumbing Africa July 2019 | Page 31

HEALTH AND SANITATION IAPMO is leading this effort to bring NSSS technology to countries such as the US and Canada. A committee with both US and Canadian stakeholders is preparing to bring the ISO 30500 standard to these respective countries as an American National Standard (ANS) and National Standard of Canada (NSC). States like Hawaii or other areas where the use of cesspools is of concern, or California where droughts are common, can benefit from this technology. Likewise, provinces in Canada can also derive benefit. Safe sanitation is something that IAPMO takes seriously and IAPMO feels privileged to be selected as the Accredited Standards Developer (ASD) by ANSI to introduce this technology to the US and Canada. LEAK DETECTION SYSTEMS As stated, there are areas where resources are scarce. Such scarcity does not only apply to underdeveloped nations but well-established, developed nations as well. There are areas in the US where safe and sanitary water is not a basic commodity. From California to New York, and around the globe, water is a resource that must be cherished and protected. A drop of water the size of grain of rice can be easily ignored or overlooked due to its local minimal effect. This miniscule drop multiplied numerous times around the globe now becomes a large body of water. This now becomes something that cannot be overlooked. IAPMO Codes and Standards is once again at the forefront tackling this issue. IAPMO has long published standards that address water-leaking detection products. Those standards are the IAPMO IGC 115 and IAPMO IGC 349, which are expected to become national standards soon (IAPMO Z1115 and Z1349). These standards are being used for the listing and certification of products designed to detect water leaks. Jurisdictions nationwide are already looking for the IGC 115 and IGC 349 mark for these products. 29 The water leak-detection technology listed to the IAPMO standards has the capability of letting the homeowner know if there is a water leak with the use of a smartphone. Aside from preserving resources, a homeowner will save money on their water bill and insurance companies can have peace of mind that water leaks will be detected prior to causing major damage to the structure. Aside from damage to the structure, leaks that are not properly fixed can cause mould to grow. IAPMO Codes and Standards prides itself as being the go-to-source for new and novel products. There are many plumbing technologies that began as an IAPMO standard and slowly became a normal part of our lives. Many innovators and manufactures have taken advantage of IAPMO’s services to ensure that their novel products find their way into the industry. As technology rapidly improves, IAPMO Codes and Standards is ready to meet the needs of the industry. CODE DEVELOPMENT The IAPMO codes provide consumers with safe and sanitary systems while, at the same time, allowing latitude for innovation and new technologies. The industry looks to IAPMO codes to address innovations or novel products. The Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC) introduced an appendix that provides a modern way of sizing water supply piping. The newly developed Water Demand Calculator (WDC) recognises that the world is now using lower flowrate fixtures. In many states, it is law to use low-flow fixtures. Due to the lower water demand, the existing water pipe sizing method used will typically lead to oversizing, which means more volume of water in the piping. The larger volume of water equates to longer waits for the hot water to come out of the shower. This also leads to more water waste. The UPC is the only code that takes all this into account with the Water Demand Calculator (WDC) in Appendix M. The WDC is the first update since Hunter’s 1940 Curves Do you have new products? Send us your product write-ups – it's free Send information to [email protected] www.plumbingafrica.co.za July 2019 Volume 25 I Number 5