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Project
<< Continued from page 29
Some Geberit urinals are
also set up on the tower.
Challenges
There were remarkably few issues when the system
was initially started up — only four leaks. These were
mostly on the pan connectors, as the fuse between the
HDPE and CAB was a huge challenge. “The installers
have never worked with CAB piping before and that was
in itself a challenge,” Da Silva explains. “It’s a bit of a
nightmare to work with as it is such a brittle plastic. When
you melt the plastic and pull it apart, it makes those
cobweb strings. Then it becomes a challenge not to get
those strings in the joints. On average, an HDPE joint on a
110mm pipe will take you about two minutes. Where on
the CAB, from smallest to biggest, you’re looking at about
five minutes for preparation and everything. So it takes a
lot longer. It’s a highly technical product to work with, but
Modern Plumbing pulled it off,” says Da Silva.
Automation and programming
Geberit programmed a home automation system
to control the tower, customising it for the tower so
everything can run off a standard tablet. There is still
some fine-tuning required on some of the scenarios, but
for the most part, impressively, everything just happens
with the touch of a button — down to certain lights
coming on to illuminate the section of the tower in use.
June 2017 Volume 23 I Number 4
www.plumbingafrica.co.za