PROJECT
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“Regarding the rainwater harvesting, this university
campus is very unique in that it has its own irrigation
supply servicing the dams on the property, the supply
of which is then used throughout the Lower Campus
(and future campuses) for irrigation,” Morck says.
“Now we have added the additional usage of supply
(via filtration) for toilet flushing to all of the buildings
with units numbering above 10 WCs — thereby saving
an effective 4.5ℓ per flush cost from the UMP utility bill
over time.”
PROJECT CHALLENGES
With a project of this magnitude, challenges are to be
expected. Deadlines, pressure from the community, and
student strikes were among the challenges that were
encountered during the project. The plumbing company
worked closely with a community liaison officer, who
assisted them in supporting the community as far
as possible.
Delays on orders, no stock, and discontinued products
also added to the challenges of the project. “There is
a lot of the specifications they’ve used that have been
discontinued,” Lusted explains. Other delays were
also experienced on stock specifications of the more
exclusive finishes, such as basin mixers for the vice
chancellor’s building.
In Lusted’s view, working closely with the building
contractor, Norse Projects, as well as the architect and
www.plumbingafrica.co.za
the wet services engineer, helped work through the
challenges in the best way possible. “We just worked
through it and made it happen,” Lusted says. 1.
IMPACT ON SUSTAINABILITY
AND ELECTRICAL USAGE
All buildings generating hot water, except
NBP001 where conventional geysers were used,
would be saving money by using heat pumps for hot
water generation (as opposed to the minimum 50%
SANS requirement). 3.
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4.
5.
A toilet in the
administration building.
Urinals in the
male toilets.
Handbasin in the
public toilets.
Geberit touch plate
in one of the
building’s toilets.
Heat pump for the
hot water.
With regard to sustainability, all buildings have been
designed to be as energy efficient as possible, within
reason, taking budgets into account.
Although the project is still ongoing, so far everything is
on track despite the various challenges that have been
experienced. On 12 May 2018, 237 students graduated
from the university — making them the first graduates
from UMP. More graduates are expected in future once
the university has been completed. PA
PROFESSIONAL TEAM
Main contractor Norse Projects
Plumbing contractor Lusted Plumbing
Wet services engineer Delca Systems
Project manager GladAfrica
June 2018 Volume 24 I Number 4