HEALTH AND SANITATION 35
Indoor water efficiency : Contains thoughtful flow rate and consumption requirements for plumbing fixtures and appliances that take both safety and water and energy efficiency into consideration . Alternate water sources : Progressive provisions for uses of Gray water generated from clothes washers in landscape irrigation . New requirements that reduce the cost of retrofitting Gray water systems in single family homes . Allows for the installation of rainwater catchment systems up to 5 000 gallons for non-potable uses without requiring inspections under certain conditions , reducing costs to owners .
If water efficiency is important to your community , please look into the 2017 IAPMO / ANSI WE • Stand for the latest provisions for attaining safe levels of efficiency in the built environment .
Here is what we have teed up for 2020 WE • Stand : Alternate water sources
• New requirements for black water treatment and uses .
• New requirements for stormwater treatment and uses .
• The safe reuse of commercial kitchen effluent
Net-zero water and waste
• Considerations for safely attaining net-zero water and waste performance in buildings .
Commercial food service
• Consideration of new water efficiency provisions for convenience stores ( e . g ., Slurpee machines )
• Food waste management – new biological and composting technologies
• RO efficiency markers for reject water .
Composting
• Informative appendix on the proper installation and maintenance of composting toilets
Installer qualifications
• New certification recommendations – helps ensure proper installation of water efficient technologies .
Premise water supply systems
• Efficient arrangement of plumbing fixtures – Compact Distribution Strategies – improves water and energy efficiency and water quality .
• Investigation into minimum and maximum water flow velocities in premise plumbing
• Appropriate uses and maximum length requirement for 3 / 8 ” diameter tubing
Sustainable drinking water treatment
• New references of industry standards addressing water treatment technologies .
Editor ’ s comment : Some years ago , the SABS , following a meeting of manufacturers invited by Plumbing Africa , undertook to look into the Water Efficiency Labelling System ( WELS ). The SABS attended the ISO WELS Meeting , with a technical advisor agreed upon by IOPSA and SABS and committed to establishing a WELS programme for SA . The Dept of Water & Sanitation had already earmarked a WELS programme for 2026 in their Master Plan . This was , therefore , not an industry ‘ thing ’ but government . Our concern was that we might have no potable water by then !
We urge the SABS to really run with this now . Having seen the Australian WELS equivalent , it seemed appropriate to reprint the IAPMO WE ( Water Efficiency ) one just to add more information . It is clear that South Africa must have its own WELS – of that there is no argument – but drawing from successful , tried and tested systems cannot do any harm . What the IAPMO one shows is that establishing such a scheme is not a once off , but an ongoing process . PA
May 2021 Volume 27 I Number 3 www . plumbingafrica . co . za