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WPC: Community Plumbing Challenge
Community
Plumbing Challenge
2016 wrapped up
On 15 and 16 September 2016,
participants in the Community Plumbing
Challenge (the most recent of which
was held in July in Diepsloot, Gauteng)
showcased this event’s first three
challenges (also featured in previous
editions of Plumbing Africa) at the 2016
World Plumbing Council Conference in
Cape Town.
By Seán Kearney
The World Plumbing Council (WPC) Conference 2016 (WPC
2016) showcase presented the history of the Community
Plumbing Challenge (CPC) as a pilot Water Innovation
Challenge project, which had been introduced as part of the
Singapore International Water Week in 2014. The WorldSkills
Foundation facilitated this first edition before being transferred
to the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical
Officials (IAPMO) for a second, rebranded instalment in India
in November 2015. The original multidisciplinary team project
(Singapore 2014) explored a simulation of rainwater collection
and water pump installations for rural villages in Nepal and
Bangladesh; the second project (India 2015) looked at the
collaborative design and construction of new handwashing and
toilet facilities at a municipal school; while the third project
(South Africa 2016) delved into the collaborative design and
installation of communal toilet and water supply units across a
densely populated informal settlement.
At WPC 2016, all design submissions from the Singaporean, Indian
and South African CPC teams were shared against the exciting
backdrop of digital maps and monitoring data transmitted live from
the recent programme in Diepsloot. It also included an ongoing
skills demonstration, based on upgrading the same communal toilet
facilities that were the focus of CPC 2016. Over the course of the two
conference days, South African plumbing students Therlo Carolus
(Northlink College, Cape Town) and Ruan Truter (Boland College, Cape
Town) demonstrated a fit-out of the collaborative design solution
that had been developed by international CPC teams in Diepsloot
in July. Four toilet units, salvaged as part of the 2016 project, were
transported cross-country to be featured in this demonstration,
and their confronting nature within the context of the surrounding
conference drew many interested groups and individuals to the space.
“Why are these kind of toilets still around?” asked young plumbing
November 2016 Volume 22 I Number 9