Plumbing Africa October 2020 | Page 3

FITTING THOUGHT 1 Farewell and forward With much of the work in this issue being done by Eamonn Ryan who left Plumbing Africa at the end of July, it is fitting to acknowledge his contribution to the journal over the two years he was with IMD. Much success in the future Eamonn. Consequently, it falls to me to write this month’s Fitting Thought. Despite Covid-19 wreaking absolute havoc in the world, our thinner publications still bring our readers quality editorial and a quality publication that will assist them to grow their businesses and work better. As we move into Level 2 the responsibility rests fully with each of us to ensure social distancing (but not as an excuse to avoid face-to-face) regular handwashing, sanitising and adopting what became Covid-19 protocols, but are actually normal hygiene practices. Our feature revolves around Touchless fixtures and a case for legislating such fixtures in all public places, thus placing plumbing in total top of the developer’s/owner’s budget and not last. The project in this issue is a prime example of touchless fixtures in a commercial environment and no doubt the return on investment will pay off in the long run. One thing is for certain, consumers will be visiting the far more hygienic public places than those that care little for hygiene. Before I am reprimanded for the use of touchless instead of the more recent buzz word of ‘contactless,’ my research into this feature showed that touchless is still the description used by architects and engineers around the world. So, I am going with the flow! The point is that business opportunities exist for plumbing in this technology and would put one such business streets ahead of the competitors. Our usual contributors continue to add value with their experience, offering valuable insights to the young and older plumbers as standards and technology develops. Enjoy the read and feel free to let us have your thoughts on matters of concern to you as well as good things that happen. PA Rory Rory Macnamara, Editor [email protected] Twitter: @plumbingonline Facebook: @plumbingonline Linked-In: @PlumbingAfricaOnline October 2020 Volume 26 I Number 08 www.plumbingafrica.co.za