SA Affordable Housing March - April 2020 // ISSUE: 81 | Page 9

NEWS It is a date that has been fixed on the calendars of the world plumbing community since its establishment by the World Plumbing Council in 2010 and is now a fixture on the calendars of political and social institutions around the globe. The international plumbing community, as represented by the Council, has a vital role in promoting the link between good quality plumbing, health, environmental sustainability and, increasingly, economic prosperity. March 11 is marked by celebrations, competitions, seminars, and activities all around the world. People from within and outside the plumbing fraternity come together to learn, share knowledge, build connections and find opportunities to collaborate to improve the quality of, and access to, fresh water and safe sanitation. There are now hundreds of annual World Plumbing Day events, promoting the link between good plumbing sanitation and human and environmental health. Brendan Reynolds, executive director of IOPSA says that this is a day when plumbers throughout the country traditionally host individual initiatives within their communities. “At the very least they will typically go clean up a park, river or beach, depending on their location.” www.saaffordablehousing.co.za DIEPSLOOT AND WORLD PLUMBING DAY 2020 Jennifer van den Bussche, Director, Sticky Situations, A delighted resident who no longer has to wait so long to do her ‘business’. explains the current state of a key World Plumbing Day initiative: “For ten years a community-based organisation - WASSUP (Water Amenities, Sanitation Services Upgrading Programme) has been repairing communal toilets, taps and drains in Extension 1 of Diepsloot. 1 billion litres of water loss per “This part of Diepsloot has year) – but thanks to their hard 642 flushing toilet units (each work the water loss is far lower. has one tap and one drain), 25 The unquantified data is of 000 registered shacks (a course the reduced leaking conservative figure sewage and increased dignity considering it does not for families who have to share include the shacks in between) the communal facilities,” says – that’s 39 households per Van den Bussche. toilet unit – or according to “Funding is always a challenge, ex y ec census figures around 128 people so the team launched an ‘Adopt-a- ut o b iv e ot per toilet. h Toilet’ programme in late 2019, where P d ire c to r of I O P S A. “No wonder the toilets regularly people can adopt one toilet for one year break as these public toilets are rarely for USD100. So far, they have raised enough maintained. WASSUP’s work has proven that each to keep 35 toilets in working condition until November toilet loses around 4 000ℓ/day of water per toilet (that’s 2020.” MARCH - APRIL 2020 7 March 11 is World Plumbing Day