World Plumbing Day – 11 March

Did you know that there is a day dedicated to plumbing every year? It always takes place on 11 March and is celebrated worldwide. You might wonder why this day has been started and what happens on this day?

 

Regardless of whether you have a reliable plumber or have found it difficult to find one in the past, this day is all about water supplies and public health.

 

In the UK

This year the Royal Society for Public Health is organising a conference which will cover topics relating to health and water. The conference is aimed at environmental health officers to consider how important water and good quality plumbing is to public health. Legionnaire’s disease and hospital infections are two problems that we need to address and these can both be associated with water supplies.

 

You can imagine how big the problem of clean water is in many other parts of the world if it is something that we still need to address.

 

World Plumbing Council

Initiated by the World Plumbing Council, World Plumbing Day is to raise awareness about the important role plumbing plays in health around the world.

 

Although the World Plumbing Council works with many countries and organisations such as the World Health Organisation to promote the benefits of safe plumbing, it felt this special day was necessary. It gives everyone a chance to reflect on how important plumbing is to our health and how things might be improved for people in the developing world.

 

Now countries around the world – in North and South America, the UK, Germany, China, India, Canada – celebrate International World Plumbing Day.

 

Conserving water

This special day also brings up concerns for our water supply which like many of our sources of energy faces a shortage.

 

So it is a good time to look at new developments and technologies working to make our water and energy supplies more sustainable. These range from desalination processes for salt water to recycling water which includes rainwater harvesting, grey water and sewage water.

 

The plumbing industry is developing ways of making rainwater harvesting viable and there are already several appliances on the market that recycle ‘grey’ water i.e. water from the sink or shower to flush toilets, many of which we have written about in our blogs.

 

Recycling sewage water is all about filtration and treatment before returning the water from our waste can be returned to the water table. Here we are right back to the beginning of this article about the importance of plumbing to protect our and our environment’s health.

 

Many new developments help us to limit the use of water too with modern, double-flush toilets and other devices. Add this to natural energy sources and you can see that slowly the industry is getting greener.

 

What can we do?

So this year make sure you think about how you can conserve water in all you do and keep your plumbing in good condition. Remember to wash your hands after you use the toilet at home or when you are out. If you don’t have one already, invest in a double-flush toilet.