You know the worth of good plumbing only when you have a problem. Right through history, it has been good plumbing including the supply of good water and the drainage of waste-water that has saved more lives than any other human intervention.
A sector much under-rated, even in the construction industry, there is perhaps no more important one for health and public hygiene as plumbing. Thankfully, slowly but surely the sector is getting organised under the banner of Indian Plumbing Association (www.indianplumbing.org)
At the heart of the matter lies the need to professionalise services, build skills and capacities, improve the quality of materials, assist in better design and finally develop national codes so that discipline is brought into the sector and consumers gain, never having to worry about leaking pipes and back-flowing toilets.
To help professionals in the design field as well as laypersons understand what good plumbing design is all about, the Indian Plumbing Association has brought out an excellent book called ‘A guide to Good Plumbing Practices’.
In simple language and with plenty of illustrations, the book explains how to go about designing and implementing a good system. Starting with the definition of plumbing itself, “the service that provides safe potable water at adequate pressures and quantities at desired locations within living spaces and carrying waste matter in a hygienic manner, can broadly be termed as the practical meaning of the word ‘plumbing’ in the context of a developing nation like India.”
Sea changeThere has been a sea change in the nature of construction in India itself, especially over the last two decades, with the coming of multi-storeyed buildings, large apartment complexes and urbanisation. The sector has seen an explosion in the materials available from simple items like taps, flushes and pipes to waterless urinals.
Water as a resource itself now has multiple sources, be it groundwater, piped water, water from tankers, rainwater or even recycled waste-water. The guide takes you through all these sources, mentions how rainwater should be harvested, should be stored and the purpose that it should be used for.
A simple layout of an ideal toilet, the zoning into wet and dry areas and how they should be kept separate, how water should be supplied and how waste-water should be taken away, the book assumes no level of high expertise to read it.
The use of water-efficient fixtures is highlighted, which is very important for a water-scarce nation like India. A special chapter is devoted to retrofitting of plumbing systems where, for example, there are problems with old technologies or there is a need to upgrade to the newer choices available.
One of the best things about the guide is a special chapter devoted to the need of the differently-abled. A much neglected design intervention especially in public spaces and institutional buildings, this guide will help make access to washrooms universal if the designs are incorporated.
This guide is highly recommended for educational institutions teaching architecture, civil engineering, design or interior design. For practising architects, especially those who are starting in the field, this is a must have. Of course plumbing designers will need the guide but even those interested in knowing what good plumbing is all about should get a copy from the website mentioned earlier.
Knowing good plumbing is to be waterwise.
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