Plumbers urged to fight global water crisis…

Health professionals are calling on plumbers to take a more active role in tackling the humanitarian disaster caused by poor water supplies, which is gripping many parts of the developing world.

Over two million people die from water borne diseases every year and 80% of the four billion cases of diarrhoea are caused by poor sanitation. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has appealed to the plumbing industry to export its expertise to areas most at risk.

Speaking at last month’s World Plumbing Conference in Edinburgh, the WHO’s Bruce Gordon said that health practitioners had identified sanitation as the top medical milestone since 1840 – more important than the discovery of penicillin – but that it remained a relatively low priority for most governments and aid providers.

“Diarrhoea is the biggest single thing that the plumbing industry can do something about,” he told the conference, which attracted 360 delegates from all over the world. “Reacting to big outbreaks is incredibly expensive and difficult, so prevention is the key. Plumbers are on the front line of public health action.”

He said the WHO was in close dialogue with the World Plumbing Council (WPC) that organised the Edinburgh conference, which was hosted by the Scottish and Northern Ireland Plumbing Employers’ Federation (SNIPEF).

Contamination

“Unsafe plumbing is responsible for thousands of outbreaks of life threatening diseases,” said Bruce. “Cross-connections and backflow; as well as contamination of piped water from sewerage have been identified by the WHO as technical issues that can be rectified by skilled plumbers.”

Source: hpnmag.co.uk

Find out more on Energy Smart... For all your Plumbing Supplies and Cheap Boilers call today  0845 230 3320 or visit us online www.energy-smart.org.uk