Water Quality Management

Water Quality Management: Back to Basics

By Richie Paddick

Historically, plumbers were taught particular hand skills. Over time, the demands on our industry and an increasing reliance on technology have allowed plumbers to speed up and punch out more work in a day than we once might have. Press-fit copper fittings are an important example of this change. Whilst these advances improve productivity, they have deskilled our trade. There are times when our forgotten hand skills should be employed, to not only enhance the appearance of our pipework, but more importantly, to minimise the long-term detrimental effects of poor workmanship on water quality. Intrusion into main pipe from incorrectly fabricated tee.

From a water quality perspective, we need to think about the water from the inside of the water pipe. We need to ensure the internal bore is as smooth as possible, eliminating areas where the accumulation of particles can enable biofilm to grow. We also need to help the water flow in the intended direction by using sweeping connections where possible, particularly on hot water (and warm water) flow and return loops. Protrusions into water pipes, once considered unacceptable, are now becoming increasingly common. This is likely due to the demand for productivity over quality. Over the past 20 years, I have had conversations with plumbers who were engaged to replace water supply work on copper tube of all sizes up to 150mm. I would mention that all tee pieces should be fabricated saddle joints. Invariably I would find the joints, although very well fabricated, were not saddle joints but junctions. Upon talking with the plumbers, I found they were never taught the difference. After hearing the explanation and being shown how to fabricate these joints, the men all agreed they were superior and could understand their purpose, which is to ensure there was no intrusion into the main pipe. In a future article, we will look at the chemical and microbiological aspects of water to give a greater understanding of how quality workmanship is so important to maintaining a healthy water system. The following photographs demonstrate typical installations which have the potential to cause contamination of the water supply due to internal surface obstructions which can harbor bacteria and cause a high HCC reading.

Intrusion into hot water return loop.

Richie Paddick

Richie Paddick has 42 years’ industry experience and is the Licensed Plumbing Contractor at Osborne Park Hospital. He worked for many years as a plumbing contractor in remote communities and mine sites, where he developed a strong interest in the areas of water quality management and Legionella management and recognised the business opportunities they create for plumbers. Richie has written and administered a Legionella Management Plan for a Rio Tinto mine site and co-written a Water Quality Management Plan and Facility Safety Water Plan for Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. Incorrect fabricated tee piece. The branch pipe is inserted into the main pipe.

Correctly fabricated “saddle joint” tee piece. Branch pipe fits over main pipe and cannot enter main pipe.

Typical (incorrect) fabrication method of reducing pipe size and terminating a branch.

Subsidised jetter training

Many members and their staff have taken advantage of the one-day jetter training course, which is subsidised by the Construction Training Fund and conducted by WOMA (Australia) Pty Ltd on behalf of All-Ways Training Services. These dates are still available for this year • Monday 4 October • Friday 12 November You will need to pay for the course ($420 per person) and successfully complete it before claiming the subsidy ($248 per person). Find all the details including the course brochure under Training on our website.

July’s super increase raises a big question for employers

We want to remind all members that the superannuation guarantee increased to 10 per cent at the start of July and will increase by half a per cent each financial year until reaching 12 per cent. An important question for employers is whether it is legal to take the increase out of an employee’s take-home pay. This question arises when an employee’s contract says their total package includes superannuation. Pragma Lawyers (who provide members with free industrial relation advice) advise that employers should review current pay structures. If you are considering reducing your employees’ take-home pay, seek advice and have a plan for how you will tell them about it. Another change, which will start in November, is the ‘stapling’ of superannuation funds to employees’ super accounts. This change aims to reduce the number of employees who have multiple small super accounts with small balances. There is an easy to read article called ‘Super changes from July 1’ in the Knowledge section of the Pragma Lawyers website at www.pragma. law or, for more detailed information, see the Australian Taxation Office website.

Company tax rate down to 25%

One of our policies is lower taxes for small businesses so we fully support the 25 per cent company tax rate that started in the 2021-22 financial year for ‘base rate entities’. The full company tax rate of 30% still applies to all other companies. According to information on the Australian Taxation Office website, a ‘base rate entity’ is a business that meets both these criteria:

• Aggregated turnover of less than $25 million for the 2017–18 income year and $50 million from the 2018–19 income year onwards, and • 80 per cent or less of the company’s assessable income is passive income. Passive income can include:

• corporate distributions and franking credits on these distributions • royalties and rent • interest income • gains on qualifying securities • a net capital gain • an amount included in the assessable income of a partner in a partnership or a beneficiary of a trust, to the extent it is traceable (either directly or indirectly) to an amount that is otherwise base rate entity passive income. For more information, we recommend you consult your accountant or visit the Australian Taxation Office website.

www.MasterPlumbers.asn.au

We’ve had some victories!

Security of payment

The new security of payment law will go a long way towards ensuring contractors are paid on time for what they are owed. However, there is still more work to be done! While the new laws are a major step forward, they do not include the cascading statutory trusts the WA Government once promised.

See our feature story, ‘WA’s new security of payment law is here’ on page 14. Copper and brass theft

Please be aware that new laws in WA require anyone dealing in copper and copper alloy (including brass and bronze) products to have a Second-Hand Dealers Licence. Licensed dealers are required to submit a report on transactions involving these products that include the identity of the seller. This change is an important response to the theft of copper and brass plumbing products and followed a lobbying effort from us during 2020.

Lead content in plumbing products reducing to 0.25%

The Australian Building Codes Board has decided to introduce a 0.25 per cent limit on the lead content of plumbing products in contact with drinking water. The change will be included in the 2022 version of the National Construction Code. This change, which we have long argued for, will bring Australia into line with countries such as Canada and the USA. There will be a three-year transition period so products can be recertified under the WaterMark Certification Scheme to prove they comply with the new National Construction Code.