Dear industry colleague,

The 35th International Symposium on Water Supply and Drainage for Buildings was held in September 2009. The symposium covers the research and development in the fields of hot and cold water supply and drainage systems, water conservation, corrosion and materials including trends, applications, evaluation and management.

Held in Dusseldorf, Germany the symposium brings together experts from across the globe to discuss problems and possible solutions to worldwide water management problems.

The questions asked reflect on where the world's knowledge of plumbing systems and drainage currently stands and also highlights the need for academic research beyond what manufacturers may be telling us about their products.

Hopefully this research, once completed, floods through to the grassroots plumbing community who can then use these solutions for the betterment of the wider community.

It is imperative that all research be made available to the people it most affects including plumbers and engineers. This is what www.worldplumbinginfo.com is all about.

The article Where is world plumbing headed? includes one of the papers presented at this year's Symposium. Author Walter van der Schee, a member of the Dutch Technical Association for Building Installations (TVVL) and also a member of the board of the department Sanitary Technologies (ST), looks at water systems in high rise residential buildings, guidelines for design and construction.