Dear industry colleague,

	World Plumbing Day is designed to bring awareness to the value to health of the plumbing community.

The inaugural World Plumbing Day will make a global impact on March 11 as the plumbing community unites to bring awareness to the value of this industry in relation to health and sanitation.

"There are days for all sorts of causes and their purpose is always about raising awareness," World Plumbing Council chairman, Robert Burgon points out.

World Plumbing Day is no different and we simply want to make more and more people realize that plumbing is a significant industry and a major contributor to public health and the environment. This year we have chosen the theme ‘Plumbing-Vital to Global Health’ with the intention being that we highlight just how much our industry contributes to both the health of our people and the health of our planet.”

The aim is to involve local communities to spread the word, it is also to raise significance in developing nations.

“I believe that in developed countries, effective sanitation is usually taken for granted (until something goes wrong),” Robert says. “In developing countries where there is often no effective sanitation, then there is a lack of awareness of just how significant even basic sanitation could be. We should never miss the chance, wherever we might be, to stress the importance of sanitation and the role which our industry plays in the design, installation and maintenance of such systems."

Which brings us to plumbing's response to the Haiti crisis and how the plumbing community can respond to this disaster.

Robert says, "basic plumbing training for some local villagers should, in my view, always be part of what is done. The ideal situation would be where lasting solutions, based on sound principles, were provided thus taking the country’s citizens to a higher level than that which they had before the disaster.

Unfortunately, the World Health Organisation has certain checks and balances that don't involve plumbers and this needs to be addressed so that aid has a lasting impact and is not just a patch job.