IWSH Works With Local High School Students in Effort to Improve Plumbing Systems in Alabama

The International Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Foundation returned to Lowndes County, Alabama recently to teach local high school students how to conduct household plumbing surveys that assess the quality and function of homes’ plumbing systems.

IWSH has been working in the county for the past few years with LIXIL Americas, FujiClean USA and the Black Belt Unincorporated Wastewater Program. It is part of a larger initiative to improve homes’ water efficiency and sanitation system functions. IWSH led training with 12 high school students from Central High School and Calhoun High School in Lowndes County. Apprentices from Plumbers & Steamfitters Local Union 91 constructed product demonstration boards that included faucets, pipes and other fixtures so students could get hands-on experience and learn about home plumbing systems. The high schoolers were also taught how to use the IWSH Household Plumbing Survey, a tool that assesses the efficacy of indoor plumbing systems.

Based on the IWSH Household Plumbing Surveys, IWSH and LIXIL Americas staff were able to analyze the repairs needed in each home surveyed. IWSH then created job sheets that provided guidance for volunteer plumbers from the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry of the United States and Canada Locals 52, 91, 760 and South Central Pipe Trades — who are licensed in Alabama — to upgrade fittings, fixtures and appliances in selected homes using water-efficient products donated by LIXIL Americas.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Agriculture Rural Development have prioritized this type of work in their Closing America’s Wastewater Access Gap Community Initiative. More recently the Department of Justice has directed the Alabama Department of Public Health to conduct a variety of actions to address public health in Lowndes County.