Healthy Indoors Magazine - USA Edition

Healthy Indoors | 45 our American values and vision for a higher standard for life? The plumber is no longer a man in overhauls handling a pipe wrench standing next to the lead pot and ladle. It can be seen as a positive change that plumbing has created a new environ- ment that is more accepting of women in the workplace, which is a good start for the rebranding of the art of plumbing. However, the plumber also is no longer put on a pedestal to rise above all others. Technology in plumbing has developed and the artifacts of the lead pot with ladle have been assigned to plumbing museums. The standards and ethics of plumbing have been diminished to a point where society and even some plumb- ers now look down at this profession. As illustrated in cartoons, plumbers have the butt-crack of jokes. The importance of this trade and the life it brings is at an all-time low. The change of attitude from society gives rise for the need to reinvent and rebuild our profession. This matter of urgency became apparent as we all watch as the state of Texas had talks of dismantling of the State Board of Plumbing Examiners, which is responsible for licensing plumbers and investigating claims of unlicensed work or violations of the plumbing licensing law. How did we get to this position of degrading ethics and standards? The age of new technologies in the plumbing field have brought about many different changes for installing, main- taining, or replacing plumbing systems. The new materials and the tools have had a direct effect on the profession. This has also placed a change in the education for the trade. New technol- ogies mean teaching new plumbing skills. We no longer value the skills of soldering, brazing, packing oakum, pouring hot lead into soil pipe connections, handling lead water piping, and the need to be able to lift heavy cast iron fixtures. While these changes have made our profession less labor intensive, they have also opened the door for more people to practice the art of plumbing without significant training or extensive knowledge. There is a need for a new definition. I propose that plumbing is, "the art of supplying the tools, materials, and systems for a higher quality of life standard supported for proper human health." We must build a new bridge between the past and right now! I am on a campaign to reeducate, invest, and develop tools along with systems that will aid in protecting human health and comfort. I am calling for unity. We must stand together for the rising of standards, ethics, and values for human cleanliness. And we must start with education. To maintain a society of health, we need to attack the root causes for sickness. To support complete human health, I'm calling on plumbing professionals to address indoor air pollution, which can be 2 to 10 times more polluted than outside air pollution. Our outside environment felt the direct effects of 9/11. After that event, we gained a better understanding and appre ciation for air sickness, cancer, quality of life, and health issues. I believe we can use this experience to also understand and control our indoor living environment. Plumbing professionals are already involved with indoor air quality. Plumbing Principal #12 of the National Standard Plumbing Code addresses exhausting foul air to the outside of the building. The two reasons we exhaust air out of a bathroom are foul odors and humidity. Plumbers also use air when protecting water systems from cross contamination to the potable water supply, the air gap. There is also a focus on addressing the lack of air quality in hospitals. Aerators are usually prohibited in hospitals because any airborne bacteria or disease in the air may enter the potable water supply as it passes through the faucet spout opening. When talking about human health and providing an environment of healing, the proper amount of humidity inside of a hospital has certain health benefits. In the 2016 ASHRAE HVAC Systems and Equipment Handbook — Chapter 22, there is a chart that shows the OPTIMUM Zone for Relative Humidity. This zone supports improved healing process, reduced healthcare acquired infections, improved hydration, and decreased infections. By controlling the relative humidity, you also create an environment that cannot support static electricity. ASHRAE Standard 170 section 6.6 deals with humidifiers in hospitals. Before the 2013 addendum to this standard, humidity was created by Isothermal Humidification (steam). Added in the addendum M is Adiabatic humidification system, which is a system of high-pressure water spray. The cost benefit to this system is that it does not require any heating source. Another fact for humidity is the use as a potable water source. Humidity is used for the technology of Atmospheric Water Generators. These water generators produce potable water from the inside or outside humidity. Human health is supported and plays a great role for life in a clean environment of which we drink and breathe in clean, oxygenic, potable water. If we use the facts, plumbing profes - sionals can move our society forward. I call on the plumbing profession to take up these issues of indoor air quality and humidification. Together, we can tackle the inside environment to mitigate human health dangers of molds, mildews and stagnation of air and humidity. The industry of plumbing has a history and a future of providing human health systems. Let us come together with a new vision to return to the "Art of Protecting Health for All!" This article first appeared on the Indoor Air Quality Association blog. Paul M. Onder works as a public-school teacher working with high school level students and is responsible for educating them on the trade of plumbing. With more than 40 years of trade experi- ence, he is a former graduate from Passaic County Technical and Vocational High School, Wayne N.J. Afterwards he received his New Jersey Master Plumbing License at the age of 22. He received four months of chemotherapy for a blood cancer while working as the district Plumber for a Public School system in northern New Jersey. After this experience, he was inspired to write about reinventing his life after cancer treatment in the Fall 2010. He quit his job so to go on to become an educator. While teaching HVAC/r for a private trade school he became interested in the effects of humidity, comfort, and human health needs. He is inspired daily from his experience in cancer treatment and reflexes on rebranding and humidity while crafting the art of teaching. He seeks to become a leader for the industry of plumbing.

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