ASPE Purchases Office Building

After months of negotiations, the American Society of Plumbing Engineers concluded the purchase of a Society headquarters. The two-story, 11,500-square-foot, all-brick building is located at 2980 S. River Road, Des Plaines, Illinois, on a 22,500-square-foot lot. ASPE has established a special Building Fund to help build financial support to pay for our new headquarters building and build the future of ASPE.

ASPE Congratulates New CPDs

The following individuals passed the CPD examination in April and join the highly qualified group of Certified Plumbing Designers: Donald Blosser, PE, CPD, Francis L'Estrange, PE, CPD, John Cabral, CPD, Ralph Mulcahy, CPD, Shane Wise, CPD, Terence Boland, CPD, Douglas Page, PE, LEED AP, CPD, Gary Hatfield, PE, CPD, Joe Cunningham, CPD, Robert Horne, CPD, Robert Rampetsreiter, CPD, Bruce Shegarfi, PE, CPD, Didier Vargas, CPD, Paul Valente,CPD, Ronald, Pison, CPD, Michael Kornasiewicz, CPD, Tim Casados, CPD, Donelle Gull, PE, CPD, Jonathan Jensen, PE, CPD, Thura Zin, CPD, Vahan Margaryan, CPD, David Gassman, CPD, Julian Puerta, CPD, John Rippel, PE, CPD, John Alava, CPD, Robert Siglin, CPD, Scott Miller, PE, CPD, Scott Sherman, CPD, Dave Price, CPD, Arthur Hall, CPD, Justin Grimmett, CPD, Martin Trim, CPD, Michael Alvarez, CPD, Richard Gligora, CPD, Ted Sabinas, CPD, Joel Manzanillo, CPD, Michael Curtright, CPD, Ossama Abdelfattah, PE, CPD, and Jack Fleming, CPD.

Graywater Webinar Is Now Available Online

If you missed the June webinar on graywater plumbing systems or would like to review the information or get CEU credit, click here to view it now.

Register Now for the Premier Educational Event in 2009!

ASPE and the Plumbing Contractors of American are co-hosting the 2009 Plumbing Engineering and Contracting Technical Symposium, October 22–25, in Dearborn, Michigan. Don’t miss your chance to learn about residential fire sprinkler systems, solar energy systems, and rainwater harvesting systems, as well as many other exciting topics. A special hands-on BIM session will be offered as well. Register here now.

EDUCATIONAL AND NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES

June 23: Central Ohio Golf Tournament

ASPE’s Central Ohio Chapter is holding its annual golf outing at the Links at Echo Springs. Click here for a registration form (page 8).

June 24: Atlanta Golf Tournament

ASPE Atlanta Chapter’s annual golf outing is being held at The Golf Club at Bradshaw Farms in Woodstock, Georgia. Click here to register.

June 26: Interleague Evening at Camden Yards

ASPE’s Baltimore and Washington, D.C., Chapters have a limited number of $5 tickets to the Baltimore Orioles/Washington Nationals game at 7:06 p.m. Contact Ben Ploskon to request tickets.

July 15: Minneapolis-area Golf Outing

ASPE’s Minnesota Chapter is holding its golf tournament at Crystal Lake Golf Club in Lakeville, Minnesota. Cost is $95 for ASPE members and $125 for nonmembers. Contact John Bennerotte to register.

NEW! Ride to the Rock Being Held July 18

ASPE’s Chicago Chapter’s annual motorcycle rally benefitting the Leukemia Research Foundation starts at Glen Ellyn, Illinois at 10:30 a.m. A stop will be made around 11:15 in Elburn, Illinois, to pick up additional bikers. All bikes are welcome and the donation is tax deductible. Contact Jason McDonald 847-328-3555, ext. 204, or RideToTheRock@gmail.com.

NEW! Meeting to Inspire a Seattle Chapter Being Held July 20

A free networking and educational meeting to bring together those interested in starting an ASPE Seattle Chapter will be held at the Courtyard Seattle Bellevue/Downtown. Topics discussed will be how to organize a Seattle chapter, a review the 2009 Uniform Plumbing Code, CSST, and rainwater harvesting. RSVP with Jeff Ingertson.

August 3: Johnstown-area Golf Outing

ASPE’s Johnstown Chapter is holding its golf tournament at the Windber Country Club in Salix, Pennsylvania. Cost is $100 per golfer (includes lunch and dinner). Contact Jim Spinelli for more information.

August 6: Cleveland-area Golf Tournament

The joint ASPE/ASSE golf outing will be held at Fowlers Mill Golf Course in Chesterland, Ohio. Cost is $115 per golfer (includes dinner). Click here for a registration form (page 6).

INDUSTRY NEWS

David Hanson, CEO of SyncroFlow, Passed Away on June 6

David Hanson graduated from Georgia Institute of Technology with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He was a registered Professional Engineer, one of the few in the plumbing industry at the time. In 1973, he assumed control of SyncroFlo, and built it from three employees into a domestic water booster system leader. He served as the President from 1973 until 2006, providing jobs for 100 people. He was a member of North Avenue Presbyterian Church of Atlanta where he served as a deacon and Sunday School teacher.  He is remembered as an avid woodworker, Georgia Tech fan, tennis partner, card player, heirloom tomato gardener, and friend to many.

LEED Rating System for Homes Now Available in Canada

LEED Canada for Homes promotes the design and construction of high-performance green homes. The rating system allows points for innovation such as water reuse, indoor water use, efficient hydronic design, efficient domestic hot water design, and appliance choices, to name a few. Click here to find out more.

U.S. Households Flushing More Organic Material Than Expected Down the Drain

Households are flushing more organic material—including medicines and cleaning and personal care products—down the drain compared to historic data, according to researchers at the University of Minnesota's Water Resources Center (WRC). Researchers found caffeine in all samples that were tested; salicylic acid (the active compound in aspirin) was in about three quarters of samples, ibuprofen in half, and detergent additives and plasticizers in more than three quarters. The good news is that the amount of oil, grease, and phosphates flushed down the drain decreased.

Canadian Resolution Targets U.S. Water and Wastewater Equipment Industry

According to the Water and Wastewater Equipment Manufacturers Association, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities passed a resolution giving the United States government 120 days to broker a fair trade deal or face the consequences of U.S. companies being restricted from bidding on Canadian infrastructure projects. The resolution expressed support for procurement policies which favor free and fair trade, particularly for water and wastewater projects, by ensuring that goods and materials are procured "only from companies whose countries of origin do not impose trade restrictions against goods and materials manufactured in Canada." In 2008, the United States exported $6.18 billion in water and wastewater equipment and piping to Canada.

May Construction Climbed 7 Percent

According to McGraw-Hill Construction, at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $412.3 billion, new construction starts in May advanced 7 percent from the previous month. May’s strengthening was led by a substantial increase for public works, which featured a major pipeline project as well as gains for highways, bridges, sewers, and water supply systems.

Extracting Drinking Water from Humidity?

Research scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB in Stuttgart have found a way to convert air humidity into drinkable water. Hygroscopic brine, a saline solution that absorbs moisture, runs down a tower-shaped unit and absorbs water from the air. It is then sucked into a tank a few meters off the ground in which a vacuum prevails. Energy from solar collectors heats up the brine, which is diluted by the water it has absorbed. Because of the vacuum, the boiling point of the liquid is lower than it would be under normal atmospheric pressure. The evaporated, non-saline water is condensed and runs down through a completely filled tube in a controlled manner. The gravity of this water column continuously produces the vacuum and so a vacuum pump is not needed.

IAPMO and GreenPlumbers Collaborate on Training and Certification Programs

IAPMO and GreenPlumbers have partnered to enhance the technical content of GreenPlumbers’ training and accreditation modules by extracting provisions in IAPMO’s Uniform Codes. IAPMO and GreenPlumbers also will partner to develop additional programs and services that will advance the sustainability goals of both organizations and will develop a Green Plumbing and Mechanical Inspector Certification Program derived from the Uniform Codes and the GreenPlumbers curriculum, with a target date for delivery in late 2009.

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT

Siphonic Dual-flush Toilet Introduced

American Standard’s H2Option is the first truly siphonic dual-flush toilet, with strong push and pull action created by forceful but quiet jetted action under the rim. Using as little as 1.0 gallon of water on the low setting, H2Option scours the sides of the bowl to remove every last trace of paper and waste.

Water Cooler Offers Vandal-resistant Features

Halsey Taylor’s vandal-resistant water cooler is ideal for applications prone to tampering. It features a heavy-duty 14-gauge stainless steel cabinet, a self-closing, vandal-resistant pushbutton, and screened vents to prevent harmful objects from being inserted into the cooler. The SmartFlow Bubbler reduces the flow of water by nearly 40 percent compared to other coolers. 

CPVC Discs Offer Convenience in Aggressive Chemical Applications

Asahi/America’s new CPVC discs for its Type 57 butterfly valve line provide enhanced safety and performance in aggressive chemical environments. The chemical resistance properties of CPVC and its advantages are very similar to those of PVC; however, it possesses superior mechanical strength, stiffness, and dimensional stability.

Expansion Joint Kit Saves Install Time, Costs, and Connections

Uponor has introduced the 2-inch Wirsbo hePEX Expansion Joint Kit, which offers a quick, efficient solution for closed-loop, aboveground, radiant heating and cooling distribution applications that require an expansion joint for every 50 feet of tubing. The 13-piece kit is 53 percent less expensive than purchasing the individual components needed for onsite construction of an expansion joint.

Point-of-Use Faucets Available in Lead-free

Tomlinson Industries’ Pro-Flo PF500 series POU faucets are available with either a highly polished, chrome plated, lead-free brass faucet body or with a stainless steel faucet body. Features include self-closing handle, air gap connections, preinstalled ¼-inch plastic tubing, and a flow rate of 1.5 gpm at 40 psi.