IAPMO Commends Washington State Legislature’s Passage of Bill Requiring Testing Water for Lead in Schools and Day-Care Facilities |
IAPMO commends the Washington State Legislature for passing HB 1139, a bill that requires the Washington Department of Health (DOH) to test drinking water outlets for lead contamination in public elementary and secondary schools. Gov. Jay Inslee signed the bill into law Monday.
The Biden administration recently announced a plan for the nationwide removal of lead pipes, and HB 1139 takes an additional step to support lead reduction in schools’ drinking water by mandating the repair or replacement of fixtures where elevated lead is found.
As noted in the bill, the DOH sampled and tested drinking water outlets in 551 elementary schools between 2017 and 2020 and found that 82 percent of these schools had lead contamination of five or more parts per billion in one or more drinking water outlets. Further, 49 percent of these schools had lead contamination of 15 or more parts per billion in one or more drinking water outlets.
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IAPMO Seeks Volunteers to Serve on 2023 WE•Stand Technical Committee |
IAPMO is seeking volunteers to participate on the technical committee working toward the development of the 2023 edition of the Water Efficiency and Sanitation Standard (WE•Stand). The deadline to submit an application is July 5.
The WE•Stand Technical Committee seeks members in the following categories: Consumer, Enforcing Authority, Design Professional, Installer/Maintainer, Labor, Manufacturer, User, and Special Expert. These committees are assembled in accordance with the Regulations Governing Consensus Development of the WE•Stand.
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IAPMO Seeks Technical Committee Members for 2024 USPSHTC, USHGC |
IAPMO is seeking volunteers to participate on two technical committees working toward the development of the 2024 editions of the Uniform Swimming Pool, Spa, and Hot Tub Code (USPSHTC) and Uniform Solar, Hydronics and Geothermal Code (USHGC). The deadline to submit an application is July 5.
The USPSHTC and USHGC technical committees each seek members in the following categories: manufacturer, user, installer/maintainer, labor, research/standards/testing laboratory, enforcing authority, consumer, and special expert. These committees are assembled in accordance with the Regulations Governing Consensus Development of the USPSHTC and USHGC and the Guide for the Conduct of Participants in the IAPMO codes and standards development process.
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IAPMO Makes Tentative Interim Amendment Available for Public Comment |
In accordance with the IAPMO Regulations Governing Committee Projects, the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO®) announces a tentative interim amendment (TIA) to the 2021 edition of the Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC) has been submitted for public comment.
TIA UPC 003-21 would delete text in UPC Section 611.1.2 (Scale Reduction Devices) and Table 1701.1 (Referenced Standards).
IAPMO invites all interested parties to review the proposed TIA on the IAPMO website under Uniform Plumbing Code / Proposed TIAs and respond by filling out the comment form located at:
The deadline to submit comments is May 14.
Completed forms for the UPC may be emailed to Enrique Gonzalez, plumbing code development administrator, at [email protected].
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Seattle Adopts Provisions of 2018 Uniform Plumbing Code |
The city of Seattle has formally adopted the 2018 Seattle Plumbing Code (SPC), which is based on IAPMO’s 2018 Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC®), updating from the 2015 edition. It is available for purchase from the IAPMO Online Store.
The 2018 edition of the SPC is a custom plumbing code published for the city of Seattle. It also protects against hazards that may arise from the use of plumbing piping and systems by regulating and controlling the design, construction, installation, quality of materials, location and operation of plumbing piping systems within the city of Seattle. The code includes the Washington state and Seattle amendments integrated into the 2018 UPC. This edition also includes the new Water Demand Calculator for estimating water supply demand and pipe sizing.
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EPA Moves Forward with Phase Down of Climate-Damaging Hydrofluorocarbons |
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing its first rule under the American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act of 2020 to phase down the production and consumption of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), highly potent greenhouse gases commonly used in refrigerators, air conditioners, and many other applications. The AIM Act directs EPA to sharply reduce production and consumption of these harmful pollutants by using an allowance allocation and trading program. This phasedown will decrease the production and import of HFCs in the United States by 85% over the next 15 years. A global HFC phasedown is expected to avoid up to 0.5 °C of global warming by 2100.
“With this proposal, EPA is taking another significant step under President Biden’s ambitious agenda to address the climate crisis,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “By phasing down HFCs, which can be hundreds to thousands of times more powerful than carbon dioxide at warming the planet, EPA is taking a major action to help keep global temperature rise in check. The phasedown of HFCs is also widely supported by the business community, as it will help promote American leadership in innovation and manufacturing of new climate-safe products. Put simply, this action is good for our planet and our economy.”
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Laura Ceja Promoted to UA Special Representative for Training and Outreach |
UA General President Mark McManus is pleased to announce the appointment of Laura Ceja as Special Representative for Training and Outreach. When she joined the Education and Training Department in January of2017, she served as a Training Specialist-National Recruitment and Outreach Coordinator.
Ms. Ceja began her career with the UA in 1997 at Local 761 in Burbank, CA, 24 years ago. She completed the apprenticeship program and became a journeyman plumber, pipefitter, certified brazer, and medical gas installer.
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Construction Starts Increase in March, but Rising Material Prices Could Hamper Recovery |
A strong pickup in nonresidential building overpowers weakness elsewhere
Total construction starts rose 2% in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $825.3 billion, according to Dodge Data & Analytics. A solid gain in nonresidential building starts fueled the March gain, while growth in residential starts was minuscule and nonbuilding starts fell outright. The Dodge Index rose 2% in March, to 175 (2000=100) from February’s 172.
“The March increase in construction starts is certainly welcome news following the past three months of decline,” said Richard Branch, Chief Economist for Dodge Data & Analytics. “Construction will continue to improve as the year moves on. However, just as the pandemic is beginning to loosen its grip on the economy, logistical problems and the rapid escalation in material prices have stepped in as the primary risk to the construction sector. These issues may restrain opportunity in the coming months, causing the sector’s recovery to lag that of the overall economy.”
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Faster Air Exchange in Buildings Not Always Beneficial for Coronavirus Levels |
Vigorous and rapid air exchanges might not always be a good thing when it comes to addressing levels of coronavirus particles in a multiroom building, according to a new modeling study.
The study suggests that, in a multiroom building, rapid air exchanges can spread the virus rapidly from the source room into other rooms at high concentrations. Particle levels spike in adjacent rooms within 30 minutes and can remain elevated for up to approximately 90 minutes.
“Most studies have looked at particle levels in just one room, and for a one-room building, increased ventilation is always useful to reducing their concentration,” said Leonard Pease, lead author of the study. “But for a building with more than one room, air exchanges can pose a risk in the adjacent rooms by elevating virus concentrations more quickly than would otherwise occur.
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Massive 300-ton Fatberg Blocks UK Sewer |
Wet wipes and grease are being blamed for a massive 300-ton sewer blockage in Birmingham, UK. The “fatberg” may take over a month to clear. The solid mass is estimated to be 3ft high and 1,094yds long.
“This giant mass is the result of everyone occasionally washing and flushing the wrong things down the drains, and not realizing the impact that it’s having,” said Severn Trent operations manager Scott Burgin.
“The problem is that unlike toilet paper, wipes and other unflushables including nappies and sanitary products don’t break up or dissolve, so they easily get stuck in drains and sewers and then attach onto cooking oil and grease to create a fatberg.”
“Our advice is to always leave leftover cooking fat to cool, before disposing of it in the bin and to stick to only flushing the three P’s (pee, poo and toilet paper) and bin anything else.
“These relatively small changes can make a big difference and hopefully avoid any future fatbergs.”
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2021 ASPE Tech Symposium
September 22-26, 2021
San Diego, CA
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IAPMO 92nd Annual Education and Business Conference
September 26-30, 2021
San Antonio, TX
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WaterSmart Innovations 2021
October 6-5, 2021
Las Vegas, NV
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Upcoming Training | Earn your Continuing Education with IAPMO training. |
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IAPMO is an approved provider for Continuing Education by USGBC, IACET, AIA and many local organizations and jurisdictions. Contact the IAPMO Training staff to register at 1-877-427-6601, or go to our website https://iapmolearn.org/ to register online. New training dates are added periodically!
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