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KNYSNA NEWS - No less than 10 local plumbing companies decided to make a difference in celebration of World Plumbing Day, 11 March, by doing some much-needed touch-ups around Hildur Stent Crèche in Hornlee for free.
They carried out their outreach on Thursday 10 March. According to JP Strydom, vice-chairman of the Southern Cape branch of the Institute of Plumbing South Africa, the help was very necessary.
"We received a request for assistance to help repair the school's ablution facilities and basins, which were in a poor state of disrepair," he said.
"The situation was so bad that the water mains had to be turned on and off every time a toilet needed to be flushed or someone wanted water to drink."
Plumblink Knysna sponsored the extensive list of materials that the plumbers needed.
According to Strydom, they did the following work:
- Renewed all the water closets' working mechanisms and supply pipes to prevent leaks and undue wastage of water;
- Replaced the adult toilet seats;
- Provided a new kitchen mixer for preparing meals for the children;
- Unblocked the sewer drains;
- Repaired broken sewer drainage pipes to prevent the spillage of raw sewage on the walkways outside the building;
- Serviced and repaired worn-out basin mixers in all the bathrooms and made sure each basin was fully functional.
Manie Heunis also brought along his electrical team and replaced the external lighting as well as the old internal neon lights with new LED bulbs that use less power and are cheaper to maintain.
He sponsored most of the lights at his own cost and with the help of E4 Electrical.
"The team of local plumbing companies have been doing this kind of work for the past five years, but during the past two years were unable to give their time and assistance due to the Covid-19 pandemic," Strydom explained.
"These gentlemen and ladies give their time and labour for free as part of the annual celebration of World Plumbing Day, which aims to raise awareness of good plumbing sanitation and human and environmental health."
The 10 plumbing companies that took part were JJ Strydom Plumbing, The Drain Corporation, Tom Plumb, AVZ Plumbing, Best Plumbing, Dynamic Plumbing, Austria Plumbing, Heunis Plumb & Electrical, Stirling Plumbing, and ROHI Plumbing.
"All the above-mentioned plumbers are registered PIRB plumbers, which means their work can be audited and inspected on completion of any work carried out to their respective client base," said Strydom.
"We as a group of dedicated plumbers wish to thank Mrs Terblanche and her team at Hildur Stent for trusting us to come as complete strangers to assist in their need and leave as friends of the school."
The principal of Hildur Stent, Bettie Terblanche, expressed her gratitude for the help. "This work they've done for us is something we really do appreciate. Repairing and maintaining the plumbing and electronics around here can be very costly, which is why we cannot begin to say how thankful we are for the plumbing companies doing this for us for free."
The group of plumbers made a huge difference in the lives of the children at the crèche. Photo: Blake Linder
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