Here in the UK, we might feel a million miles away from the dangers of severe water shortages and the sanitation crises seen in the developing world, but that is not to say that all UK water systems are safe. With longstanding issues such as hot water scalding, Legionnaires' disease, lead in pipework and pollution caused by plumbing misconnections, we are still living in a time where even first world plumbing problems can be deadly.

Chief executive of the CIPHE, Kevin Wellman, said: “Days such as World Plumbing Day highlight both the good and the bad in our vital and vibrant industry. We know the health of the nation sits on having safe, clean drinking water and effective sanitation. While the majority of tradespeople are out there working to an exceptional standard, each year people are still being severely injured and killed by poorly designed, installed and maintained plumbing systems.”

He continued: “Plumbers are also on the front line in the fight to conserve water, while safekeeping our families and the environment we live in. At the CIPHE we believe that education and knowledge is the key to fighting a variety of problems in the industry. We wholeheartedly celebrate the role that plumbing and plumbers play in our everyday lives, but still recognise that more needs to be done to make all plumbing systems safe and sustainable.”

The CIPHE has therefore announced that it will be investing further into its online learning resources to help inform and educate not just CIPHE members, but non-members too. Its well-received techtalk and smarttalk websites will be accompanied by online virtual reality tools, in addition to an expansion of its existing online videos and resources.

Find out more at techtalk-ciphe.org.uk and smarttalk-ciphe.org.uk, and keep up-to-date with the latest news and events online by logging onto www.worldplumbingday.org or following @WPlumbingDay on Twitter.