Building Safety Month highlights importance of securing clean and abundant water for all communities

Plumbing, building and green codes help ensure access to safe water

Washington, D.C. – For week 3 of Building Safety Month, the International Code Council will draw attention to the need for clean, abundant water for all communities. Worldwide up to 844 million people lack access to this vital resource. One way to make this commodity more available to all communities is to implement and maintain the most up-to-date plumbing codes.

Severe droughts in areas such as California have led to an increasing focus on water efficiency and the implementation of water conservation rules. These rules were based partially on irrigation standards produced and developed by the Code Council. In addition to adhering to the most modern plumbing codes, communities can take steps to conserve water, including identifying locations where water demand and pressure can be reduced; planting drought-tolerant plants and limiting turf grass to 25 percent of landscaping; and aggressively finding and repairing leaks.

“Water is a precious resource and everyone should be able to feel confident that their water is safe,” said Code Council Chief Executive Officer Dominic Sims, CBO. “The International Plumbing Code plays a huge role in ensuring that you can turn on your tap and draw clean, sufficient water, and advances in efficient technologies result in saving millions of gallons of water every year.”

The Code Council and the Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET) have teamed up for a special edition of the ICC Pulse Podcast, released today in honor of Building Safety Month. RESTalk host Bill Spohn interviews RESNET Program Director Ryan Meres and Code Council Executive Director of Sustainability Programs Dave Walls for an episode on the new water ratings standard, water efficiency and conservation. Click here to listen.

Learn more about water efficiency and conservation at the Building Safety Month website. Join the conversation on social media using #BuildingSafety365.

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About the International Code Council

The International Code Council is a member-focused association dedicated to developing model codes and standards used in the design, build and compliance process to construct safe, sustainable, affordable and resilient structures. Most U.S. communities and many global markets choose the International Codes.