Value of Design Award

Isotec NZ Ltd 2 Flow Control and Isolation for Individual Plumbing Fixtures

Credits
  • Pou Auaha / Creative Directors
    Andrew Southen, Gilly Southen
Description:

For the Consumer
It is good trade practice to install an isolation valve at all plumbing fixtures for ease of future maintenance (however this is not mandatory in the New Zealand Building Code as it is overseas). It was soon realised that Isovalve™ was the link between the uncontrolled water main and the plumbing fixture – therefore it made sense to have a valve that not only turned the water off and on but could also control the water flow. With Isovalve™ having a needle valve, there is the ability to control the maximum water flow to most fixtures in the house (a bit like tuning a car for economy) – including slide showers – thereby making standard tapware as water efficient as required. Using Australia's WELS (Water Efficiency Labelling & Standards) water flow figures and assumptions, a four-person house with standard tapware can save 85,000 litres of water/annum and $1,055 in water and energy costs when Isovalve™ is installed and flows set. In addition to the above savings, the consumer saves on the cost of emergency callouts, the ease of future maintenance and the inconvenience of not having to have water turned off to the entire building for servicing.
For the Plumber
The Isovalve™ is essentially an isolation valve (the ability to turn water off at individual plumbing fixtures) with the patented feature/benefit of the plumber using it first as a test plug, at pre line stage, then converting it into an isolation valve – this enables the plumber to make his connection without turning off the water to the entire building – saving time which, in some cases, can more than offset the cost of the Isovalve™. With the time saving aspect of Isovalve™ at installation, more plumbers are encouraged to provide isolation (Isovalve™) at plumbing fixtures for flow control and ease of future maintenance to benefit their customers.