IPA Kerala Chapter (IPA KC) conducted a seminar on ‘Sewage Treatment Plants’ on 6th January, 2010 at IMA Hall. Mr. Manikath Narendran, a leading consultant in this specialized field, handled the session. The Chief Guest of the meeting was Dr. Najeeb Zackeria, President of CREDAI, Kochi.

Mr. P Ramachandran, Chairman – IPA KC, in his welcome speech, welcomed the gathering and spoke on the need to be cautious in the selection of a sewage treatment plant and the reuse of treated effluent. He emphasised on the need for a monitoring system to ensure that the quality of treated effluent is of adequate quality for reuse in flushing. He also dwelt briefly on the initiatives of IPA with respect to Green Plumbing, PEEP training programmes and extended an invitation to all present to attend ‘PlumbexIndia’10 in Mumbai in February.

Dr. Najeeb Zackeria in his address, appreciated the efforts of IPA in bringing about awareness among the community on good plumbing practices. He also narrated his experiences as a builder on the difficulty in arriving at a trouble free, maintenance friendly solution to treating sewage. This inaugural session was concluded with a Vote of Thanks by Mr. Siva Iyer, Secretary, IPA KC.

In the technical session, Mr. Manikath Narendran, gave a comprehensive overview on the origins of sewage treatment, its evolution over the years, current technologies in place and the outlook through a lucid power-point presentation. Following his presentation was a highly informative question and answer session.

Mr. Ashish Baheti, Technical Director of M/s. Vectus Industries Ltd. gave an excellent presentation on their wide arrange of products. They had set up a stall to display their products, which drew attention of all assembled. The meeting concluded with dinner and cocktails hosted by event partner M/s. Vectus Industries Ltd.

IPA KC in its endeavour to spread greater awareness on plumbing were involved in the following programmes conducted by other organizations.

Mr. Jayakrishnan and Mr. Namboothiri of IPA KC conducted sessions on ‘Plumbing in High-rise Buildings’ and ‘New Plumbing Products’ respectively of Engineers, Architects and Builders in Trivandrum in association with ‘Designer Plus’ magazine a leading Architectural magazine in Kerala.

2. Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI), Kochi Chapter

Mr. P. Ramachandran conducted a seminar for the members of CREDAI on the ‘Nuances of Plumbing in Multistorey Buildings’.

3. Indian Institute of Architects – Kochi

IPA partnered IIA Kochi in their novel Green-i programme to create an awareness and necessity for an environment friendly approach to construction.