In April 2024, the International Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Foundation (IWSH) returned to Lowndes County, Ala., for the third consecutive year for the IWSH Community Plumbing Challenge (CPC).
The challenge aims to drive change in a region that has suffered from inadequate sanitation for decades.
Lowndes County is one of the poorest counties in the country based on per capita income in the Black Belt Region.
The term “Black Belt” refers to a region historically characterized by its dark, fertile soil.
Jed Scheuermann, IWSH North America Program Director and UA Local 290 member said Lowndes County doesn’t have a municipal wastewater treatment facility, making conventional septic systems generally impossible to install.
“Most people straight pipe the sewage from their homes into their backyards, creating cesspools of sewage,” Scheuermann said. “Among the highest incidences of disease and infections caused by untreated sewage in the world are in Africa, Asia, South America and Lowndes County.”
Many UA Locals in Alabama and the South Central Pipe Trades (SCPT) have been indispensable to IWSH’s CPCs.
For this year’s challenge, IWSH team members were joined by Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 52, Montgomery, Ala., Business Agent Jim “Jimbo” Thomas and members Pete Wingard and Matt Owens.
“Local 52 has gone above and beyond the call to help us,” Scheuermann said.
IWSH partnered with the Black Belt Unincorporated Wastewater Program (BBUWP) to identify homes needing sewage disposal systems and high-efficiency plumbing fixtures.
Local 52 directly impacts residents’ well-being
This year, Local 52 members repaired plumbing systems and installed high-efficiency plumbing fixtures in five homes, directly impacting the residents’ health and well-being.
“Their plumbing systems are terrible,” Local 52 Business Manager John Paul Smith said. “Some are drained out into a hole in the ground covered with tin or plywood. It’s the type of soil that will not percolate–they call it prairie mud. We’ve put more efficient fixtures in that don’t use as much water, such as water-efficient toilets, bathtubs and faucets.”
“We fixed things that hadn’t been fixed in years,” Thomas said. “We also went inside their laundry rooms and fixed the washing machines. They didn’t have the right plumbing to begin with and some of it was awful.”
This work is important to the residents’ safety, and Thomas noted that the residents are grateful and Local 52 enjoys doing the work.
“We’re helping people who can’t afford to do it and it makes us feel good,” Thomas said. “It’s not safe to have sewage running out from underneath your home. Their septic tanks aren’t any good. These people need the help and they’ve needed it for a long time.”
Scheuermann said any life safety hazard they come across is immediately addressed.
“The guys from Local 52 have been phenomenal,” Scheuermann said. “Every single CPC we’ve done in Lowndes County, they’ve sent volunteers. Pete Wingard has been on everyone. After we left, one of the residents called back and said her water heater sprung a leak. I called John Paul Smith and they went back and installed a new one for us. It’s the heart of the UA.”
