Plumb jam

By Geraldine Roper, December 6, 2007 @ 12:38 pm

Andrew Southen with his invention, the isovalve. Photo by David Baird

A new valve is getting the plumbing business flowing again

Inventing a device that saves time, money and H₂0 makes Andrew Southen possibly New Zealand’s most creative plumber. Traditionally, plumbers jam newly-laid pipes with a plug that prevents water from escaping when the mains are turned on. When it’s time to add a tap or appliance at the end of the pipe, the mains are disconnected, the water is drained, the new fitting attached and the mains reconnected. It’s a time-consuming and dreary job.

Southen’s innovation speeds the whole process up. His invention, the Isovalve, does the job of the plug but at the flick of a tiny switch the water flow will begin. It can be left intact on the pipe, so the plumber no longer has to switch off mains, cut the pipe or reconnect the water supply. As a bonus, it can reduce the water pressure in taps from the typical flow of 16 litres per minute to six litres or less, benefiting both the user’s water bill and the environment.

The idea was hatched when Southen, a 25-year veteran of the plumbing biz, was fitting a basin at the Christchurch Radiation Laboratory in 2006. As usual, it was a messy job that involved turning off the entire building’s water supply.

“I was in a lethargic mood, probably suffering from Mondayitis,” says Southen. “I thought to myself, ‘I wish those plugs were valves’.”

And so the Isovalve was born. “I see the Isovalve doing to the plumbing industry what the screw top did to the wine industry,” says Southen. Since his first design, crudely made out of a bit of brass, the Isovalve has been redeveloped by an engineer and used and improved on the job by Southen.

And it clearly has a market: when a Dunedin store bought a trial batch of 20 Isovalves, it placed a second order for 40 and then a third for 60—all within a fortnight.

Southen plans to educate both plumbers and consumers about the advantages of the Isovalve with the $50,000 website his business, Isotec Ltd, has just won through the Zenago Emerging Business Award.

 Isotech is the winner of the Zenago Emerging Business Award, including a $50,000 website from Zenago. The judging panel was made up of Auckland Chamber of Commerce CEO Michael Barnett, NZTE group general manager business and regional capability Jack Stephens, Zenago founder Danny Sunkel and Idealog publisher Vincent Heeringa