PPG Is Conserving Water

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Last Thursday we celebrated Earth Day, a day where we recognize the importance of our earth’s environment and take measures to combat the issues that threaten it. This Friday will mark Arbor Day, a celebration of trees, usually observed by the planting of one.

In honor of these days and in honor of Spring, a season where we revel in the beauty of nature, we’d like to talk about the work PPG is doing to help keep the environment safe and make a positive impact on our earth. Specifically, being a good steward for water conservation.

Water Conservation

We take our role in the professional plumbing industry seriously and have devoted our focus on environmental stewardship to water conservation, making it a core focus of our products.

The increased human demand for water coupled with growing environmental concerns means that the future of the human water supply is not secure. All over the world, more than 2 billion people are without safe drinking water. Without water efficiency and water conservation efforts to sustainably manage fresh water and protect the hydrosphere, that number is set to double in the next four years.

This is why PPG utilizes its unique position in the plumbing industry to ensure water conservation is as easy as screwing on a new shower head.

For instance, Professional Plumbing Group brands like PlumbMaster and Speakman follow low lead regulations to ensure fresh water remains potable for generations to come.

Both brands also manufacture and sell WaterSense certified products. WaterSense is a program sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency designed to encourage water efficiency in the United States through the use of specific water-efficient products.

Together these products help to preserve water and leave us with a “greener” environment.

Conserving Water Through Improved Design

For the Professional Plumbing Group and its Speakman brand, water conservation isn’t just about following current specifications and regulations, it’s also about improving design to deliver the same level of performance while enhancing a product’s water-saving capabilities. We believe that to change behavior, to really inspire actual change in the shower, the shower itself needs to deliver incredible performance from start to finish.

Today, every plumbing manufacturer offers water-saving products, but they are not all the same. Speakman reviewed the existing low-flow showerheads on the market and found that while they saved water, they sacrificed performance. So Speakman developed a unique spray engine intended to deliver a more compelling shower experience while still remaining water efficient. As water enters the impeller-powered shower engine, the device activates, infusing energy and velocity into every spray. The result is a powerful, intense experience that is statistically proven to outperform competitor models in both force, thermal retention, and spray coverage.

Case Studies For Conservation

Acutely aware of mother nature’s precious and limited resources, the Professional Plumbing Group and Speakman work to conserve water in other business places as well.

Understanding the value of protecting good, clean water, the owners of the Dogfish Inn, located in Delaware, wanted to minimize their impact as much as possible, so they sought to actively limit their waste stream. Efforts include wastewater irrigation systems, repurposing large ingredient containers to make rain barrels, and partnering with the local chapter of the Nature Conservancy to plant a native coastal forest that dramatically cuts storm water runoff, prevents evaporation, encourages soil stabilization, and helps clean water before it makes it to local streams and rivers. Switching over to low-flow showers, provided by Speakman, allowed them to still deliver a great guest experience while continuing to conserve water, a natural extension of their water conservation philosophy.

Death Valley averages less than two inches of rainfall each year. Furnace Creek Resort, situated in a lush oasis surrounded by the vast and arid desert of Death Valley National Park, California, hosts two hotels. With a commitment to legendary hospitality and a dedication to a softer environmental footprint, Furnace Creek operates with sustainability at the heart of its business. Water is a scarce and precious resource both in Death Valley and throughout the State Of California. This left them with the challenge of delivering a superb guest experience while saving water in one of the harshest environments in the country. Reigning in water usage comes in many forms including linen reuse programs, serving water upon request only in dining areas, refraining from aqua-thawing during food preparation, and reducing water use for the upkeep of grounds and gardens through drip irrigation and planting of native drought-tolerant species. But with 367 shower heads on the property, installing updated low flow models, provided by Speakman, was a great opportunity for Furnace Creek to showcase their environmental commitment and provide a superb guest experience, all while helping reach their conservation goals. These showerheads actively save 1.5 gallons per minute, adding up to well over 738,000 gallons per year.

Make Your Shower Count

Speakman understands that shower time is the time to relax and enjoy yourself. For many people, the shower is the only time alone they get. Speakman doesn’t want to interrupt your me time. But everything that happens on land ultimately affects the ocean.

At the moment, the average showerhead consumes roughly 25 gallons of water per shower. However, in less than five minutes, you can change out your average water-wasting shower head for a Speakman showerhead and make your shower easy on the earth.

Speakman showerheads save up to 20% of water per shower. This adds up to billions of gallons conserved every year.

Watch the video below to see how easy it is to change your shower head and make a difference:

PPG Is Speakman

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In 1869, Allen and Joseph Speakman opened a small plumbing workshop in Wilmington, Delaware. Devoted to their craft, they would go on to create the world’s first adjustable shower head, the Anystream Shower Head, introduced in 1927.

With the turn of a lever, the Anystream Shower Head effortlessly allows users to change the shower head’s spray settings to the stream of their choice, thus the name. Whether that be an invigorating massage spray to wake you up in the morning, a gentle rinse created to replicate a relaxing rain shower, or a heavy soak designed to drench every inch of your existence.

The Anystream Shower Head, advertised in a series of National Geographic ads run in the 1930s, helped to change the way America thought of showers, popularizing the “shower bath”, as it was called, over the traditional soak in the bathtub.

As showers and Speakman shower heads became more popular in the home, the Anystream shower head became a regular fixture in hotels around the globe, due in large part to its self-cleaning capabilities. To this day, Speakman shower heads continue to be utilized and beloved by resorts all over the world. If you’ve taken a shower in a hotel, you’ve most likely already used a Speakman shower head.

With patents for more than a hundred designs, Speakman continues to pioneer innovations not just for showers but faucets, emergency safety equipment, and more.

Though Speakman isn’t only about performance. Architects and designers have used and worked with Speakman to create simple, beautiful, elegant designs that stand out in any bathroom.

Award-winning designer, Clodagh, joined forces with Speakman to create the Lura Collection, an assortment of classic bathroom fixtures featuring a modern twist. Minimal and industrial design comes together to create crisp lines and pronounced curves that are ideal for traditional home bathrooms and contemporary commercial restrooms alike.

Renowned hotel and resort designer, Roger Thomas, teamed up with Speakman to produce the Vector Collection, an assemblage of modern bathroom fixtures that guide the eye throughout the lavatory to create a visual experience that’s enticing at every angle.

With more than a century and a half under its belt, the Speakman Company continues to build upon its expertise in showering while releasing new products for the entire bathroom, including new eco-friendly products, as well as the kitchen.

Only recently, Speakman adapted its touchless technology utilized in commercial bathrooms for the home with the release of the Speakman Sensor Kitchen Faucets. In today’s world, hygiene and safety are more important than ever. Touchless sensor faucets are an easy way to add some peace of mind when it comes to preventing the spread of germs.

However, this is not Speakman’s first foray into safety and peace of mind. Since 1869, Speakman has been designing emergency equipment that delivers superior performance, ensuring a safe facility as well as 100% ANSI and OSHA compliance.

Like Speakman’s emergency showers, rigorously tested to deliver a drenching barrage of water in the event of a crisis.

Or Speakman’s patented dual waterway EyeSaver eyewash, celebrating its 21st anniversary this year. With tens of thousands of people experiencing work-related eye injuries every year, emergency eyewash stations play a critical role in any work facility where chemicals are handled or stored. The Speakman Eyesaver is the original patented eyewash and faucet combination with dual waterways that easily installs on an existing sink. It incorporates two separate water channels in the faucet body, one for the eyewash and the other for the faucet. When combined with a thermostatic mixing valve, this dual design ensures that the integrated eyewash delivers a consistently safe, tepid water temperature when flushing the eyes while Speakman’s signature Optimus aerated spray creates a gentle cleansing experience for the affected eye area.

Whether it’s lifesaving emergency equipment, beautiful bathroom products built to last, or the best-in-class shower head, Speakman invites you to explore our diverse assortment of fixtures and products perfectly engineered for performance and style.

PPG Is 370 Years Combined Experience

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In 1869, Allen and Joseph Speakman opened a small plumbing workshop in Wilmington, Delaware. Devoted to their craft, they would go on to create the world’s first adjustable shower head, changing the way America thought of showers, and earning more than a hundred patents for the design and innovation of showerheads, faucets, emergency equipment, and more. With more than a century and a half under its belt, the Speakman Company continues to build upon its expertise in showering while releasing new products for the entire bathroom, including new eco-friendly products, all while remaining one of the most trusted brands by hotels, architects, designers, and homeowners around the globe.

In 1896, only 27 years later, Wolverine Brass was founded inside a small two-story wood-frame building in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Wolverine Brass began by engineering and producing the highest quality brass fittings, made largely by hand, sold direct from the factory to plumbers. To this day, 125 years later, Wolverine Brass works to produce superior faucets, toilets, valves, and other specialty products for its exclusive distributor, PlumbMaster.

In 1924, industry leaders P&M Manufacturing and the Creed Company came together to form PlumbMaster, a plumbing parts distributor with expert professional plumbing insight. PlumbMaster features more than 25,000 products sold on PlumbMaster.com and strives to be a source of information for the professional plumbing industry. With our proven plumbing proficiency, inventory program, competitive pricing, and expertise in locating hard-to-find parts, PlumbMaster has been able to deliver unmatched service for all the brands you trust and rely upon for the past 97 years.

While each of our brands is distinct in its customer base and service offering, all three are housed under the umbrella of the Professional Plumbing Group (PPG).  PPG designs, engineers, markets, and distributes plumbing products across every channel of the professional plumbing industry.

PPG is the Professional Plumbing Group.

And PPG is the Speakman Company, offering the best-in-class shower head and Speakman safety products for 152 years.

PPG is 125 years of Wolverine Brass shower valves, Wolverine Brass kitchen faucets, and hundreds of other top-quality Wolverine Brass parts.

And PPG is the many PlumbMaster catalogs and products of the past 97 years.

PPG is over 370 years of combined experience in plumbing.

And PPG is so much more.