ON•TAP responds to the urban challenge

ON•TAP, along with many environmentally water conscious South Africans, will celebrate World Water Day at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on 22 March 2011.

The World Water Day event, Water for the Cities - Responding to the Urban Challenge, will focus on the improvement of water management of our cities in the modern day and age.

Statistically speaking, one out of two people live in a city, while city populations keep growing. The problem is, investments in infrastructure have not kept up with the increasing rate of urbanisation, resulting in unstable water management.

The solution comes in the form of integrated urban management, starting at home so to speak. By emphasising increased recycling and reuse of water and waste, the World Water Day advocates sustainable management of freshwater resources.

Key issues that will be discussed during the event from 20 to 22 March, will include the growing urban water and sanitation demand; increased pollution from municipal and industrial discharges; climate change and its unforeseen risks and challenges; the over exploitation of available water resources, as well as better targeting of the urban poor.

World Water Day is a unique occasion to remind South Africans that solutions are possible. The Cape Town leg of the event is hosted by the South African Government, in collaboration with UN-Water and other concerned UN Entities (UNSGAB, UNEP, UN-HABITAT), as well as the African Ministers' Council on Water.

Join ON•TAP and support World Water Day at CTICC 22 March 2011.

Going green is what it's all about

ON•TAP supports Green Communities' social development programmes. Read more about the way Green Communities sustain our environment, over here.

ON•TAP supports IOPSA in promoting registered plumbing practices

Recent media coverage has shown that consumers worry about the quality of plumbers in South Africa. It is frightening to acknowledge that many so-called plumbers actually don't have qualifications or experience, which tarnishes the reputation of professional plumbers that do. What’s more is that consumers are still being tricked into receiving substandard service from plumbers with a total disregard for plumbing standards. In most cases, the consumer only discovers the faults many years later, which is a concern for health and safety hazards. So how do we, as South Africans, know if the plumber we hire is qualified and registered or not?

In keeping with the proposed new labour regulations, the Water Services Act, and the requirements of local authorities, ON•TAP together with IOPSA and other parties commissioned the establishment of the Plumbing Industry Registration Board (PIRB).

The PIRB has rolled out a comprehensive registration system for all plumbers to sign up for. If your plumber is registered with the PIRB, then you know that his/her performance has been monitored to ensure plumbing practices that protect the health and safety of the community.

With ON•TAP’s experience as a merchant to supply the plumbing industry and IOPSA’s governance of ethics, the PIRB aims to raise the standards of plumbing in the public interest, as well as improve the consensus of plumbers and plumbing in South Africa.

Thanks to this initiative, more metropolitans, local authorities and insurance companies require that only qualified PIRB plumbers are allowed to do plumbing works within their jurisdiction. We urge that all consumers need to be informed about the PIRB so that they can request to see their plumbers PIRB Registration Certificate before proceeding with the job.

SA Home Renovations bangs the drum for ON•TAP Cape Town

The SA Home Renovations website featured an article where ON•TAP Cape Town is praised for their dedicated service. They said the ON•TAP consultant spent several hours crawling through the showroom... supplying prices and answering questions and, eventually, preparing a quote.

Well done, ON•TAP Cape Town! You have made us proud.

If you want to read more about how ON•TAP assisted in choosing the right products for the renovations in the article, follow this link over here.

Heartwarming message from ON•TAP

ON•TAP Northriding sent out this rather nice email to their trustworthy suppliers, stating that they won't be hosting an end of year function this year. ON•TAP Northriding will be donating towards a Christmas Feeding Scheme instead.

Have a read if you (good)will.

ON•TAP supports Bafana Bafana

Soccer fever is officially in the air and ON•TAP Pietermaritzburg has been diagnosed with the complete symptoms, hence the staff showing signs of patriotic support on Soccer Friday! Please note that the hands-in-air gesture (apparently a wave originated in Mexico) is in fact contagious and may occur whenever Bafana Bafana is mentioned.

From Germany with love

ON•TAP Pietermaritzburg has been commended for their fast, friendly and efficient service - not only locally, but abroad as well. A customer from Germany recently bought a new geyser from ON•TAP for his house in Pietermaritzburg, currently occupied by one of his siblings . The geyser started leaking, which was brought to the attention of ON•TAP Pietermaritzburg's John Becker. He immediately assessed the situation, arranged with the supplier to replace the geyser promptly and free of charge.

Now that is service, but in the client's own words, "the guys worked quick and professionally, and the [new] geyser operates well."

Time to lace up your joggers!

ON•TAP Mossel Bay will be sponsoring the upcoming Gonna Marathon Relay that will be held on Saturday, 31 October 2009. It will take place at the Eden Country Inn, Kleinbrak, which is situated in the Mossel Bay area. There will be ±30 teams competing in the relay (which will cover a distance of 52km), and each team will have eleven members. The different categories for the Gonna fun relay include running clubs from local towns, teams from schools, churches, businesses and an open category. ON•TAP Mossel Bay will sponsor a t-shirt for the first 10 teams entering and an ON•TAP branded medal for every participant. Teams from previously underprivileged communities will also be included in the fun run - ON•TAP Mossel Bay will sponsor their entry fees, transport, gear and refreshments.

The reason for the event is to allow the communities in and around Mossel Bay to compete in a run where everybody gets a chance to take part - not only professionals!

Now that's good service

ON•TAP Pietermaritzburg is the pioneering ON•TAP franchise that was established in 1990. Since then, ON•TAP Pietermaritzburg has prided itself on excellent service delivery.

A satisfied customer recently e-mailed us, stating that they were very impressed with the excellent service they received from ON•TAP Pietermartizburg. They visited their nearest ON•TAP to ask for advice, as they are currently building a new house - they knew what they wanted, but not exactly. The customer was assisted by a very helpful ON•TAP sales assistant, Matt Howes. He browsed through the ON•TAP showroom with the customer until ideas sparked and decisions were made.

The customer said that Matt was very patient and even in the midst of a thousand questions being asked, he still took time to find the best solution for the customer's needs and answered each question with a smile. The customer is grateful for the excellent service, which made the rather menacing task of picking new baths, basins and mixers for a new house, a total breeze.

For more information about ON•TAP, visit our website or pop into your nearest ON•TAP store.

ON•TAP Bellville reaches out

At ON•TAP Bellville, we believe in doing our part for the community.


For the past two years, we've been giving donations to the Red Cross Children's Hospital. Our doors are always open to school groups that want to use our premises to educate their learners about taps and sanitaryware, most recently, the Carel du Toit School for the Hearing Impaired visited us. We are currently in the process of donating sanitaryware to homes in underprivileged areas that were affected by ravaging fires.

ON•TAP Hillcrest turns ten!

The year 1999 held a lot of critical importance: firstly, it was the end of the nineties; it was the last twelve months before the turn of a new millennium; and people were afraid of the Y2K bug's "destructive powers".

For ON•TAP Plumbing Supplies, 1999 showed much promise as it saw the opening of ON•TAP's third franchise in Hillcrest, Kwazulu-Natal.

ON•TAP Hillcrest opened their doors in 1999. Humble beginnings, with a staff membership of two partners and one shop assistant. It's been a long time since then and a lot has changed. The store moved location in 2002 to bigger premises, thus a bigger showroom could be sported, with a total current staff count of thirteen.

ON•TAP Hillcrest has come a long way, and the past ten years proved to be valuable in lessons. Integrity, asset management and service excellence play a major part in running a business like ON•TAP.

The ON•TAP Hillcrest ten year celebration was held at the Heritage Theatre in conjunction with the Rotary Club of Hillcrest. The event was celebrated with dinner, drinks and entertainment, Woodstock Remembered. The proceeds of the charity event went to Fulton School of the Deaf, Hillcrest High School and the Hillcrest Aids Center.

ON•TAP Plumbing Supplies wishes the staff at ON•TAP Hillcrest
many more prosperous years in the business.

An ON•TAP customer is a satisfied customer

A satisfied customer recently e-mailed us, because they were so impressed by the excellent service ON•TAP Edenvale had to offer. This led them to buy all the plumbing accessories they needed to renovate their old-fashioned bathroom into a modern wet room, from ON•TAP Edenvale.

The satisfied ON•TAP customer was pleasantly surprised to find that even though ON•TAP Edenvale has been open a few months, the consultants had excellent product knowledge and plumbing know-how. ON•TAP Edenvale's expert advice helped the customer to make the right choice from the wide selection of top quality products that was on offer.

The satisfied customer was helped to purchase the shower, taps and basin, and said that they'd definitely return to ON•TAP for the sanitary ware, as well as future plumbing needs. Now you might ask yourself,

"What on earth is a wet room?"

Well, simply put: it is a bathroom, where the shower area is level with the surrounding floor. It's like having a walk-in shower.

You can turn your old-fashioned bathroom
into a very sleek finished, modern wet room.

We'll let you in on a few secrets...

• Water-resistant cement-based coatings are fancied above the traditionally used ceramic type tiles.

• Wall-mounted basins and water closets give the bathroom a spacious feel.

• Built-in flush-fitting systems will allow your bathroom the neat and sleek finish that you desire.

• Dual flush-systems save water and are easy to maintain.

When it comes to renovating a bathroom into a wet room, you must know what you want and how you plan on doing it. We suggest you visit your nearest ON•TAP branch for expert advice.

Gonna with the wind

ON•TAP sponsored the first ever Gonna Marathon Relay held on Saturday, 1 November. It took place at the Riverside Lodge in Kleinbrak, which is situated in the Mossel Bay area. The 21 teams that took part in the marathon consisted of ten members each. The different categories sported local towns, neighbourhoods, schools and churches, competing in this fun run. ON•TAP sponsored a t-shirt and medal for every Gonna participant. Three previously disadvantaged teams were sponsored to take part in the event - ON•TAP covered their entry fees, transport, gear and refreshments.

The reason for the event was to allow the communities in and around Mossel Bay to compete in a run where not only professionals took part. The Gonna Marathon Relay proved to be a fun filled day for the family - thus a successful, uplifting experience for all!