At the recent 8th World Plumbing Conference in Calgary, Canada, GP Russ Chaney, executive director of the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials, was elected deputy chairman of the World Plumbing Council (WPC) effective Oct. 1 for a term of three years.

Chaney, who previously served on the WPC’s executive board from 2002-2005, has represented the WPC at international meetings of the World Health Organization, WorldSkills competitions and earlier this year at the meetings of the Institute of Plumbing in South Africa.

Chaney succeeds former Deputy Chairman Robert Burgon of the Scottish & Northern Ireland Plumbing Employers’ Federation, who in Calgary was elected WPC Chairman. Their terms in office will end in September 2011, when the 9th World Plumbing Conference is to be held in Edinburgh, Scotland.

The newly elected executive board convened this month in Seoul, South Korea, to update the WPC’s strategic plan, and will gather again in Frankfurt, Germany, in March 2009. The new board consists of seven people representing five nations: the United States, Canada, India, China and the United Kingdom.

“Chairman Burgon and I have worked closely together for the past six years on matters pertaining to education and training and the role plumbing plays in protecting the health and safety of people all over the world,” Chaney said. “I look forward to continuing this work in my new role as Deputy Chairman, promoting the vital importance of clean water and proper sanitation practices within the most metropolitan cities, the least developed rural communities and everything in between.”

Linden Raimer, vice president of the American Society of Sanitary Engineering was also elected to the WPC executive board as a Board Member. Raimer is currently employed as a senior director of The IAPMO Group, though he will retire at the end of this year.

The WPC works to develop and promote the image and standards of the plumbing industry worldwide and to encourage and facilitate the exchange of information, ideas and technology between plumbing industry organizations and individuals around the globe. It also promotes and assists in plumbing industry education and training, recognizing the need for appropriate standards and their international recognition, and seeks to create awareness of the plumbing industry’s role in protecting the environment by providing safe fresh water and sanitation through proper management, care, reuse and conservation of natural resources. For more information about the WPC, visit www.worldplumbing.org.