Castlederg pair William Torrens and Ian Rankin, who work for Northern Ireland Water, finished second place in a 'Champion of Champions' event to mark the 20th anniversary of the Institution of Water Officers (IWO) UK Drilling and Tapping competition.

The event took place recently at the International Water and Effluent Exhibition which was part of Sustainabilitylive! held at the NEC Birmingham.

The IWO invited back all past champions to compete in the showcase event, and the Castlederg team, who were 2003 champions, finished in a time of three minutes and 34 seconds.

The drilling and tapping competition is a water industry time trial event with two participants in each team. Competitors have to produce a typical connection to a watermain. This involves drilling and tapping a hole in an iron watermain by hand and connecting all the necessary pipe-work and fittings, including a meter box, meter and water tap. This is all carried out on a 'live' main which is pressurized at 70 -100 psi (pound force per square inch). The time taken from the start until the tap is turned on and water hits the floor is recorded.