By John Switala

Those of you with a keen eye or keen bum would have noticed a different set of 'seats' in the clubhouse toilets. The original toilets were installed when the clubhouse was built in 1986 and were showing some problems.

The problem wasn’t the bowl but the flushing mechanism or more correctly the ‘matching’ of the two elements – bowl and cistern. We had been getting many complaints that the 'contents' weren’t being evacuated, the re-fill time between flushes was too long, continual breakdowns creating leaks, etc.

Unfortunately just replacing the cisterns and their mechanisms was not an option. The original toilets installed were of the 'larger' size relying on more water to do the 'evacuation'. Replacement cisterns to match the bowls requirements were not available any more. Installing more modern cisterns, with lower water requirements, would not have performed as the bowl needed more water to do the job(bies). Additionally, in these times of water saving it seems appropriate to conserve as much water as possible and if we could install units that did the same evacuation job with half the water – that would be a good thing.

So it was necessary to replace both the bowls and the cisterns to get a proper outcome. The clubhouse committee of management decided to re-invest in the toilets and these were replaced in November 2007. The cistern on the men’s urinal was also replaced as it was continually breaking down and leaking. Enjoy the new facilities.

Photographs withheld due to content.

Another improvement you should be aware of is the replaced air-conditioning in the upstairs briefing room. While we have had air-conditioning in the room in the past it has struggled to do the job. The previous unit’s capacity was approximately 2 kilowatts in a room that required 6.3 kilowatts (according to the State Governments better air-conditioning web site).

The former unit while having some effect on the temperature was so loud that it had to be turned off during meetings, thus defeating the purpose of the unit! The new air conditioner is a split system unit so the noise of the compressor is left outside and its cooling power is 8.5 kilowatts.

The unit was installed as a result of a Local Government Grant of $2,500. Stu Smith did the leg work in the application, collating the quotes and chasing up the details. Pat Claridge from Council lent her support to the application.

The unit was commissioned in January during the Vic State comps and our scorer, Deniz Ture, who, installed in purgatory (the upstairs briefing room), was seen putting on a jacket about 30 minutes after the unit was fired up (pun intended).

Many thanks to Stu Smith who put the leg work and time into the grant application - we now have a room we can use comfortably all year round.