Osborne Park manufacturer Alder Tapware is no stranger to the early adopter tag.
Osborne Park manufacturer Alder Tapware is no stranger to the early adopter tag.
After all, under its former name of Tony Alder Taps, it claims to have been the first Australian manufacturer to offer budget friendly coloured tap options.
That was in the 1980s, with the business established in Catherine and Tony Alder’s dining room in 1982.
In the intervening decades it has grown to a multi-million-dollar operation, with four factories producing high-quality, cost-effective plumbing products.
Now, they’re getting a jump on their Australian competition by becoming an early adopter of the National Construction Code requirements, due to come into effect on May 1, 2026.
Under the code, copper alloy plumbing products containing more than 0.25 per cent lead will no longer be allowed in plumbing systems used for drinking water.
The decision to move to a new code came after a review by Macquarie University in 2018, commissioned by the Australian Building Codes Board, to determine the extent to which plumbing products may contribute to lead levels in drinking water.
The report found that, although Australia’s drinking water is of a high quality and meets the Australian Drinking Water Quality Guidelines, there is potential for lead to leach from copper alloy plumbing products in contact with drinking water.
While the risk of lead leaching and the levels involved are low, the study found there could be negative long-term health outcomes, particularly in children younger than six years.
Mr Alder said adopting innovative practices at low cost had always been part of his company’s DNA.
“We’ve always prided ourselves on being an early adopter in the industry, whether that’s with cosmetic trends or manufacturing processes,” Mr Alder told Business News.
“The purpose of lead in the first place is to make the alloy more malleable. Two per cent lead in brass gives it free-machining capability.”
Free machining is a manufacturing process whereby additives are used to improve a metal’s machinability.
Traditionally, to improve the machinability of brass and other metals, small amounts of lead are added to lubricate tools and enable easier cutting.
“So, in making this move we’ve had to overhaul our manufacturing process,” Mr Alder said.
Despite the factory revamp leading to a 15 per cent increase in manufacturing costs, Alder general manager Sarah Fairweather said the company would not pass the increase on to customers.
“We have invested in research, design and significant manufacturing changes at our factory in China and are now actively marketing our more affordable lead-free range to building companies and plumbing product wholesalers,” she said.
“We’ve invested a lot of money and time in developing these products – and developing them early – so we hope to get a real edge in Australia and New Zealand by providing lead-free taps at a low cost from the outset.”
Ms Fairweather, who is Tony’s daughter, said the fact Alder was a family business had always meant there was a focus on social responsibility.
“It is important to make the point that the level of lead in existing Australian tapware is not directly harmful,” she said.
“But our view was always that, as a family with children of our own, if you could do something to eliminate any kind of health risk, why would you not make this a priority?
“On that basis, this was simply a case of being the right thing to do, especially in moving as quickly as we could to remove what is currently a major barrier to families with children, overcoming the barrier of higher price points.”
Ms Fairweather said while the brand wouldn’t be the first to unveil lead-free taps, there was a shortage of options for customers on a budget.
“It is very expensive and practically inaccessible to people in the first- and second-home market,” she said.
“I think with the trend of people caring more about their health in the past few years – and their children’s health – we’ve had a lot of positive feedback about our early move.”
