The Water Quality Association :
Members Only Section :
Water Quality Research Foundation :
WQRF — Funded Studies
WQRF — Funded Studies
Since its inception, the WQRF has sponsored numerous research studies. Here are just a few of the landmark studies you, as an industry associate, and as a business owner, have used, relied upon and benefited from:
- Home Water Corrosion Study — Initiated as a response to uninformed opinions among various groups that softened water was more corrosive than the source water. These beliefs developed due to confusions between naturally soft or low total dissolved solids (TDS) content water, which is aggressive, and softened hard water, which is no more aggressive than its source water. The study’s findings supported the industry’s position that softened water poses no corrosion problems.
- Brine Discharge Issues — In the mid-60s, water pollution became a national issue and concerns over brine discharge became more pronounced, especially in California. WQRC responded to these concerns by forming a liaison between WQRC and the American Water Works Association (AWWA) to better relations between the two organizations and by proposing a study to look into the issue. This signaled the early commitment of the industry to resolve such problems in a fair and cooperative manner.
- Potential Effects of Water Softener Use on Septic Tank Soil and on Wastewater Treatment Plants — Studies find that water softener discharge has no effect on the bacteria agents in a septic system, nor does it damage the soil structure. In fact, it was found that the hardness minerals in the regeneration discharge might even improve the soil’s permeability and its ability to process the waste into the ground.
- Chloroform Study — Laid the ground work in NSF/ANSI standards for carbon filter manufacturers to test effectiveness for chloroform and claim effectiveness for 53 regulated synthetic organic chemicals.
- Leaching of Metals from Household Plumbing Materials: Study of the Impact of Home Water Softeners — The results demonstrated that there is no link between softened water and corrosion. This US Environmental Protection Agency study, funded by WQRF, provides scientific support that ion exchange water softening does not affect the corrosivity of water.
- Characterization of Heterotrophic Bacterial Populations in Point-of-Use Water Treatment Systems — WQRF cooperatively sponsored the NSF/World Health Organization International Symposium on Heterotrophic Plate Count (HPC) Bacteria in Drinking Water Public Health Implications, convened in Geneva, Switzerland in April 2002. The WHO Expert Committee’s resulting conclusions are that "increases of HPC (microorganisms) (due to growth) in these (domestic water devices, including water softeners, carbon filters, etc.) therefore, do not indicate the existence of a health risk." WQRF research continues to show that if the average consumer in the United States uses a point-of-use (POU) water treatment device at home on a weekly basis, they will ingest less than 2 percent of their total bacterial intake from the POU-treated water. The literature review also demonstrated that the same types of HPC bacteria are common in foods. Thus, extensive scientific evidence has objectively and consistently verified that HPC bacteria in POU- and POE-treated drinking water are not harmful.
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Wed, Sep 8, 2010
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Water Quality Association
International Headquarters & Laboratory
4151 Naperville Road
Lisle, IL 60532-3696
USA
630 505 0160, Fax 630 505 9637
info@wqa.org, www.wqa.org
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