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WQA Validation of Drinking Water Treatment Units (DWTU's)
Introduction to the standards
The general requirements for WQA validation are:
1. Contaminant reduction claims (these are the specific claims the manufacturer is making with the water quality association, such as chlorine removal)
2. Structural Integrity (ensures the system is structurally sound)
3. "Materials" safety (ensures that the product materials of construction do not add contaminants to the product water)
4. Literature review (requires specific information be provided in the manufacturer's product literature)
5. Materials of construction and manufacturing processes do not change without review of the alterations
The Water Quality Association evaluates drinking water treatment products according to ten different standards. Product validation must be conducted in accordance with one or more of the following standards to ensure compliance with the requirements listed above.
Water Quality Assocition Standards: The four Water Quality Association industry standards reference the equivalent current ANSI/NSF standard with the following acception. The Water Quality Association standards allow two options for manufacturers to show "Materials" safety. "Materials" Safety can be demonstrated by system extraction testing or Code of Federal Regulation Title 21 compliance. The ASNI/NSF standards only allow for extraction testing. Below is a list of the Water Qulaity Association standards and corresponding ANSI/NSF Standards.
WQA S-100 / ANSI/NSF 44
WQA S-200 / ANSI/NSF 42
WQA S-300 / ANSI/NSF 58
WQA S-400 / ANSI/NSF 62
A detailed explanaiton of each of the ANSI/NSF drinking water treatment standards follows:
ANSI/NSF 42
ANSI/NSF 44
ANSI/NSF 53
ANSI/NSF 55
ANSI/NSF 58
ANSI/NSF 63
ANSI/NSF 42 - "Drinking Water Treatment Units - Aesthetic Effects. This standard is used to evaluate water filters for aesthetic claims. Scope - The point of use and point of entry systems adressed by this Standard are designed to be used for the reduction of specific substances that may be present in drinking water (public or private) considered to be microbiologically safe and of known quality. Systems covered under this Standard are intended to reduce substances affecting the aesthetic quality of the water or to add chemicals for scale control, or both. Substances may be soluble or particulate in nature at concentrations influencing public acceptance of the drinking water. It is recognized that a system may be effective in controlling one or more of these substances but is not required to control all. Systems with components of functions covered under other ANSI/NSF standards or criteria shall comply with those applicable requirements.
ANSI/NSF 44 - "Residential Cation Exchange Water Softeners" This standard is to evaluate water softeners. Scope - The manual, autoinitiated, and demand initiated regeneration residential cation exchange water softeners addressed by the Standard are designed to be used for the removal of hardness and the reduction of specific contaminants from drinking water supplies (public or private) considered to be microbiologically safe and of known quality. Systems with components of functions covered under other ANSI/NSF standards or criteria shall comply with those applicable requirements.
ANSI/NSF 53 - "Drinking Water Treatment Units - Health Effects" This standard is used to evaluate water filters for health claims. Scope - The point of use and point of entry systems adressed by this Standard are designed to be used for the reduction of specific substances that may be present in drinking water (public or Private). These substances are considered established or potential health hazards. They may be microbiological, chemical, or particulate (including filterable cysts) in nature. It is recognized that a system may be effective in controlling one or more of these contaminants, but it is not required to control all. Activated carbon filter systems covered by this Standar
Friday,July 27, 2001 at 3:59 PM
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Copyright 2010 by the Water Quality Association – All rights reserved.
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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