Calif. Now Requires Certs for Water Products

NSF International (www.nsf.org) announced that the revised California Waterworks Standards will now formally require certification for all drinking water treatment and distribution products used by public water systems.
The waterworks standards provide criteria in the design, construction, and operation of public water systems. NSF/ANSI Standard 60: Drinking Water Treatment Chemicals — Health Effects includes requirements for chemicals that are used to treat drinking water, while NSF/ANSI Standard 61: Drinking Water System Components — Health Effects includes requirements for all devices, components, and materials that come in contact with drinking water.

Certification of products to NSF/ANSI Standard 60 has been required in the California Waterworks Standards since 1994. The new regulations will now also require all treatment chemicals to be tested on an annual basis by an ANSI-accredited certification organization.
Forty-five states require chemicals to comply with NSF 60 requirements, and 40 states require chemicals to be tested and certified by an ANSI-accredited organization. California, however, is the first state to require that chemicals be tested on an annual basis. 



Certification of drinking water treatment and distribution equipment to NSF/ANSI Standard 61 has been specified by many water utilities in California for several years; however, the standard was not formally required in state regulations. The new edition of the California Waterworks Standards, which went into effect on Mar. 9, requires treatment and distribution equipment to be certified to NSF/ANSI Standard 61 by an ANSI-accredited organization. The state plumbing code has required that plumbing products be certified to NSF/ANSI 61 for several years.



To review the current version of the California Waterworks Standards, visit the California Department of Public Health”s Web site at, ww2.cdph.ca.gov/services/DPOPP/regs/Documents/R-14-03-FINALRegTextInternetVersion.doc.