State Regulators Disagree with WWEMA on ETV

June 19, 2001

ANN ARBOR, Mich., June 18 /PRNewswire/ -- NSF International

( http://www.nsf.org ), The Public Health and Safety Company(TM), and state

regulators disagree with recent Water and Wastewater Equipment Manufacturers

Association (WWEMA) statements concerning the Environmental Technology

Verification (ETV) Drinking Water Systems Center. In a press release dated

June 5, 2001, WWEMA stated opposition to the Environmental Protection Agency

(EPA) funding of the Center. NSF is the world leader in food, water and

environment-related certification and education services for public health and

safety issues. State regulators are, in fact, increasingly reliant on ETV

protocols and data in their decision-making process and strongly support EPA's

continued funding of the Center.

    (Photo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000310/DEF001-a )

    On October 1, 2000, NSF International entered into a cooperative agreement

with the EPA to form the ETV Drinking Water Systems Center. Partial funding

for the ETV Center is provided by the EPA Office of Research and Development

(ORD). The Center fulfills an ORD core mission objective to evaluate and

assess innovative solutions for important environmental problems. The Center

is responsible for developing protocols for technology verification, managing

verifications, providing project quality assurance and issuing final

verification reports. ETV activity also addresses needs of the EPA-Office of

Water to provide information in support of regulatory decision-making, which

requires data on treatment effectiveness and cost implications. In

independently-given interviews, manufacturers of recently-completed ETV

reports indicated that the EPA's involvement was of critical importance to the

value of verification.

    "States use NSF Protocols and Verification Reports on treatment plants to

make decisions about appropriate technology and to reduce pilot testing

requirements. In some cases, pilot testing is eliminated," commented Kevin

Brown, President-Elect of the Association of State Drinking Water

Administrators (ASDWA) and Chairperson of the ETV Stakeholder Committee.

    "Although the stakeholders do not always agree on approaches, the program

that has evolved has helped bring technology into the drinking water industry

in a more expeditious manner," stated Richard H. Sakaji, PE, Ph.D., Senior

Sanitary Engineer, California Department of Health Services. "As an example,

the ETV report on UV disinfection technology has thrust UV technology into the

commercial market and the U.S. EPA is now looking to include the technology in

its toolbox to protect public drinking water supplies from microbiological

contamination."

    Bruce Bartley, ETV Manager for NSF, said, "These comments are consistent

with a recent survey of ASDWA members on the ETV Stakeholder Committee. The

survey reported a steadily-increasing reliance on ETV by the States. Given the

fact that this program has just begun to produce verification reports, we

consider the level of acceptance encouraging. With 14 new reports scheduled to

come out this year, ETV support will only increase."

    NSF International, a not-for-profit organization, is dedicated to

improving public health, safety and protection of the environment.  A global

leader in standards development and product certification, NSF tests and

certifies more than 130,000 products worldwide and continually develops new

programs in response to public and environmental issues.  NSF offers a broad

range of services, including accredited food equipment certification;

comprehensive food safety and quality systems auditing; HACCP-9000(R)

registration and verification; certification for water distribution systems;

certification for dietary supplements, bakery products and nonfood compounds;

management systems registration; and toxicology consulting. NSF also provides

learning opportunities through its Center for Public Health Education.

    NSF is a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Food Safety

and Drinking Water Safety and Treatment.  Founded in 1944, NSF is

headquartered in Ann Arbor, MI, with offices and laboratories around the

world.

    For more information on the EPA-funded ETV Drinking Water Treatment

Systems Center, contact Bruce Bartley, Manager, at (734) 769-5148 or

[email protected] .

Source: NSF International

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