The USFilter Consumer & Commercial Group (USF C&C Group) recently signed a five-year Global Cooperation Agreement with Underwriters Laboratories Inc. (UL). The agreement will allow the USF C&C Group to go through a combined certification process for many UL Marks, increasing the efficiency of qualifying products through its in-house laboratory.
"This combined certification will potentially allow us to get our water treatment products to consumers faster," says the USF C&C Group's vice president of research and development, Dr. Frank A. Brigano. "Also, consumers can be assured that products bearing the UL and WQA Marks have undergone rigorous testing."
Marks covered by the agreement include the traditional UL Mark, UL's Canadian C-UL Mark, UL's Environmental & Public Health (EPH) Mark, Water Quality Association's WQA Gold Seal, and Europe's CE marking.
As is true of other products, UL's certification marks appearing on water treatment equipment signify that these products meet all the applicable safety requirements, whether electrical, environmental and public health or quality-related, and include any necessary additional requirements such as food equipment hygiene.
The Water Quality Association, an independent third-party water industry trade association, has developed strict rating standards of its own. The WQA and UL recently signed an Agreement of Cooperation that permits the exchange of test data between the two organizations.
WQA's Gold Seal is awarded only to those water treatment systems that have met or exceeded industry standards for contaminant reduction performance, structural integrity, and materials safety. Manufacturers whose products bear the WQA Gold Seal have earned a reputation as producing quality water treatment products.
Northbrook, Illinois-based Culligan, a part of the USF C&C Group, plans on listing two of its most recent softener lines, the Culligan Medallist Series? and Culligan Gold Series? softeners, under this program. The Culligan Gold Series softeners are scheduled to be available to consumers this Spring.
Source: USFilter Consumer & Commercial
