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
Source: NSF International