S14: Role of Independent Third Party Testing in Application of Water Treatment Technologies in Society

More than one billion people lack access to an improved water source according to the WHO. Point-of-use/point-of-entry systems offer a potential reduced exposure to waterborne pathogens. These systems play a role in protecting health where existing water sources, including those delivered via a piped network or other improved source, are either untreated, not treated properly, or become contaminated during storage, thus improving water quality and health where existing sources of drinking-water may be unsafe. Uncertainty among consumers, policy makers, and implementers on performance drove the need for national, consensus standards. Consensus bodies oversee standards as a balanced membership of external stakeholders: regulatory; manufacturers; and end users. The benefits of such programs reach the regulatory community, with an independent performance evaluation to base regulatory requirements; consumers, with purchasing confidence; and industry, which can demonstrate product quality and capabilities through independent testing and certification and provides a means of product differentiation and interest. Protocols are developed to provide a third-party evaluation mechanism for technologies where consensus standards have not yet been developed. Protocol development also utilizes a technical panel consisting of regulators, consumers, and manufacturers to set criteria and rely on existing standards, test methods, and procedures, when applicable. Since the initiation of consensus based programs, there have been the announcement of many new drinking water treatment unit programs beginning with Standard 42, Aesthetic Claims, (1973) to NSF Protocol P248, Emergency Military Operations Microbiological Water Purifiers (2005), adding and evolving to keep pace with public health demands and emerging technologies and methods.