Why apply for NSF certification
Q: Why should water purification equipment have an NSF certification?
A: Because NSF is an international agency and is the most representative inspection agency in the field of drinking water.
A water purifier that has obtained NSF international certification not only has to pass the pollutant removal test, but also must fully meet the following six conditions:
- The certification for pollutant removal must pass the test conducted by NSF International in its own laboratory.
- The water purifier must not add any harmful substances to the water, and all raw materials in contact with the water must pass strict extraction tests.
- The water purifier must be robust in construction, in order to meet the requirements for changes in pressure.
- Advertisements, manuals, and labels must not contain any false or misleading claims.
- The raw materials and manufacturing process must remain unchanged. Additionally, the suppliers must not be changed, and NSF official inspection must be received every year.
- Testing for certified products must be applied for every five years, and application and testing fees must be paid for again.
List of NSF standards:
The Drinking Water Treatment Units Joint Committee develops standards for the testing and certification of drinking water filtration equipment. These standards are formulated through a rigorous development process.
These standards include:
NSF/ANSI Standard 42 - Standard 42 includes: minimum standards for raw material safety, structural integrity, product information, and purification performance to reduce harmful substances and non-health-related pollutants. The most common claims are chlorine purification and plankton purification. The most common technology in standard 42 is activated carbon filtration, and the standard includes two products: the overall point of entry system (POE) and the point-of-use system (POU).
NSF/ANSI Standard 44 - Standard 44 establishes the minimum certification standard for household cation exchange water softeners. Standard 44 includes: material safety, structural integrity, accuracy of brine systems, product information, and the reduction of hardness and specific pollutants (such as radium 226/228 and barium) from known quality water sources.
NSF/ANSI Standard 53 - Standard 53 includes: raw material safety, structural integrity, product information and health-related pollutant purification reduction performance for: lead, Cryptosporidium, VOCs, chromium, and many other adjudicated minimum standards. The most common technology used in Standard 53 is activated carbon filtration, which is related to POE and POU standards. Some products fall under both standard 42 and standard 53 because they have been adjudicated to reduce harmful health-related contaminants.
NSF/ANSI Standard 55 - Standard 55 establishes the minimum standard for UV system certification. Standard 55 includes: material safety, structural integrity, product information and UV performance. UV systems can be classified into Class A (emission of a minimum ultraviolet dose of 40 megajoules per square centimeter) and Class B (emission of a minimum ultraviolet dose of 16 megajoules per square centimeter). Class A is a declaration for: the disinfection of water quality related to disease-causing bacteria, viruses, cryptosporidium, or caterpillars. Class B is a declaration for reduction of harmful microorganisms that usually breed in disinfected drinking water.
NSF/ANSI Standard 58 - Standard 58 establishes the minimum standard for POU reverse osmosis system certification. Standard 58 includes: raw material safety, structural integrity, product information, total dissolved solids (TDS), and additional pollutant purification declarations. These additional pollutant declarations include bag purification, brine purification, radium 266/228 purification, copper purification, hexavalent and trivalent chromium purification, arsenic purification, nitrate/nitrite purification, cadmium, and lead purification.
NSF/ANSI Standard 62 - Standard 62 establishes the minimum standards for certification of POU and POE distillation systems. Standard 62 includes: raw material safety, structural integrity, product information, total dissolved solids (TDS), and additional pollutant purification declarations.
NSF/ANSI Standard 177 - Standard 177 establishes the minimum standard for household shower filtration systems. Standard 177 includes: raw material safety, structural integrity, product information and chlorine purification.
Main source of information: NSF International (National Sanitation Foundation)