How Are Drinking Water Additives Products Certified?

At NSF, there's a simple seven-step process for certification of drinking water additives products:

1. Application
   Manufacturers of direct (drinking water treatment chemicals) or indirect (drinking water system components) water additives submit a one-page application form, the Application for Certification Services.

   

2. Formulation Information
   The applicant provides formulation information which reveals the composition of the product and potential contaminants. This information is held in confidence as it is proprietary to the manufacturers. When necessary, additional formulation information is gathered from the suppliers of the ingredients, raw materials, or components of the product.

3. Formulation Review
   NSF chemists and toxicologists conduct a formulation review to determine which analytical tests are necessary to evaluate the product for conformance with the Standard. Consideration is given to the degree of toxicological concern during the selection of the testing protocol for potential contaminants.

4. Initial Audit
   NSF field staff conduct an initial audit of the manufacturing facility to verify the identity and supplier sources of each ingredient, raw material, or component. This verification involves an inspection of the production and storage areas. The identity and supplier source of ingredients is verified by observing shipping containers and reviewing invoices. Chain-of-custody samples of the representative products are collected for qualification testing.

5. Product Testing
   NSF then conducts product testing according to the requirements of the Standard. This includes testing for chemical parameters as assigned previously by our toxicologists during the Formulation Review step.

   

6. Toxicology Evaluation
   Our toxicologists then review the completed qualification test report. They normalize measured contaminant concentrations, if detected, to reflect the levels expected "at the tap," and then compare them to the maximum allowable levels of the analytes in question. If they determine that the product is in compliance with the Standard, the toxicologist issues a recommendation for certification of the product. This authorization, along with other criteria such as the successful resolution of any items of noncompliance from the initial plant audit, serves as the documentation needed for the product to be added to our Official Listings.

7. Certification and Followup Services
   After the product is Listed, each certified manufacturing site will receive unannounced audit(s) by our field staff. During this visit, the NSF representative again verifies that the manufacturing process of the certified product does not depart from the original formulation or design. NSF reviews the manufacturing process and quality assurance records and collects a chain-of- custody monitoring sample of the certified product for follow-up testing in our laboratories to assure that there have been no changes to the product that could create adverse health effects to consumers.