NSF/ANSI Standard 350: Water Reuse Technologies

Innovative product designers and manufacturers have begun developing technologies to treat and reuse water while keeping it onsite. This type of decentralized treatment and reuse offers a solution that is sustainable, efficient, and highly practical. But with any new technology or new processes comes uncertainty and skepticism. With water reuse, improper treatment prior to use can create public health issues.

Enter NSF/ANSI Standard 350: Onsite Residential and Commercial Water Reuse Treatment Systems, a revolutionary standard that sets clear, rigid, yet realistic guidelines for water reuse treatment systems. With a key focus on public health and appropriate water quality criteria for reuse applications, this is the first standard of its type for comprehensive evaluation of water reuse technologies, spanning residential and commercial applications.

To learn more about NSF/ANSI Standard 350:

Standard Overview

Following four years in development, NSF/ANSI Standard 350 was published in 2011. Created in a consensus process with leading industry manufacturers, users and public health officials, the standard establishes minimum material, design and construction, and performance requirements for onsite graywater, residential and commercial water treatment systems.

This innovative standard:

  • Assures water is treated to safe level for specific reuse, non-potable applications like surface or subsurface irrigation, toilet/urinal flushing, decorative fountains, etc.
  • Applies to any technology type capable of meeting the requirements, without limitations on system design or treatment capacity
  • Includes physical, chemical and microbiological reduction requirements to assure public health safety and suitable reuse

A Trusted Leader

The standard was spearheaded by NSF International, a not-for-profit organization that has been developing standards, performing laboratory testing and certifying products for more than 65 years. With an impressive collaborator list which includes the World Health Organization (WHO), the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), the National Environmental Health Association (NEHA), and the National Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association (NOWRA), NSF has a solid reputation for protecting public health, safety and the environment.

Certification

NSF offers a program to certify treatment systems to NSF/ANSI Standard 350. NSF verifies that all design and performance requirements of the standard have been met, and confirms through testing that effluent reuse water meets stringent quality criteria for designated uses.

Benefits of NSF certification include:

  • Independent validation of system performance by a respected third-party organization
  • Proof of a manufacturer's voluntary effort to demonstrate the performance and reliability of their technology, including unannounced manufacturer audits comprehensive test reports for distribution to customers, specifiers and public health officials
  • Public listing in the NSF web-based directory of certified treatment systems
  • Use of the respected NSF Certification Mark on certified systems and promotional materials

Green Drivers

As reuse/reclaimed water technologies increase in popularity, so too do the market forces encouraging them and defining the approval processes for them. A few examples include:

  • State, county and country legislation for water reuse systems, which can be seen from Australia to California, Japan to Florida
  • US Green Building Council's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) system, which offers LEED points for water reuse, including NSF-350 certified products
  • Green building and plumbing codes
  • Government specifications for sustainable products/ systems
  • Green design and specification by architects and designers

Contact

To learn more about NSF/ANSI Standard 350, email nsf350@nsf.org or call +1.734.769.5575. You can also learn about NSF's full scope of service offerings via the NSF Sustainability webpage.