NSF Appoints Steve Haan as Vice President of its Water Division, Succeeding Dave Purkiss

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — NSF, a leading global public health and safety organisation, has appointed Steve Haan to the position of Vice President, Water. Haan will succeed Dave Purkiss, who is retiring after 37 years of dedicated service to the organisation on April 18.

“We thank Dave for his remarkable contributions to not only NSF, but the entire Water industry,” said Pedro Sancha, President and CEO of NSF. “Dave has played a pivotal role in developing the current industry standards for water safety and launching NSF’s testing and certification services in the UK, Greater China and Korea. His unwavering dedication to our public health mission has made a lasting impact in improving water safety globally, and we wish him the very best in his retirement.”

With this transition, Haan will assume Dave’s responsibilities, leading NSF’s global Water team and its offices in the US, UK, Greater China, Korea, India, Dubai and Belgium. In this role, Haan will grow NSF’s Water programmes that help ensure the quality and safety of products used in municipal and residential drinking water treatment, wastewater treatment, water distribution, plumbing, pools and spas.

“Steve has more than 23 years of experience leading cross-functional teams and delivering exceptional outcomes for clients that operate in the Water industry,” states Sancha. “We are excited to welcome him to NSF’s executive leadership team.”

Haan joined NSF in 2024 as the Vice President of Business Development, where he identified new growth opportunities for the organisation. Prior to NSF, he was a vice president and general manager at Nalco Water, a division of Ecolab providing specialised water treatment, process water treatment and wastewater treatment solutions to industrial customers. He has experience operating different business models, including capital equipment, field service and SaaS businesses. Haan holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University and is a Lean Six Sigma Blackbelt.

“Globally we are facing emerging contaminants in our water, including PFAS and microplastics, requiring products that meet industry standards and work how they claim to,” said Haan. “The need for NSF’s scientific capabilities and independent testing and certification services has never been greater, and I am honoured to step into this role and expand Dave’s legacy of improving water quality worldwide.”

This leadership transition marks an exciting time for NSF, as the organisation accelerates the execution of an ambitious strategic roadmap to become the global leader in human and planet health.

NSF is an independent, global services organisation dedicated to improving human and planet health for more than 80 years by developing public health standards and providing world-class testing, inspection, certification, advisory services and digital solutions to the food, nutrition, water, life sciences and consumer goods industries. NSF serves 40,000 clients in 110 countries and is a World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center on Food Safety, Water Quality and Medical Device Safety.

NSF’s Water Division provides risk assessments, testing, inspection, and certification services for the water industry from source to tap. NSF facilitated the development of the American National Standards for all materials and products that treat or come in contact with drinking water to help protect public health and the environment and minimise adverse health effects. In 1990, the U.S. EPA replaced its own drinking water product advisory programme with these NSF standards.