RIJSWIJK, THE NETHERLANDS — Kiwa, an independent inspection and certification institute founded by Dutch water companies, recently announced it is seeking comment until May 3, 2007, on its draft Kiwa Quality (KQ) guidelines for water treatment products that are to be used domestically in Europe. Kiwa Certification and Inspection has available online two sets of guidelines for review and comment:
The general document guidelines describe the requirements for products that are intended to be used in a residential environment, in cold and hot water installations, according to a Kiwa press release.
The draft guidelines regarding residential water treatment products can be viewed online by clicking here and a template for comments also is available. Incorporated in these requirements are ultraviolet-reactor and membrane filtration, as well as electrical and health safety, according to a press release.
According to Kiwa's Mark van Berkel, "The draft guidelines are based on the best of both worlds, namely European standards and NSF standards, such as NSF/ANSI 42 and 55. If a European standard is more severe than the NSF, we take the requirement or test method from the European. If it's the other way around, we take the requirement of the NSF standard." The draft guidelines for water treatment products for domestic use also take into account the European rules that are mentioned in several European directives for water treatment products and where CE-marking — which denotes that all essential requirements of applicable EU directives have been met — is involved, said van Berkel. "For example, the electric circuit in a product must fulfill the requirements of the IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) EU low-voltage directive," said van Berkel. The draft guidelines form the basis for the KQ quality mark, ensuring the water treatment product customer that the product is well tested and certified by an independent certification institute, added van Berkel. Kiwa, which is active in more than thirty countries including Germany, Belgium, Italy, Sandinavia, Turkey and the United Kingdom, supports its product certifications through inspection, training, consultancy and research. For related information on this story, click here. For more of the latest news, click here. To subscribe to Water Technology® magazine, click here. To discuss this topic with other water and wastewater industry professionals, click here.
Every month in Water Technology Magazine, "Professor POU/POE" answers reader questions about point-of-use/point-of-entry water treatment.
If you have a question for the Professor (also known as David Bauman, Technical Editor), send an e-mail to rdipaolo@ntpmedia.com and we'll pass it along. With your question, please indicate your general location (region, state, province, etc.). Not all questions will be chosen for publication.
Write for WT
Water Technology welcomes and encourages editorial contributions from the world of residential water conditioning, bottled water delivery, and treatment for commercial or light industrial applications.
To place a classified ad online, e-mail your ad text to pharrington@ntpmedia.com or call Pat Harrington at 518-640-9173.
Bookstore
WaterTechBooks.com is an online bookseller for the water treatment industry. It has dozens of titles in stock, in a variety of categories. A simple e-commerce platform allows you to complete your transaction online and have your books shipped directly to your home or business.
Every month in 
