New standard for low-lead plumbing products

NSF International has developed a new compositional standard for products that come in contact with drinking water, including faucets. The new requirements are incorporated into the NSF/ANSI American National Standard for Drinking Water Products and are designed to help protect the public from exposure to lead.

Annex G—Weighted Average Lead Content Evaluation Procedure to a 0.25 Percent Lead Requirement allows manufacturers to demonstrate compliance to recently enacted California legislation that limits the weighted average of lead content in plumbing products that come in contact with drinking water to 0.25%. The annex was recently incorporated into NSF/ANSI Standard 61: Drinking Water System Components–Health Effects, a standard that includes procedures to evaluate products that come in contact with drinking water and to screen out those products that could contribute excessive levels of contaminants into drinking water.

Products covered in the standard include: pipes and related products; protective and barrier materials (including cements/coatings); joining and sealing materials (including gaskets, adhesives, lubricants); process media (including carbon, sand, zeolite, ion exchange media); mechanical devices (including water meters, in-line valves, filters, process equipment); mechanical plumbing devices (faucets, drinking fountains, and components); and potable water materials (non-metallic materials)

Do you have experience and expertise with the topics mentioned in this content? You should consider contributing to our WTWH Media editorial team and getting the recognition you and your company deserve. Click here to start this process.