The Drinking Water Approvals of the VTY Turbine Flow Sensor
I’m sure you’re familiar with the measuring principle of our turbine flow sensors, and I’ve already reported in detail on the special features and strengths of the VTY turbines in separate a blog post.
But why does the VTY have so many different drinking water approvals? And what are the differences between them? That’s what I’d like to talk about today.
The quality of a population’s drinking water is essential to its health. To ensure that drinking water is both safe and of high quality, various international and national approval standards have been developed by authorities and other organisations.
All these approvals have one thing in common: They are designed to ensure that products and materials that come into contact with drinking water meet established health and safety standards and that drinking water is not contaminated by pollutants or unintended chemical reactions. To demonstrate that these standards are met, all products subject to approval undergo tests and trials to demonstrate the suitability of the product or material for use in drinking water applications.
In addition, the approvals usually require regular inspections at the factory or even audits by accredited bodies. These ensure that the products continue to meet the specified standards or can continue to be used in drinking water applications in the event that certain test criteria or requirements are tightened.
The multitude of different drinking water approvals is mainly due to the various regional regulations, laws and standards that apply in different countries. There are currently no uniform, international standards for drinking water approvals, as each country has its own specific requirements and priorities regarding drinking water quality.
Certification according to KTW-BWGL (evaluation criteria for plastics and other organic materials in contact with drinking water) is required for the German market. This certification programme is based on the recommendation for attestation of conformity of product hygiene suitability for drinking water, as published by the German Environment Agency (UBA). In addition to an evaluation of the materials – known as a type test – an initial inspection of the factory is also carried out according to System 1+, in which test samples are taken directly from the production area. To maintain certification, an annual monitoring audit by an accredited body is required. This is referred to as external monitoring. The factory must also have its own internal monitoring of production in place.
WRAS approval is awarded by the Water Regulations Advisory Scheme (WRAS) and is recognised in the UK. Various aspects of the products are tested and inspected to assess their suitability for use with drinking water. The specific tests vary depending on the type of product, but may include material testing, health compatibility, leak tightness, mechanical stability and other hygienic aspects.
In addition, our VTY turbines have KIWA UK Regulation 4 (KUKreg4) Approval, which is also recognised in the UK. This certificate is awarded by KIWA UK, an independent testing and certification body active in various industries.
For France, ACS approval is required. ACS stands for “Attestation de Conformité Sanitaire”. The ACS can only be issued by a laboratory approved by the French health authority (Ministère des Solidarités et de la Santé). To obtain ACS approval, products must undergo various tests and inspections to prove their conformity with French drinking water regulations. The approval is valid for five years. After this period, the products must be tested again to ensure that they continue to meet the current standards.
NSF61 and NSF372 are certifications that apply to products used in drinking water applications in the US. NSF61 ensures that products, components and materials meet American drinking water standards and that no harmful chemical contaminants or pollutants enter drinking water.
NSF372 focuses on the lead content in products. For SIKA products with this approval, this generally means “lead-free” (lead content ≤ 0.25 per cent).
To maintain the certifications, monitoring audits by an accredited body are required at the factory.
The flow sensors of the VTY series have all these approvals. The current approvals – along with links to the certificates – are listed in the data sheets for the nominal diameters DN10, DN15, DN20 and DN25. Of course, these approvals also apply to the push-in turbine flow sensors in the nominal diameters above.
Our customers can therefore rest assured that our VTY turbine flow sensors can be used in drinking water applications worldwide.
