Products that come into contact with drinking water must be both technically and hygienically suitable for this application. In particular materials and objects for the construction or maintenance of installation for the production, processing or distribution of drinking water or that come into contact with drinking water, may not:
• Directly or indirectly affect human health
• Negatively impact the odor and flavor of water
• Release substances in greater amounts than are considered unavoidable under the generally rules of technology
Unfortunately, there is currently no harmonized European legislation for materials that come into contact with drinking water and therefore fall under the scope of national regulations.
In Germany, the German Environmental Agency (UBA) adopt binding evaluation criteria detailing general requirements for materials that come into contact with drinking water. Since 21st March 2021 The Evaluation Criteria for Plastics and other Organic Materials in contact with Drinking Water KTW-BWGL is legally binding.
In this Evaluation Criteria is stated that critical products should be certified by certification body under the scope of 1+ Certification Scheme to be commercialized in Germany.
In order to obtain the certification, the materials and product that come into contact with drinking water should be:
• Assessed for the composition requirements
• Tested by migration testing of basic requirements
• Evaluated for the Enhancement of microbial growth.
First in Italy, CAE Laboratory recently accredited, according to UNI CEI EN ISO/IEC 17025:2018, each standard method for the assessment of basic requirements, namely Color, Turbidity, Foam, Odor and Total Organic Carbon (TOC).
Along with the migration testing, the CAE Laboratory accredited, according to UNI CEI EN ISO/IEC 17025:2018, the test for the assessment of enhancement of microbial growth on both pipes and test specimens.
All of these tests are fundamental to achieve the certification according to 1+ scheme.
In Italy, materials and objects that come into contact with drinking water are regulated by DM 174 of 6th April 2004. To be suitable for this purpose, the materials should be made by substances reported in the positive list and tested for migration testing.
CAE Laboratory is accredited, according to UNI CEI EN ISO/IEC 17025:2018, for testing stainless steel, plastics and rubbers.
Our testing portfolio for the assessing materials that come into contact with drinking water includes:
• Microbial enhancement growth according to UNI EN 16421 or W 270 DVGW worksheet on pipes and test specimens, for certification under 1+ scheme (accredited test)
• UNI EN 1420-1 Determination of odour and flavor assessment of water in piping system-Part 1: Test Method, for certification under 1+ scheme (accredited test)
• UNI EN 12873-1 Influence of materials on water intended for human consumption. Influence due to migration. Part 1 – Test method for factory made products made from or incorporating organic or glassy (porcelain/vitreous enamel) materials, for certification under 1+ scheme (accredited test)
• UNI EN ISO 7887 – Water quality – examination and determination of color, for certification under 1+ scheme (accredited test)
• UNI EN ISO 7027 – Water quality – Determination of turbidity, for certification under 1+ scheme (accredited test)
• UNI EN 1484 – Water analysis. Guidelines for the determination of total organic carbon (TOC) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) for certification under 1+ scheme (accredited test)
• UNI EN 1622 – Water quality – determination of the threshold odor number (TON) and threshold flavor number (TFN), for certification under 1+ scheme (accredited test)
• UNI EN 15768 Influence of materials on water intended for human consumption. GC-MS identification of water leachable organic substances, for certification under 1+ scheme
• DM n 174 06/04/2004 Overall migration for plastics and rubbers (accredited test)
• DM n. 174 06/04/2004 Overall migration for stainless steel (accredited test)
• DM n. 174 06/04/2004 Specific migration of chromium, nickel and manganese from objects in stainless steel (accredited test)
Via Caduti del Lavoro, 24/I 60131 Ancona
