The creation of a European system of testing materials in contact with drinking water is moving closer thanks to a think-tank founded by manufacturers and trade organisations.
British Water, through its membership Aqua Europa, a confederation of water industry trade associations, has now joined forces with the Industry Consortium for Products in Contact with Drinking Water (ICPCDW), which is hoping to establish universal standards and certification across Europe.
The Consortium is close to producing draft guidelines for plastics and is now looking for industry experts in elastomers for the next phase of its activity.
Convenor of ICPCDW Tony Frost said:
“Many of the EU states have their own certification requirements. At present manufacturers have to obtain certification from each of the relevant member states in order to obtain approval for selling products which come into contact with drinking water.”
“Testing is very expensive and very time consuming. It is a barrier to trade because it means if a product has been approved for use in the UK you can’t sell it in the Netherlands, Germany, Italy or France – because they all have their own testing regimes.
“We have identified 18 member states which have different certification requirements. It stymies product development, stymies innovation, and at the end of the day the consumer ends up paying.”
The ICPCDW is building on work done by a previous collaboration between France, Germany, The Netherlands and the UK, which attempted to draw up a harmonised set of standards and certification procedures. By bringing together trade organisations and manufacturers’ representatives from across Europe, ICPCDW aims to draw up draft regulations, which could then be adopted individually by countries or become part of European regulation.
The ICPCDW is expected to release a set of draft guidelines on plastics by the end of the year. A working group is currently being created to look at regulations relating to the use of elastomers and the consortium is actively looking for experts in this field from around Europe.
Chief Executive of British Water Ashley Roe said:
“The lack of a harmonised set of standards across Europe is a significant barrier to trade and British Water will support efforts to harmonise testing regulations and make it easier for UK manufacturers to trade with other companies in Europe. People within the industry have wanted to see a standard regulatory system for some time and British Water is delighted progress is being made on this issue.”
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