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Critical evaluation of the NSF 61 Section 9 test water for Lead
Author(s) -
Triantafyllidou Simoni,
Edwards Marc
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal ‐ american water works association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.466
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1551-8833
pISSN - 0003-150X
DOI - 10.1002/j.1551-8833.2007.tb08035.x
Subject(s) - environmental science , leaching (pedology) , lead (geology) , alkalinity , population , water supply , safe drinking water act , environmental engineering , water quality , waste management , engineering , chemistry , environmental health , medicine , ecology , organic chemistry , geomorphology , biology , soil science , soil water , geology
The authors evaluated the NSF 61 Section 9 protocol from the perspective of test water chemistry and lead‐leaching propensity. Overall, the test water proved representative of a typical water supply. However, some chloraminated waters with lower pH and lower alkalinity can be more aggressive than the Section 9 water, especially after months of exposure. As a result, products that are certified under NSF Section 9 might still cause compliance problems with US Environmental Protection Agency regulations for lead. Moreover, similar problems may be expected to affect approximately 16% of the US population served by private water supplies and cistern‐type systems, which also are considered aggressive to lead leaching. To account for these concerns, the authors recommend that the Section 9 pass/fail criterion be tightened and that product information be made available that details possible limitations of the products relative to lead leaching in certain corrosive water supplies.