The Significance Of NSF System Certification For Water Utilities: Understanding Its Importance

In 1988, The National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) published NSF 61, which sets the minimum requirements for materials and components that have direct contact with drinking water. Despite the fact that NSF 61 has been around for 45 years, it has only been in the past few decades that states have been more consistently requiring NSF-certified components in drinking water systems. Today, 48 out of 50 states require that drinking water system components comply with, or be certified to, NSF 61 or a similar standard.

Unfortunately, NSF-certified components tend to be more expensive, which can strain already tight budgets, making it difficult to specify projects that can achieve their goals while also staying in compliance.

What many municipal leaders and consulting engineers working on municipal drinking water projects may not realize is that there is an alternative known as NSF system certification. NSF-certified systems have the same benefit as individually certified components but can often be produced more cost effectively.