Water Softeners and Air Filtration Systems - nsf vs wqa

All

What is the difference between and NSF certified RO system and a WQA certified RO system


I am looking at Watts Premier and TGI systems

Interesting that they both have the same parent company

Paul

Production certification is offered in many products including water treatment. The NSF (National Sanitation Foundation) and the WQA (Water Quality Association) are the two primary testing and validating organizations in the water treatment industry in additional to Underwriters Laboratories (UL), and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), which works very closely with the NSF.

These organizational testing facilities are many time in response to public and regulatory demands for performance issues in health effects and aesthetics of water treatment equipment.

NSF categorizes specific areas of testing, e.g., ANSI/NSF 42: Drinking Water treatment Units – Aesthetic Effects that reduces specific contaminants from the water. There is a wide range of clearly define standards, which is expanding and changing as water demands and contaminations are revealed.
NSF standards are developed through the ANSI consensus process and are granted the ANSI designation to indicate this. In fact, NSF is the first organization granted the "ANSI Audited Designator of Standards" classification for all of its ANSI standards development.

The ANSI process includes requirements to ensure that no one group dominates the process. NSF standards committees are comprised of an equal number of producers, users, and regulators.

WQA standards, on the other hand, are a consensus-based and developed by the industry. This does not mean it takes shortcuts but instead focuses much on the industry, its dealers, including ethics in testing, sales, and service. It is supported by its members. WQA also certifies individuals who have passed rigid tests in speciafic areas, including installers, sales, commercial systems, and water specialists.

Another difference is that NSF requires complete details and formulation information of all materials that come into contact with the water to assure no hazardous materials come from the product itself. Some products tested by NSF can pass certification, such as an RO tank, and be combined with an RO that has not passed any testing. The tank can be stamped NSF but not the whole system. This is called a component certification rather than a system certification.

WQA, in contrast, does not require this and does not have a procedure that determines the health effects for contaminants that do not have a Maximum Contamination Level (MCL).
A third major difference between NSF and WQA's standards is illustrated by the requirements for the contaminant reduction performance for Reverse Osmosis Systems. WQA S-300 does not include the following contaminants addressed in ANSI/NSF 58: barium, cadmium, chromium (hexavalent), chromium (trivalent), copper, fluoride, lead, mercury, nitrate plus nitrite, organic chemicals by surrogate (39 chemicals in all); radium; and selenium.

For a long time, the WQA and NSF have been trying to work together to harmonize their ratings and make them easier to understand.

Andy Christensen, CWS-II

any feedback on Watts vs TGI systems ?

My goal is to install a single RO system in the basement and feed 4 locations including 1 ice maker all on the same floor. what i loke about the TGI system is that i can buy it pre-configured with a booster pump and monitoring meters for a little less than the standard watts system plus optional booster pump and larger tank

Can't really say without knowing what you are speaking of. The fact that you say "systemS" indicates many. TGI has a rather large number of units to choose from. Do you have a specific link showing a particular model?

In general, units with pump will cost more and produce better water---in general.

You did ask a question concerning WQA and NSF; not sure if that was what you were looking for.

Andy

Andy

yes your first answer was what i was looking for, Thanks

I need a pump because i am on a well and the pressure can drop below 40psi sometimes

I am open on brands but would like a 5 stage system with a pump and non proprietary filters that can be purchased through multiple vendors, Costco has a good deal on the Watts but the add on pump is $$$ the TGI win 545p has the integrated pump and is about $100 less all said and done

the other brand i am looking at is Ampac USA one vendor is also telling me i need a delivery pump since my system is 50 ft from the furthest outlet.
Paul

The TGI RO is a fine product. Constant pressure enough to supply today's new fridges (with icemaker shut off solenoids) have become a concern.

With ROs that supply water via an air bladder, pressure drops as the tank empties, This pressure drop may cause ice trays and distance faucets to suffer or fail. Water-driven tanks don't have this problem.

Also, most air bladder tanks don't start to refill until the tank is about 60% empty. This is where a permeate pump comes in. A delivery pump is needed to send water to distant locations. That would make it two pumps for optimum production and delivery.

Get a ten-gallon tank and that will help in demand/supply needs somewhat. With this volume you can up the air pressure to 13-15psi instead of 7-9 in standard tanks. You will get less volume but much better deliery.

Andy Christensen, CWS-II