Product safety is an important consideration when it comes to ensuring the health and happiness of our communities. A certified product delivers the assurance of safety and quality in any application. For instance, taps used in drinking water applications are WaterMark certified to establish the fact that the water they dispense is lead-free and safe for consumption. The WaterMark certification also makes these taps easy to spot and guarantees safety.
The lead problem
A naturally occurring element, lead can be found in many public and private facilities such as parks, schools, offices, construction sites and homes. According to this NHMRC Information Paper: Evidence on the Effects of Lead in Human Health published in 2015, old pipes were fitted with materials that contained lead; it was also found in soldering and other fittings that came in contact with tap water.
The harmful effects of lead
Lead is extremely harmful to unborn children when the mother comes into contact with sources of the metal. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “there is no ‘safe’ blood lead concentration… As lead exposure increases, the range and severity of symptoms and effects also increase.”
Who are at risk in Australia?
The NHMRC estimates that most people in Australia are exposed to very small amounts of lead from food, drinking water, air, dust, soil, and consumer products. Most of this lead is left over from the time the metal was widely used in the manufacture of industrial and household goods.
Addressing the lead problem
The NCC Volume 3 is specific to plumbing products that are used in Australia to ensure that all plumbing products are suited and safe for their purpose. It highlights an Evidence of Suitability where:
- The form of evidence used must be appropriate to the use of the plumbing product, which it relates to;
- Any copy of documentary evidence submitted must be a complete copy of the original certificate, report or document.
The code mentions WaterMark certifications for products, which include measures to ensure that the tap water is safe for drinking.
What is WaterMark?
A mandatory scheme for the certification of plumbing and drainage products, WaterMark requires that all products intended to be used in a plumbing and drainage installation must undergo a risk assessment. Any product that comes into contact with drinking water must have WaterMark certification. This includes appliances, sanitary fixtures, tapware, devices and controllers, heated water products, valves (isolation, backflow prevention, general), fire service, jointing products, pipes (metallic, plastic), fittings (metallic, plastic), and shafts and pumping stations among many others.
Checking for WaterMark certification
The WaterMark seal will have the specification number and license number of the product. Use these numbers to check the product’s details on the WaterMark Product Database. If these number references are missing on the product, it confirms that the product is not WaterMark certified.
CIVIQ’s WaterMark certified drinking water stations
CIVIQ offers a diverse range of unique and certified products that showcase the company’s commitment to quality design, manufacturing and customer satisfaction. Made using the highest quality components, CIVIQ products are subject to rigorous quality assurance tests.
CIVIQ’s commitment to safety and quality ensured an organic transition to brass-free plumbing across all of their water products, enabling the company to provide the assurance to clients that water delivered through their drinking fountains was lead-free and safe to drink.
The high standard of documentation, processes and manufacturing also allowed CIVIQ to easily achieve ASNZ4020 and WaterMark certifications. ASNZ4020 is a mandatory test for analysing the suitability of products for use in contact with drinking water.
View CIVIQ’s WaterMark certification.
