Drinking Water Chemical Testing and Certification to NSF/ANSI/CAN 60

The importance of NSF certified products for drinking water safety

Whether used in a public water system or a private well, the chemicals added to our water can impact the quality of what we drink. Consumers are becoming exceedingly aware of the safety of their drinking water, and utilities work hard to ensure the water they produce meets state and federal requirements. 

If your company manufactures, dilutes or repackages drinking water treatment chemicals, then certification of your products to NSF/ANSI/CAN 60 is mandated by most agencies that regulate drinking water in the United States and Canada. Testing and certification to NSF/ANSI/CAN 60 by UL Solutions proves to regulators, water systems and other buyers that your products meet the applicable health effects requirements.  

UL Solutions is accredited in the United States and Canada to offer certification to NSF/ANSI/CAN 60 – Drinking Water Treatment Chemicals Health Effects through our Water Systems Scheme. Our experts offer highly responsive customer service and turnaround times to help ensure products get to market quickly and painlessly.  

At UL Solutions, you have direct access to technical staff, happy to help you through the process no matter how complex it becomes.  

Overview of NSF/ANSI/CAN 60 testing and certification solutions  

NSF/ANSI/CAN 60 — Drinking Water Treatment Chemicals — Health Effects establishes minimum health effects requirements for chemicals, chemical contaminants and impurities that are added to drinking water from water treatment chemicals.   

Types of products covered under NSF/ANSI/CAN 60

NSF/ANSI/CAN 60’s scope includes chemicals added directly to water and may or may not be intended to be present in the finished water. UL Solutions evaluates the following types of chemicals:

• Corrosion and scale inhibitors
• Coagulants and flocculants
• Disinfection and oxidation chemicals
• pH adjustment
• Softening
• Precipitation and sequestering chemicals
• Well drilling aids
• Specialty chemicals

Regulatory drivers for health effects certification

Compliance with NSF/ANSI/CAN 60 is required by most states and provinces in the United States and Canada. Water suppliers typically require certification of chemicals to NSF/ANSI/CAN 60 by an ANSI or SCC accredited third-party certifier like UL Solutions as a requirement to be considered as a vendor.  

NSF/ANSI/CAN 60 certification requirements

The first step is to submit an application detailing information about your product, which will help determine a test program. During testing, chemicals are typically dosed into drinking water according to your instructions as well as methods defined in the standard. The resulting water samples are analyzed for contaminants specific to the chemical or chemicals being evaluated. Detected contaminants are compared to pass/fail levels established in the standard to determine compliance with the requirements. 

The UL certification Mark

When all NSF/ANSI/CAN 60 certification requirements are met, authorization is granted to use the UL Mark on your products. Your products will also be listed in UL Product iQ™, UL Solutions’ online certification directory. The UL Mark and Product iQ listing prove to state regulators, utilities, engineers and specifiers that your products comply with health effects requirements, making the buying process easy for all involved. 

UL Solutions’ NSF/ANSI/CAN 60 program meets all NSF/ANSI 223 criteria

NSF/ANSI 223 — Conformity Assessment requirements for Certification Bodies establishes minimum requirements for certification organizations to use when evaluating and certifying products against NSF/ANSI/CAN 60. Certification bodies that incorporate NSF/ANSI 223 requirements into their certification policies must follow similar minimum criteria for auditing and sampling water treatment chemicals. All UL certifications to NSF/ANSI/CAN 60 are in accordance with NSF/ANSI 223 criteria.