Grades of porous materials produced by Hollingsworth & Vose have passed the evaluations needed to meet Germany’s updated Kunststoff-Trinkwasser (KTW) drinking water standards, allowing their use in consumer water treatment applications. In Germany, materials that come into contact with drinking water must meet the hygienic and toxicological requirements of the guidelines of the German Environment Agency (UBA) test.

“The kitchen is the heart of the home, and we see increased demand for clean water, and higher flow microfiltration makes that possible,” says Fred Lybrand, Senior Director at H&V. “When new standards come out, we ensure that products meet the expectations of local regulators.”

“Compliance and product safety are critically important to liquid filtration customers,” said Jesse Slusher, Product Manager for H&V’s Trupor line of membrane microfiltration products. ”Because these products meet the requirements of 21CFR and EC 10/2011, and because H&V’s quality systems regularly support customers in regulated filtration industries, we felt confident in the outcome. It’s great to get that confirmation through testing. We include new standards at the front of our product development cycle so we know that, once they’re released, they will perform how customers need them and meet the fundamental safety criteria for raw materials.””

Completing the approval requires coordination between the end device maker, third party testing labs, the regulator and H&V’s raw material vendors. Where other standards allow the producer to self-certify raw material conformance, the new German standards mandate full supply chain transparency down to the monomer level. H&V facilitated suppliers, test labs and customers to ensure confidential, seamless transmission of this proprietary and highly sensitive information.

“The Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points system we brought in several years ago guides our approach to these kinds of requests,” said Blair Allen, H&V Quality Manager in Floyd, VA. Floyd is one of several H&V sites that supplies porous materials into liquid filtration markets, which can include water, biopharma, semiconductor process water, food and beverage, beer and wine, and analytical components.

The German Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt) developed the Drinking Water Ordinance (TrinkwV) based on the European 1998 EC Drinking Water Directive into national law. The KTW and W270 certification’s purpose is to certify that product elements in contact with drinking water have been tested and sanctioned by German laboratories (TZW and DVGW) in accordance with the guidance of the UBA. Manufacturers in Germany recognize KTW and W270 as the two main certifications in regards to potable water. Once granted, KTW and W270 approval lasts for five years.