Certifications

For a product to be used in a potable water environment, it must pass a gauntlet of tests. Several organizations coordinate the
testing and review process to ensure the safety of our water supply. The entire process includes direct testing of the epoxy used to line the pipes and a thorough inspection of both manufacturing and warehousing locations. Rikos guarantees their products have passed all testing and safety requirements.

The epoxy products Rikos uses are ANSI/NSF Standard 61 and AWWA C210-97 certified. The NSF has become the accepted industry standard to replace the EPA approval for coatings used in potable water applications.

Testing and Review Organizations

NSF: National Sanitation Foundation: Since 1944, the NSF has certified products and written
standards that help protect food, water, air, and consumer goods. They are an independent,
not-for-profit organization.

ANSI: American National Standard Institute:
A private, non-profit organization (501(c)3) that administers and coordinates the U.S. voluntary standardization and conformity assessment system.

AWWA: American Water Works Association is an international nonprofit scientific and educational society dedicated to the improvement of drinking water quality and supply.

IAPMO: International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials serves the plumbing and mechanical communities around the world. This includes development of the Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC).

Standards and Certifications

The NSF and ANSI combined to create NSF/ANSI Standard 61, Drinking Water System Components: This standard was adopted in October, 1988, and covers every material from the well or water intake to the faucet. “When a material is certified under Standard 61, its certification indicates use restrictions on parameters such as maximum use temperature or surface area to volume ratio when the material is used in a finished product. (NSF website, 2/20/2004).

Certification is accomplished by submitting samples directly to NSF for testing. Both epoxies we use have received “Standard 61” Approval.

The AWWA and ANSI created standard C210-97 in 1997. IAPMO administers three components of the process to receive
certification for this standard:

They review testing performed by an independent lab to determine epoxy compliance to ANSI/AWWA standard C210

They visit manufacturing and warehousing sites

They issue UPC (Universal Plumbing Code) insignia to be placed on the epoxy packages that indicates the epoxy meets UPC and C210 standards.

Once compliance with C210 has been established, then IAPMO will also list the approved products in the
“Plumbing Research Directory.”