The use of commercial and residential water treatment equipment continues to rise in the U.S. and around the globe. There are several reasons for the increase in demand, including new chemicals being found in drinking water, the climate change impact on water scarcity, and lower confidence in the quality of municipally supplied drinking water. However, all of these factors stem from the ability to see water impurities at extremely low levels. The sensitivity of analytical equipment now allows us to see water contaminants at part per trillion levels. A part per trillion is a difficult amount to comprehend – two analogies to simplify the unit of measure would be one drop of water out of the total consumption of water in a person’s lifetime, or one grain of sand in an Olympic-size swimming pool. Seeing these very low quantities of impurities in our drinking water allows everyone to understand that water treatment equipment can improve the health and safety of the water we drink.
With increased use of residential and commercial water treatment equipment comes increased responsibility. Fortunately, several product performance standards have been developed and are being used to evaluate water treatment equipment’s ability to improve drinking water. However, without proper installation and maintenance, the equipment may not work properly or could be making the water worse. Many consumers and water treatment equipment operators do not fully understand the importance of proper installation and maintenance. For example, there are parts of the U.S. that have elevated levels of nitrate in their drinking water, especially in rural areas where fertilizer enters the aquafer through rainwater runoff. A common technology to remove nitrate is an anion exchange filtration system that regenerates with sodium chloride. As the system removes nitrate from the drinking water, it builds up on the media until the system goes through a regeneration process, allowing the media to remove nitrate once again. If the system does not regenerate at the correct time, other chemicals in the water, such as sulfates, can kick off the nitrate from the filter media resulting in an increase in the overall concentration of nitrate in the drinking water. In this instance, the user had intended to remove nitrates from their drinking water, but they are now drinking a higher concentration of nitrate than the source water for a period of time.
In response to the importance of proper installation and maintenance of water treatment equipment, ASSE International has started developing ASSE Series 22000, Professional Qualifications Standard for Water Treatment Equipment Personnel.
What’s the need?
With stories of poor water quality making headlines across the country and increasing consumer demand for water treatment systems, the need for qualified, knowledgeable professionals to install and maintain these treatment systems has never been higher. Since there are no established qualification standards or third-party certifications for water treatment equipment installers, some of these devices are being installed improperly – plumbers may lack the necessary knowledge to properly setup water treatment equipment, and water treatment dealers may lack the necessary knowledge to properly size and plumb water treatment systems. The goal of the ASSE 22000 program is to offer an industry-composed standard, developed by both water treatment and plumbing professionals, along with an industry-developed certification program to provide water treatment installers with the necessary skills, code knowledge, and technology competencies to safely and correctly install and maintain water treatment equipment. The result will be properly trained professionals, properly operating water treatment equipment, and safer, healthier and happier water consumers.
Goals of the ASSE 22000 Program
- Create a nationally recognized, ANSI-accredited professional qualification standard (ASSE Series 22000, Professional Qualifications Standard for Water Treatment Equipment Personnel).
- Create a nationally recognized third-party professional certification program for water treatment equipment personnel that can be easily adopted by regulatory bodies (ASSE 22000 Water Treatment Equipment Personnel Certification).
- Provide opportunities for training providers to offer new water treatment equipment installation and maintenance courses for third-party ASSE 22000 Certification.
- Develop instructional objectives that meet ASSE 22000 requirements for training water treatment installer and maintenance professionals.
Benefits of the ASSE 22000 Program
- Properly installed and maintained water treatment equipment will provide safer and healthier water to consumers.
- The plumbing industry and water treatment dealers will have a third-party certification program for ensuring qualifications.
- ASSE 22000 Certified professionals will have the necessary skills and competencies, which will be maintained through recertification requirements.
Features of the ASSE 22000 Program
- ASSE Series 22000 will be created by a working group composed of both water treatment professionals and plumbing industry professionals.
- ASSE Series 22000 will focus on core competencies needed for proper installation and maintenance of water treatment equipment.
- Comprehensive training courses will be conducted by training providers independent of ASSE.
- Certified individuals and approved training providers will be listed on ASSE’s website.
Regulatory Acceptance of the ASSE 22000 Program
- ASSE 22000 Certification will provide regulators who are considering new regulatory requirements for water treatment equipment installation with a third-party certification option.
- Authorities having jurisdiction that operate specialty license programs for water treatment equipment installation will have the ability to use ASSE 22000 Certification as an alternative to specialty licenses.
- Model plumbing codes can adopt ASSE Series 22000, Professional Qualifications Standard for Water Treatment Equipment Personnel, and ASSE 22000 Water Treatment Equipment Personnel Certification.
