NSF certifications are not required but rather optional. In our opinion, NSF certifications are limited in their application with respect to our gravity fed filtration elements. NSF Standard 42 (aesthetic effects) and Standard 53 (health effects) would specifically apply to our filtration elements.
NSF Standard 42 covers systems “designed to reduce specific aesthetic or non-health-related contaminants (such as chlorine, taste and odor, and particulates) that may be present in public or private drinking water. ” This would appear to be an unnecessary certification as not only do the elements easily handle public drinking water, but also other freshwater sources, exceeding that which the standard would certify.
NSF Standard 53 addresses systems designed to reduce specific health-related contaminants, such as lead, VOC’s, MTBE, and other contaminants that may be present in public or private drinking water. Our elements have been tested to remove or reduce 200+ typical contaminants found in tap water and other freshwater sources—this exceeds that which the standard would certify.
The tests we have conducted are much more rigorous than those required by NSF for the certifications required. Our filters have been rigorously tested by third-party independent accredited labs far surpassing the above standards 42 and 53. For example, our systems have been tested for the removal or reduction of hundreds of contaminants including heavy metals, pesticides, herbicides, and pharmaceuticals. These test results are published and available to all our consumers on our website as well as published in our printed literature. In addition, there has also been other highly publicized and notable testing of our filters against other similar water filtration systems which clearly back up our third-party testing.
The cost for NSF certification is also very expensive. Each configuration of each system would have to be certified. If you include the sport bottle and all water filtration systems offered, that’s 16 separate certifications (times 2 standards). At an estimated cost of $10,000 per system configuration, that’s around $320,000, plus yearly maintenance fees. As you can see, it’s difficult to justify the cost required, just to obtain certifications that the elements already exceed.