STANDARDS FOR WATER TREATMENT CHEMICALS

During the compilation of a manual for the testing of water and wastewater treatment chemicals, it became apparent that the national standards for many of these chemicals are out-dated and describe analytical procedures which are in some cases obsolete and extremely time consuming. Further investigation revealed that since 1994, the Department of Health no longer produces certificates of health for these chemicals and that the most recent version of the Water Act does not impose any legislation at all on chemicals used for water treatment. In this paper a brief overview is given of the commonly used water and wastewater treatment chemicals as well as pipes and other materials that come into contact with water. The current status of standards and certification for these products is discussed. The history of certification, both locally and Internationally is described, explaining how the South African standards came to be in the present situation. It is important that chemicals and materials used in the water and wastewater industry are regulated in order to protect the health and welfare of communities and to protect the environment from chemical pollutants and from the possibility of toxic effects due to accumulation of these products in the environment. National standards for these chemicals should therefore be a priority. The South African water and wastewater industry generally follows international standards in terms of the treatment processes and chemicals used, but no regulation/certification system exists in this country for the control of these products. Funding was recently obtained from the Water Research Commission of South Africa to investigate the present South African standards for water and wastewater treatment chemicals and produce recommendations to serve as a basis for the up-dating and re-issuing of current standards and the creation of new standards, where these do not currently exist. This paper highlights the present crisis in this country in terms of water treatment chemical standards and provides suitable strategies for addressing this problem