Engagement for materials and products in contact with drinking water

In principle, hygienic requirements for materials in contact with drinking water are to be regulated by binding evaluation criteria, which will be drawn up by the German Environment Agency on the basis of the Drinking Water Ordinance. For some materials, however, these will only come into force shortly. This gives rise to questions and a need for clarification, especially for manufacturers of materials and products.

In order to be able to discuss the implementation of these requirements with the experts from the German Environment Agency, figawa has invited representatives of interested industry associations to a broad-based round of talks in November 2020 and January 2021. 

So far, the following organizations have participated in the figawa initiative:

  • Bundesindustrieverband Technische Gebäudeausrüstung e.V. (BTGA)
  • Bundesverband der Deutschen Heizungsindustrie e. V. (BDH)
  • Deutsches Kupferinstitut Berufsverband e.V. (DKI)
  • Industrieverband Haus-, Heiz- und Küchentechnik e.V. (HKI)
  • Kunststoffrohrverband (KRV)
  • Umweltbundesamt (UBA)
  • Verband Deutscher Maschinen- und Anlagenbau e.V. (VDMA)
  • Verband der Deutschen Wasserzählerindustrie e.V. (VDDW)
  • wdk Wirtschaftsverband der deutschen Kautschukindustrie e.V.
  • Zentralverband Elektrotechnik- und Elektronikindustrie e.V. (ZVEI)
  • Zentralverband Sanitär Heizung Klima (ZVSHK).

In the future, the Gesamtverband der Deutschen Buntmetallindustrie e.V. (GDB) will also be involved.
 

Focus on national requirements &  the future EU regulatory framework

In addition to the national requirements, the focus of the discussions is also on the design of the future European regulatory framework, specified by the EU Drinking Water Directive, which recently came into force. 

Due to the very good feedback from both the industry and the regulators, the format, which was initially designed for a single date, will now be continued as a regular forum. Particularly the possibility of exchange and the associated better understanding of the other market players along the supply chain, was positively highlighted. In addition, the participants found the direct exchange between industry and the German Environment Agency very helpful.
 

Call for the participation of additional associations

Lars Neveling, Technical Officer of figawa as well as organizer and moderator of the association meeting:
 

"The experience of the past two meetings has shown that the forum benefits in particular from the diverse experiences and different perspectives of the individual industry sectors. For this reason, participation is very much open to other associations that may not have attended before."

Interested associations are cordially invited to contact Lars Neveling directly.

The next digital meeting is planned for April. If the pandemic situation allows, a face-to-face meeting will also be held in the summer.