Hygiene-System 1+ certificate for Wefatherm

Published on April 13th, 2022.

The requirements for drinking water hygiene in installation technology are increasing. From March 21, 2023 materials for drinking water installations must meet stricter requirements and be certified according to hygiene system 1+. Wefatherm GmbH has already received the necessary certificate of conformity for the PP-R system.

 According to the German Drinking Water Ordinance (TrinkwV), materials which are used for the construction or maintenance of systems for the production, treatment and distribution of drinking water and materials which come into contact with drinking water are subject to strict regulations. These materials may not directly or indirectly reduce the protection of human health, adversely change the smell or the taste of the water and they may not release substances into the drinking water in quantities that are greater than the unavoidable limits.

 In 2021, the German Federal Environment Agency (UBA) defined new, more demanding assessment bases for materials that come into contact with drinking water. The federal authority is thus replacing its previous guidelines and supplementing or specifying the hygienic requirements. After the two-year transition period, these regulations will become binding on March 21, 2023. From that moment, only products that comply with these assessment bases may be used for the construction or maintenance of systems that produce, treat or distribute drinking water.

 Whether a product is suitable in terms of drinking water hygiene, is tested and evaluated on the UBA recommendation and according to System 1+ of the EU Construction Products Regulation. Various accredited certification bodies assess the respective product in test rounds, confirm its conformity and award it with a certificate. For certification, Wefatherm relies on the proven industry certifier DVGW (German Technical and Scientific Association for Gas and Water).

 The Wefatherm PP-R range has already gone through all the approval steps in full, without having to make use of the transitional period. Wefatherm is currently one of the few manufacturers who have consistently implemented the new requirements and successfully completed the certification process at such an early stage. Thanks to the confirmation of conformity for the Wefatherm PP-R system, which is valid for five years, customers can rely on proven quality, especially when it comes to the sensitive issue of hygiene.