Feature Articles
NSF Protocol Assures Effectiveness of Purification Devices for U.S. Military
by Nikki Beetsch
September 1, 2008
NSF Test Protocol 248 determines the effectiveness of individual water purifiers, making sure they keep water contaminant-free.
In the early 2000s,
scientists and engineers in the Department of Defense (DoD) identified a
critical need to assess the performance of commercial, off-the-shelf (COTS)
individual water purification devices. The emergency water purifiers, which the
military issued, were in use since the World War II era. Therefore, they
required multiple time-consuming steps, and could in some cases provide a false
sense of security — actually failing to produce potable (microbiologically safe
for human consumption) water from available water sources, with no indication
that was the case.
The recent appearance of a multitude of hand-held COTS individual water
purifiers (IWP) was perceived by many to be the solution to the problem.
According to the commercial advertising campaigns, these devices were able to
produce potable and palatable water from nearly any quality source, and they
could keep soldiers hydrated and mission-ready when they did not have access to
bulk water supplies. COTS IWPs began to proliferate among deploying units that
were able to purchase them.
The Need for Evaluation
None of the IWPs had undergone rigorous DoD evaluations of
their effectiveness and applicability to military missions, nor had they been
evaluated and approved by any of the Services’ Surgeon Generals. The primary
concern for the lack of military and medical endorsement was for
microbiological contaminants—–bacteria,
protozoan cysts, and viruses — –that
could rapidly reduce a soldier’s mission readiness through acute
gastro-intestinal distress or worse. The concern presented an unacceptable risk
to deployed personnel in the eyes of the members of the Joint Medical Field
Water Subgroup (JMFWSG) to the Joint Environmental Surveillance Workgroup
(JESWG), which was chartered under DoD Health Affairs (HA).
Consequently, a project was initiated to develop a test protocol that all IWPs,
intended to be marketed to the DoD, could be subjected to in order to determine
their effectiveness in providing microbiological purification. Devices that
successfully completed the test protocol could then be used by deployed
individuals with a greater measure of assurance that the water they could
obtain by using the devices would be of acceptable quality and would not cause
acute illness or disease.
NSF Protocol 248
The U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine (CHPPM) received a grant from the Army Study Program Management Office to develop this protocol during FY 2005. CHPPM coordinated closely with personnel from NSF Intl. who provided guidance and assistance in developing the protocol, as well as oversight in publishing and maintaining it. CHPPM also solicited and received input from many other DoD organizations, who contributed significantly to the refinement of this protocol, including the U.S. Navy Environmental Health Center, the U.S. Navy Bureau of Medicine, the U.S. Air Force Institute for Operational Health, the U.S. Air Force 311thth Human Systems Wing, the U.S. Army Proponency Office for Preventive Medicine, the U.S. Army Deputy Chief of Staff G-4, DALO-SMT, and the U.S. Army Infantry Center and School. The many efforts of individuals from all of these and other organizations are greatly appreciated.
Protocol P248 was derived and
adapted primarily from existing publications of the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency and NSF Intl. It describes the procedures to be used to test
individual water purifiers (IWPs) designed to achieve removal or inactivation
of microbiological contaminants, including bacteria, viruses, protozoa, and
protozoan cysts and oocysts from virtually any fresh water
source likely to be encountered by military personnel during exercises and
deployments. Execution of this
protocol for acceptance of an individual water
purifier (IWP) will be administered and monitored
by a Government Review Agency (GRA) designated by the Department of the Army
Office of the Surgeon General (OTSG).
For the purposes of this protocol, and with reference to their use for military
personnel in emergency situations, IWPs for microbiological purification are
not intended to significantly remove chemical contamination. Claims made by
vendors concerning chemical contaminant removal efficiencies are
not tested and will not be verified by following this protocol.
IWPs, tested using this protocol, are intended only for individual emergency
use for short durations as an alternative to the currently fielded iodine
disinfection tablets.
A purifier-specific test plan (PSTP) will be
developed for each purifier or type of purifier based on this protocol. The
protocol is intentionally general in nature so it is applicable to all IWPs,
irrespective of physical construction or technology employed. If users find
procedures described in this protocol inappropriate or inapplicable to
adequately test their particular purifier or technology, deviations can be
proposed with documentation, including the reasons for modifying or departing
from protocol in the PSTP.
Such deviations and departures will be evaluated by the GRA and judged
acceptable as long as the level of testing is not decreased, nor the intent of
the protocol altered. Test conditions and procedures should be designed to
specifically challenge the particular technology under evaluation. The testing
of IWP performance involves four sequential steps:
- 1.Development and
approval of the purifier-specific test plan (PSTP),
1.Execution of third-party testing in accordance with the PSTP,
2.Data reduction and analysis, and
3.Report preparation and information transfer.
This protocol was developed subsequent to, and is based heavily on, NSF P231—Microbiological Water Purifiers. Some vendors of individual water purifiers have already tested their purifiers, either in their own laboratories or by a third party, using NSF P231 or another protocol. Those vendors may submit a request to the GRA that their devices be “grandfathered” into certification. On receipt of such a request, together with a copy of the test plan followed and the evaluation and report or results, the GRA will review the documents and determine the equivalency of the tests performed to those required by this protocol, and at its sole discretion, grant or deny grandfathering. In the case of denial, the GRA will issue a written statement to the vendor specifying the reasons for denial, and in any case, the vendor may retest the purifier(s) using this protocol and/or appeal the denial with rebuttal and/or additional information for the GRA to reconsider grandfathering the certification.
The original version, dated January 2006, is publicly available; however it is important to note that the protocol is under revision at this time. It is anticipated that the new version will be available soon. Reference the CHPPM Web site and NSF Protocol P248 can be located here. For more information, please contact Nikki Beetsch at beetsch@nsf.org or 734-913-5718.
Increasing Use of Hand-Held Water Purifiers
Nikki Beetsch
Nikki
Beetsch is business unit manager, ERS Group, for NSF Intl. and can be reached
at
beetsch@nsf.org
or 734-913-5718.
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