The water quality circulating inside the TOM® pipes and the ecoFITTOM® fittings is kept completely unaltered, thanks to the fact that it is a chemically homogeneous and corrosion resistant material, that is to say, without interior coatings or protections, so that there is no degradation of the pipe nor migrations of products from the pipe to the water.
For these reasons, and for its exceptional technical characteristics, PVC-O is a suitable material for the transportation of water for human consumption.
Normative criteria for human consumption water
Each country member of the European Union is obliged to comply with the objectives proposed in the Water Framwork Directive 2000/60/CE, which establishes the action criteria in the field of water policy. However, the form and means for their application are at the discretion of each country.
Regarding water for human consumption, pending the establishment of harmonized standards for the entire territory, each country is applying its own regulations.
Thus, in countries such as France, Germany, the Netherlands or the United Kingdom, acceptance schemes for construction products in contact with water for human consumption have been established. These acceptance schemes imply very rigid rules regarding the granting of certificates of suitability for such materials, being essential the obtention of the mentioned certificate to be able to use the material for this application.
In Spain, currently there is no national acceptance scheme for construction products in contact with water for human consumption so, plastic pipes are governed by the Royal Decree 140/2003: Water quality criteria for human consumption.
This document establishes the quality parameters that water for human consumption must meet but, it hardly has any requirements in relation to the material in contact with water. Therefore, after carrying out the different tests in an accredited laboratory, a compliance certificate is issued.
Potable water supply
The PVC-O TOM® pipes comply with the requirements of this RD and therefore, they are suitable for use with potable water according to the current Spanish legislation.
This suitability is also corroborated with the obtaining of European health certificates, such as the ACS (Attestation de Conformité Sanitaire) - France, the Hydrocheck Certificate - Belgium, and the WRAS (Water Regulations Advisory Scheme) and DWI (Drinking Water Inspectorate) Certificates - United Kingdom, issued by the corresponding organisms and ministries of health, after an exhaustive study of the product formulation and rigorous tests on the material, which ensure its perfect suitability for the transportation of water for human consumption.
This demonstrates that there is no migration of the components of the pipe to the transported water, son it can be assured that the quality of the fluid remains always unaltered.
Sanitary Certificates for the use with potable water
TOM® pipes preserve and guarantee the inalterability of the water quality for human consumption
Thanks to their excellent chemical resistance, these pipes are not degraded by the action of natural components (such as minerals) or the soils in which they are buried, so they remain unaltered along time, avoiding that they can suffer a deterioration that could cause their breakage and the possible contamination of the water by the introduction of external agents inside the pipe.
For this reason, TOM® pipes are not affected by the action of the disinfection methods commonly used in supply networks, mainly sodium hypochlorite and chlorine dioxide.
This same chemical resistance makes them immune to internal corrosion, so there is no transfer of metal oxides to the water. This can become a public health problem if the corresponding sanitary limits for this parameter are exceeded, increasing the maintenance costs of the network for the successive cleaning processes. Besides this, potable water could be contaminated and wasted becoming even necessary the complete replacement of the affected section of the pipe.
This absence of corrosion prevents the formation of the ideal habitat for the proliferation of bacteria, so the bacterial growth and the corresponding formation of biofilm inside the pipeline is greatly minimized.
TOM® pipes present a long service life throughout their life-cycle thanks to their unbeatable mechanical and chemical properties.