Emerging pollutants and attendant regulatory control requirements have resulted in the need to install new treatment technologies that lack historical performance data. In order for regulatory agencies to approve the design and installation of these new technologies, manufacturers must be able to provide independent third-party verification of their performance claims and the system design and installed system performance needs to be validated through an approved field commissioning study. In order to meet the control requirements specified for Cryptosporidium parvum in the Stage 2 Long-Term Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule (LT2ESWTR) and the disinfection byproduct reduction requirements of the Stage 2 Disinfectants and Disinfection Byproducts Rule (DBPR), many water agencies have begun design and construction of UV light facilities. Although UV light has been successfully used in wastewater treatment facilities for the past fifteen years, new developments in lamp technology and reactor design, and water quality differences between water and wastewater prevent the translation of historical wastewater performance data to the drinking water field. Therefore, these drinking water systems will require a significant level of testing in order to demonstrate that they fulfill manufacturers' claims about dose delivery, process control, system reliability, and long-term performance. NSF International (NSF), in partnership with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) provides independent performance evaluations of drinking water technologies through their Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) Program. The purpose of this program is to accelerate a technology's entrance into the commercial marketplace by providing consumers with verified results of product evaluations. This program therefore functions as an independent third-party verification of manufacturer performance claims. The USEPA is presently developing a UV Disinfection Guidance Manual to provide assistance in the design, testing, and operation of UV systems for compliance with drinking water disinfection requirements. Thus, the intent of the ETV Program and the Guidance Manual appear to be complimentary. The ETV Program is designed to serve as an independent third-party verification of manufacturer performance claims while the USEPA Guidance Manual will provide the protocols for validation of site-specific system design and installed system performance. This paper discusses how the detailed specifications of the ETV Program and the Guidance Manual were directly compared and modified for consistency and congruency. Includes table, figures.
