Lisle, Ill. - The Water Quality Association (WQA) has become the first and only certification body in the world to receive American National Standards Institute (ANSI) accreditation to certify products for environmental conscientiousness. On March 16, 2015, ANSI announced that WQA's Sustainability Certification Program was officially accredited to operate a Type-I Environmental Labeling product certification program under standards ISO 14024 and ISO 17065. Type-I (one) Environmental Labeling programs provide independent, third-party, certification of products as being environmentally responsible, according to industry standards that encompass all aspects of a product's lifecycle (raw materials, manufacturing, distribution, use-phase and final disposition).

This recognition was achieved as part of a special ANSI pilot program for eco-labeling certification bodies. Water treatment products, components and media that have been evaluated as conforming to the requirements of either WQA/APSE/ANSI S-803 (2014): Sustainable Drinking Water Treatment Systems, or WQA/ASPE/ANSI S-802 (2014): Sustainable Activated Carbon Media for Drinking Water Treatment are eligible to bear the WQA Sustainability Trademark and will appear in WQA's online listing of certified products, found at www.wqa.org/Find-Products. "Our research has found that more and more conscientious consumers are becoming concerned with the sustainability of the companies they do business with.

Our Sustainability Certification Program assures them that water treatment products have been independently certified to meet rigorous criteria specifically aimed at the environmental attributes of the product itself, as well as the manufacturing processes and facilities that led to its creation," explains WQA Executive Director David Westman. "Now, with this ANSI accreditation, there is an even deeper layer of third-party assurance that the WQA Sustainability Certification Program conforms to relevant international standards for impartial and transparent certification evaluation."

Visit www.wqa.org/Sustainability