Who are UBA regulations for?

Manufacturers of materials or products in contact with drinking water must declare whether their products comply with the requirements of the evaluation criteria according to German drinking water regulations.


About UBA regulations 

For construction and maintenance of facilities for the abstraction, treatment and distribution of drinking water only materials that fulfill the requirements of evaluation criteria must be used. 

For certification (attestation of conformity) of products in contact with drinking water according to the evaluation criteria the German Environment Agency has set up a recommendation. 

For the following materials specific criteria are formulated: 

  • Evaluation criteria for metallic materials -  metallic materials hygienically suitable for contact with drinking water.  
  • Evaluation criteria for enamels and ceramic materials  - only listed constituents should be found in enamels and ceramic materials. 
  • Evaluation criteria for plastics and other organic materials in contact with drinking water - evaluation criteria for plastics, organic coatings and lubricants. 
  • For Silicones, Elastomers, Thermoplastic Elastomers Guidelines must be considered. 


KTW-BWGL replaces KTW-, Coating and Lubricant Guidelines 

As of March 21, 2021 the German KTW Guideline, Coating Guideline and Lubricant Guideline will be replaced by the legal mandatory ‘Assessment criteria for plastics and other organic materials in contact with drinking water’, in short the KTW-BWGL.  


Recommendation for attestation of conformity of product hygiene suitability for drinking water  

This recommendation describes a procedure to certify hygiene requirement conformity for the materials in the product that come into contact with drinking water. This will allow manufacturers to demonstrate that the products they sell meet the requirements of the drinking water ordinance. 

The evaluation and testing of hygiene requirement compliance for products in contact with drinking water is risk based to the wetted surface. System 1+ (Variant A) for products with a large wetted surface or Typetest (Variant B) for products with a smaller wetted surface. 

 

Introduction to the German UBA regulations