Shed The Lead

At Neptune, we've long believed in the importance of offering environmentally responsible metering products and systems. Back in January 2001, we converted our foundry and manufacturing facilities to produce products using a lead free bronze alloy, even though there was no regulatory requirement to do so. Why? We believed it was not only the right thing, but the smart thing to do.

Of course, getting rid of the lead meant long-term environmental benefits to our utility customers, their customers, and Neptune's own employees. That alone was a good reason to make the change. However, we also anticipated that standards for lead in drinking water would get stricter over time. That proved correct, as when NSF/ANSI Standard 61 introduced Annex F for lead leaching and Annex G for lead content.

Several states have laws for lead leaching based on NSF/ANSI 61 criteria. Those criteria are about to become even stricter in July 2012 with the revision of Annex F. Many products aside from Neptune's currently in compliance with NSF/ANSI 61 will not be compliant once the revisions go into effect.

Annex G's lead content standard will also undergo a change, becoming its own NSF/ANSI Standard, 372, in October 2013. When the revised Safe Drinking Water Act goes into effect in January 2014, certification to NSF 372 will demonstrate compliance.

It's all somewhat confusing, so we've created this micro-site to help sort out the details of these changes. We invite you to explore the different pages to learn more about what the new standards involve, how regulations will change, and how it all will impact utilities and their customers. Come join us and Shed the Lead.

Chuck DiLaura
President, Neptune Technology Group Inc.
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For years, NSF International/American National Standards Institute standards have set standards for lead in drinking water system components. Those standards are changing and challenging the water industry to "get the lead out" — literally — within the next couple of years.

NSF/ANSI Standard 61 for leached lead performance is already law in 46 states. A large number of products currently in compliance with this standard will not be compliant once the Annex F revisions to the standard go into effect in July 2012.

NSF/ANSI Standard 61 Annex G, which measures weighted average lead content, will become its own stand-alone content standard, renamed NSF/ANSI 372, in 2013. NSF/ANSI 372 will add minimum lead content verification testing as well. Certification to NSF372 will demonstrate compliance to the SDWA law that takes effect on January 4, 2014.

What will these changes mean for your water utility? This site is designed to answer that question — as well as several others, with useful illustrations, FAQs, news, and other resources that explain the details of the revised standards. If your utility uses Neptune Technology Group's ARB^® Utility Management Systems™, the water metering components are already covered — Neptune's lead free, bronze alloy water meters met even the future lead performance and content standards years ago.

We invite you to learn more on how you can shed the lead with Neptune.

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