NSF International has been awarded two cooperative agreements from the EPA for work on homeland security water safety. NSF is a leader in standards development, product certification, education and risk management solutions for public health and safety. The NSF Drinking Water Systems Center (DWSC) and the NSF Water Quality Protection Center (WQPC) will administer the agreements through the NSF/EPA Environmental Technology Verifica-tion (ETV) Program.

The NSF homeland security project includes identification of priority areas of investigation, selection of potential technologies, test protocol development and technology evaluation. The first verification reports are scheduled for completion in late 2003.

DWSC verifies the efficacy of home water treatment systems in providing protection against water contaminants. DWSC has verified the performance of 29 drinking water technologies including technologies for cryptosporidium and arsenic reduction.

WQPC focuses on equipment designed to treat water used in the cleanup of contaminated buildings and equipment. WQPC verifies technologies for disinfectant mixers, storm water treatment, mercury amalgam separation, wastewater nutrient reduction and animal waste separation.