Copper and copper alloys in contact with drinking water: the European perspective

摘要

In Europe copper and copper alloys have been applied on a large scale in drinking water installations for a long time. It is known that these materials may release significant amounts of metals into drinking water. However, the testing of the metal release has never been included in the approval criteria in European countries. In the current development of a European Acceptance Scheme for Construction Products in contact with Drinking Water (EAS) this will change. Since 1999, the Regulators in Europe have been discussing how to approve metallic materials that will be used in contact with drinking water. Within this EAS, it is important to recognise that the release of metals from copper and copper alloys depends strongly on the drinking water composition. Therefore, the suitability of several test methods to test the metal release has been evaluated. The results of the evaluation are used in the development of an EAS for metallic materials. End of May 2003, the draft framework of the EAS for metallic materials is available. In the case of copper and copper alloys, the EAS can lead to improvement of materials, restricted use of copper pipes and improvement of water quality in Europe.