Health & Safety… Who's Liable?

HydraStone is working closely with Alek Antoniuk of "The Ministry of the Environment" to further develop Ontario's building codes in regards to Safe-Drinking-Waterwith a desire to ensure regulated materials/coatings standards, water quality and the overall well-being of those who consume it. These new changes will be published in the next edition of the National-Building-Code and will be focused on tank lining.

"Health Canada", the "National Plumbing Code" and the "Ministry of Environment" all recommend CSA, NSF-61 certified tank coatings / materials be used in our water systems, however at this time there is no specific code that relates to the issues of water safety once the water reaches the private property line. However, when municipalities are concerned, all materials / coatings used that come in contact with potable water must meet the standard safety criteria set out by AWWA, CSA, NSF-61. Our objective is to extend these municipal regulations all the way to our faucets, with the intent to regulate all chemicals, materials & coatings used in the operation of the drinking water system that come into contact with water within the system & to ensure that they meet all applicable standards set by both the "American Water Works Association" (AWWA) and/or the "American National Standards Institute" (ANSI) safety criteria standards NSF/60 and NSF/6.

Examples: Domestic hot water tanks, Large diameter piping, tube bundles, heat exchangers, etc…

The testing of these materials should already be basic practice and that being said, any material that has not or could not pass the appropriate testing should be questioned. HydraStone is the manufacturer of "Alkrete" DHW tank lining material… a CSA / NSF-61 certified product that has followed strict guidelines and was tested thoroughly before being permitted on the market. Alkrete, material testing was completed by HydraStone in order to formulate a potable tank lining material that would ensure the safety of our drinking water while protecting the system itself from long-term decay. Using Alkrete tank liner will help avoid the cost of tank replacement.

Bearing in mind that other mainstream cement based linings have failed testing, such as Prekrete-Tank-Liner, HydraStone wished to guarantee its customers access to a safe product designed specifically for potable hot water tank lining i.e. "ALKRETE".

HydraStone lines several hundred tanks annually as well as several kilometers of large diameter drinking water mains for the city of Toronto with cement-based linings. Each material has unique qualities and is specific for both hot and cold-water applications. Not only is it important that all materials are safe, but it is crucial that they are designed specifically for each individual application, in this case, domestic hot water tanks.

Geoff Palmer/Jamie Russell.