News
02.03.2018 - Water
Revision of the Drinking Water Ordinance (TrinkwV)
In January 2018, the German Drinking Water Ordinance was amended. (check here for the entire Drinking Water Ordinance) This is intended to enhance safety while simultaneously aligning with European legal requirements.
Below we have compiled some of the updates for you, noting that the points listed do not represent an exhaustive list of all changes to the Drinking Water Ordinance. In our explanations, we particularly focus on changes relevant to food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical companies, as well as hotels.
- If during mandatory Legionella inspections per §14b (1) TrinkwV, exceedances of the technical action value of 100 CFU/100ml occur, these positive findings must, according to §15a, be immediately reported by the laboratory to the appropriate health authority. In this case, the client does not need to report to the health authority anymore.
Note from BAV: Of course, the BAV Institute will inform the client in advance about this result.
- According to §14 (6) and §15 (4) TrinkwV, the client must commission the laboratory, which is both approved and accredited for drinking water testing, with the sampling and the investigation. Sampling must be part of the assignment and cannot be conducted directly by other companies.
Note from BAV: The laboratory has the option to use "brokers" or "independent contractors" as external samplers; however, these persons must be appropriately trained, have a contractual agreement with the laboratory, and be integrated into the laboratory's quality management system.
- In Appendix 4 of the Drinking Water Ordinance, enterococci are also included in Group A investigations. This means this parameter is part of the routine microbiological drinking water examination.
Note from BAV: The routine microbiological drinking water examination will be expanded to include the enterococci parameter immediately. This will also result in a change in the examination price for these investigations according to the Drinking Water Ordinance.
Further general information on the microbiology of drinking water:
- If the drinking water originates from surface water or is influenced by surface water, the microbiological examination is supplemented with the parameter "Clostridium perfringens, including spores".
- If it is drinking water intended for bottling in sealable containers for the purpose of sale, the examination must be expanded to include the parameter "Pseudomonas aeruginosa".
For waterworks or water suppliers, there are also numerous other changes to note in addition to the updates listed above.
Our laboratory specializes in these examinations and provides you with fast and reliable results.
For questions, our customer advisors are very happy to assist you.