Desperate need for SANS 30500 certification scheme

Desperate need for SANS 30500

CERTIFICATION

Dr Preyan Arumugam-Nanoolal Due to the high level of South African representation on the international panel that supported the creation of ISO 30500, we were one of the first countries in the world to identically adopt the standard as SANS 30500 in 2019. However, setting up a certification scheme has remained a challenge.

By Kirsten Kelly

There are many non-sewered sanitation systems (NSSS) that exist worldwide, yet, even today, there has been no technology that has been certified against ISO 30500.

“This is due to the stringent requirements of the standard as well as the costs associated with testing. Moreover, laboratories that would be responsible for testing need to be SANAS 17025 accredited. It is expensive to get accredited and maintain that accreditation. From a capacity point of view, we have found that the laboratories that are SANAS accredited do not typically have capacity for testing NSSS and currently do not see the business case, as there is very little demand for NSSS testing. On the other hand, laboratories that have capacity to measure most of the parameters required for NSSS testing reside at universities and research institutions and are not SANAS accredited. This is a stumbling block when developing a certification scheme,” says Dr Preyan Arumugam-Nanoolal, research scientist: Water, Sanitation & Hygiene Research & Development (WASH R&D) Centre, University of KwaZulu-Natal.

“Furthermore, there needs to be a critical mass – enough technologies need to be certified to justify the cost embedded into becoming a third-party certifier of SANS 30500. They are linked to each other – market acceptance of NSSS is driven by SANS 30500 certified products and SANS 30500 certification will likely only happen once there is a large volume of technologies that are certification ready,” she adds.

Promising developments

A substantial amount of work was done on ISO 30500 prior to the launch of the standard development processes at the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). TÜV SÜD – a global leader in product testing and certification – and the American National Standards Institute were tasked with drafting a pre-standard that could serve as a basis for the ISO standard. Currently, ISO 30500 tests can be conducted by TÜV-SÜD in Singapore and they have been identified as the certification body to drive ISO 30500.

A training programme on the standard was recently hosted by TÜV-SÜD and they are providing advice to South Africa on how to set up the certification scheme. “Parts of the standard are very specific and raise a number of questions around technical issues, testing and feasibility. There are plans underway to train all South African stakeholders,” explains Arumugam-Nanoolal.

TÜV-SÜD has also developed an ISO 30500 certification readiness index that provides technology developers with a self-assessment of their technology and its readiness for certification against the standard. It is based online, whereby technology developers need to answer various questions, the first of which is to ascertain if the technology is classed as NSSS and fits within ISO 30500. It also includes questions around various

There needs to be a critical mass – enough technologies need to be certified to justify the cost embedded into becoming a third-party certifier of SANS 30500. They are linked to each other – market acceptance of NSSS is driven by SANS 30500 certified products and SANS 30500 certification will likely only happen once there is a large volume of technologies that are certification ready.”

SANS/ISO 30500 FAST FACTS

• The standard specifies general safety and performance requirements for design and testing, as well as sustainability considerations for nonsewered sanitation systems (NSSS). • NSSS are prefabricated integrated treatment units containing a front-end component (such as low-flush, vacuum and urine-diversion dry or flushing toilets) and a back-end treatment component (ranging from biological to chemical or physical processes, or a combination of these). • NSSS exclude conventional water-intensive flushing toilets. • ISO 30500 covers aspects and criteria related to safety, functionality, usability, reliability and maintainability, as well as the system’s compatibility with environmental protection goals. • ISO 30500 is identically adopted by South Africa as SANS 30500. • The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation decided to initiate the development of the ISO 30500 international standard. This was done with the intention of enhancing efforts to widely manufacture, market and deploy technologies (developed from their Reinvent the Toilet challenge). • A project committee comprising 36 participating countries (including

South Africa) and 13 observing countries assisted in developing the standard. • South Africans helped to develop the standard: Dr Konstantina

Velkushanov, previously senior research associate: WASH R&D Centre,

University of KwaZulu-Natal (now a senior lecturer at IHE, Delft, the

Netherlands), and the late Professor Chris Buckley, research professor and head of the WASH R&D Centre, were part of the panel of technical experts; while SABS had representation supported by Jay Bhagwan, executive manager: Water Use and Waste Management, Water

Research Commission. thresholds and parameters that help assess if the technology complies with the standard.

“We are looking at developing something similar that can assist technology developers in determining if they are ready to be certified. They can then avoid the excessive costs involved in repeatedly submitting variations of the NSSS technology for certification. It will also further guide technology developers in creating NSSS that meet the criteria found in SANS 30500,” states Arumugam-Nanoolal. Locally, UKZN is assisting Agrément

with creating the certification scheme. “The certification scheme will be based on performance criteria that are dictated by SANS 30500 and then developed on the certification processes of Agrément. Databases of technical experts and laboratory partners have been prepared. A specialist is needed for each category of testing who would be responsible for signing off on testing reports,” explains Arumugam-Nanoolal.

To further support SANS 30500, the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) has developed a Sanitation Technology Technical Coordinating Committee (STTCC). The function of the STTCC is to facilitate the development of a process to assess and validate appropriate sanitation technologies, aid in their certification and accreditation, and guide their adoption and commercialisation.

“While the DWS can make recommendations regarding certain technologies, it is ultimately the municipality’s choice with regard to the type of sanitation solutions that will be implemented,” says Arumugam-Nanoolal.

Importance of ISO 30500 and a certification scheme

Previously, municipalities had been confronted with new sanitation technology but because there was no national standard, the onus and responsibility were placed on public officials to provide the guidance and position in terms of validating these technologies. It also disadvantaged many good solutions providers from entering the market.

Since the creation of SANS 30500, manufacturers are provided with strategic guidance that reduces costs by minimising waste and errors, increasing productivity and facilitating free and fair trade. Products that have gone through the certification scheme will give assurance to governments, regulators and end-users that the NSSS they use are safe, reliable and of good quality.

“The certification scheme and standard will permit the creation of a new market with a lot of innovative NSSS and will drastically reduce the diseases linked to a lack of sanitation. It is the first step toward the development of a local circular economy with the transformation of human wastes into valuable resources. Importantly, the standard and the scheme are about capacity building. It’s the opportunity to identify laboratories and build capacity in terms of instrumentation and skills. In addition, it will build awareness around not just the standard, but the entire sanitation space, to spark innovation in South Africa,” concludes Arumugam-Nanoolal.

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SANS/ISO 50001 Energy Management.

For organisations committed to addressing their impact, conserving resources and improving the bottom line through efficient energy management, SANS/ISO50001 was developed. Designed to support organisations in all sectors, this ISO/SANS standard provides a practical way to improve energy use, through the development of an energy management system (EnMS). SANS/ISO 50001 is based on the management system model of continual improvement also used for other well-known standards such as SANS/ISO 9001 or SANS/ISO 14001. This makes it easier for organizations to integrate energy management into their overall efforts to improve quality and environmental management.

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