WC&P Online reports that NSF has launched Protocol 549 to verify glyphosate-reduction claims for water filtration systems and products. Glyphosate is a widely used herbicide, and NSF describes P549 as the first protocol globally dedicated to validating its reduction in drinking-water treatment products. According to the announcement, testing requires systems to reduce glyphosate to 0.28 mg/L or lower. The protocol aligns with NSF/ANSI 53 and 58, the standards covering health-effects filtration and reverse osmosis systems, respectively. The addition gives manufacturers a defined route for independent verification and gives buyers a specific claim to check when comparing equipment. That said, it doesn’t mean that every filter carrying an NSF certification has been evaluated for glyphosate reduction. When glyphosate is the treatment concern, the relevant question is whether the particular product has a verified reduction claim, rather than whether it carries a certification mark for something else.

On the latest WQA podcast, WQA’s public engagement specialist explains what happens when homeowners call WQA with questions about their water or equipment. Some see the Gold Seal on a product and assume WQA manufactured it or can arrange repairs. When that happens, those calls become an opportunity to explain product certification, including the specific claims tested, before directing callers to local member companies for testing, installation or service. WQA walks consumers through its member directory, which identifies companies with certified professionals, and its certified-product search using water test results or contaminants of concern. A “Questions to Ask” handout helps homeowners prepare for those conversations rather than choose equipment without enough information. The episode also introduces the quarterly Current Curiosities report, which tracks inquiry topics and geographic patterns.

In the latest blog post from Specialty Sales, the team discusses SharkBite PEX Press and how its factory-attached sleeve changes the connection process for PEX installations.

Specialty Sales now carries RWC's SharkBite PEX Press line for PEX-a and PEX-b piping. Questions about the line? Contact the team or call 800-323-3054

On the Liquid Assets podcast, VVater co-founder and CEO Kevin Gast discusses the difficulty of keeping aging U.S. water systems running as experienced operators become harder to replace. He describes utilities working with decades-old equipment and controls, sometimes without staff who fully understand the systems they inherited. Remote operation adds another concern: older controls connected through operator workstations can create cybersecurity exposure beyond the treatment plant itself. At the same time, population growth, new manufacturing facilities and data centers are adding demand that existing infrastructure wasn’t designed to handle. Gast argues that expanding supply needs to include more reuse, particularly where industrial facilities can treat water onsite rather than draw additional freshwater.

AMPAC USA’s antiscalant guide explains how protecting RO membranes starts with feed-water chemistry and the recovery rate a system is expected to run. As an RO system recovers more water, dissolved minerals become more concentrated in the reject stream, increasing the potential for scale. Antiscalant interferes with crystal formation and growth so those minerals can leave with the concentrate rather than accumulate on the membrane. That said, it doesn’t remove hardness like a softener. Product selection and dosing depend on the water analysis, planned recovery and membrane compatibility, with supplier projections guiding the dose rather than a universal setting. The guide also warns that excess antiscalant can itself cause fouling. Falling normalized permeate flow, rising differential pressure and worsening permeate quality warrant investigation, but the team notes that those symptoms can have other causes.