The Water Quality Association today issued a news release to let the media know that a company in Raleigh, North Carolina is misrepresenting itself by claiming to be aligned with WQA in an apparent effort to persuade residents to have their drinking water tested.
“We were alerted to this fraudulent use of our name by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services,” said WQA Deputy Executive Director Pauli Undesser. “The organization is not a member of WQA nor do they have permission to use our name in their promotional materials.”
The full release can be viewed here and below:
LISLE, Ill. – The Water Quality Association (WQA) today said that a company in Raleigh, North Carolina is misrepresenting itself by claiming to be aligned with WQA in an apparent effort to persuade residents to have their drinking water tested.
“We were alerted to this fraudulent use of our name by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services,” said WQA Deputy Executive Director Pauli Undesser. “The organization is not a member of WQA nor do they have permission to use our name in their promotional materials.”
A mailer offering a “free community water test” has been sent to Raleigh area homes asking residents to send in “one teaspoon” of tap water along with a survey sheet which asks questions about the source of their water and any concerns they have about their water.
The return envelope is labeled “URGENT CRITICAL COMMUNITY WATER TEST.” The bottom of the survey sheet includes “Water Quality Association” and the WQA website address: wqa.org.
“This would appear to be an effort to play off of fears about drinking water in the wake of Flint, Michigan and other news reports over the past year,” Undesser said. “Obviously, we take very seriously the misuse of our name and logo, but even more important, we are concerned that this fraudulent effort could actually put people’s health at risk if the effort is aimed at selling invalidated products.”
“WQA has a strict code of ethics for our members and for manufacturers of water treatment products,” Undesser said. “Our Code of Ethics does not promote scare tactics as a way to generate business.”
WQA is a not-for-profit trade association representing the residential, commercial, and industrial water treatment industry. Since 1959, the WQA Gold Seal certification program has been certifying products that contribute to the safe consumption of water. The WQA Gold Seal program is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the Standards Council of Canada (SCC).
wqa.org