IBWA, WQA reach agreement to cooperate on education, technical issues

LISLE, IL, & ALEXANDRIA, VA, Jan. 4, 2005 -- The Water Quality Association (WQA) and the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) announced today that they have signed a memorandum of understanding for an agreement to share educational resources and opportunities and work together on issues of mutual concern.

WQA Executive Director Peter J. Censky notes, "In today's fiercely competitive marketplace, the common interests of the members of WQA and IBWA will be well served by this memorandum of understanding. WQA looks forward to continuing our long and productive relationship with our colleagues in the IBWA."

"Safe, high quality drinking water is the top priority for our respective memberships," said IBWA President Joseph K. Doss. "There are many common technological, legislative, regulatory and other issues, which the bottled water and point-of-use/point-of-entry (POU/POE) industries share. It is only natural that our two organizations work together on initiatives that impact the membership of each association and the consumers served by our respective memberships."

As the drinking water market expands, there are companies in each association's membership that do business in both the bottled water and POU/POE industries. This alliance will provide expanded resources and educational opportunities to help achieve success on issues of importance to the drinking water industry. In signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), the two associations agree to make available to each group's membership educational opportunities and resources. Throughout the year, each association conducts seminars and other educational programs that will be open to members of both WQA and IBWA.2

Both associations will share technical and regulatory expertise to enhance the performance of both bottled water production plants and consumer bottled water coolers as well as POU/POE drinking water dispensers. In addition, IBWA and WQA will together tackle legislative and regulatory issues as warranted. An oversight committee composed of staff professionals from the two groups will coordinate joint activities and hold conference calls on a quarterly and as-needed basis. The MOU is effective for one year.

To launch the relationship, WQA and IBWA staff today met and established a plan for moving forward.

About the WQA
Created in 1974 with the merger of two related associations, the Water Quality Association (www.wqa.org) is a not-for-profit international trade association representing the household, commercial, industrial, and small community water treatment industry. It maintains a close dialogue with other organizations representing different aspects of the water industry in order to best serve consumers, government officials, and industry members. It's a resource and information source, a voice for the industry, an educator for professionals, a laboratory for product testing, and a communicator to the public. In March, the WQA and its partner the RAI will put on the first WQA Aquatech USA International Exhibition and Conference, the largest water treatment opportunity show in North America.

About the IBWA
The International Bottled Water Association (www.bottledwater.org) is the authoritative source of information about all types of bottled waters. Founded in 1958, its membership includes U.S. and international bottlers, distributors and suppliers. IBWA is committed to working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which regulates bottled water as a packaged food product, and state governments to set stringent standards for safe, high quality bottled water products. In addition to FDA and state regulations, the association requires member bottlers to adhere to the IBWA Model Code, which mandates additional standards and practices that in some cases are more stringent than federal and state regulations. A key feature of this code is an annual, unannounced plant inspection by an independent, third party organization.

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