Water Safety & Sustainability

Loading
loading...

Water Safety & Sustainability

July 17, 2026
mike@standardsmichigan.com

No Comments

 AWWA C500 Metal-Seated Gate Valves for Water Supply Service | Consultation Closes July 27

AWWA COMMENT PERIOD ON AWWA G480, Water Conservation and Efficiency Program Operation and Management Closes June 23

Harvard University Art Museum | In the Sierras, Lake Tahoe | Albert Bierstadt

The American Water Works Association is one of the first names in accredited standards developers that administer leading practice discovery in backflow prevention consensus documents; usually referenced in local and state building codes; and also in education facility design guidelines and construction specifications.

The original University of Michigan standards enterprise gave highest priority to backflow standards because of their central importance of backflow management to education communities; especially large research universities nested within a municipal water system.  Backflow prevention; an unseen technology that assures a safe drinking water supply by keeping water running in one direction by maintaining pressure differences.  Analogous to the way we want electrical current to run in one direction, failure of backflow prevention technology poses a near-instantaneous health risk for the contamination of potable water supplies with foul water.  In the most obvious case, a toilet flush cistern and its water supply must be isolated from the toilet bowl.  In a less obvious case, but at greater scale, a damaged backflow prevention technology at a university research building can contaminate an host-community potable water supply.

There are other ANSI accredited standards developers in the backflow prevention technology space — the International Code Council, the IAPMO Group and ASSE International — for example.

Backflow Preventer

At the moment no AWWA redlines relevant to our objective are open for consultation.  Several relatively stabilized product standards are marked up but none dealing specifically with interoperability issues.  When they are uploaded you may access them at the link below:

AWWA Standards Public Comment Home Page

Students and Young Professionals

AWWA is the first name in US-based water standards so we maintain the AWWA catalog on our Plumbing & Water colloquia.   See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting; open to everyone.

Issue: [11-57]

Category: Water Safety, Plumbing, Mechanical

Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Richard Robben, Steve Snyder, Larry Spielvogel

 


LEARN MORE

Workspace / AWWA

 

Critter Control

July 17, 2026
mike@standardsmichigan.com
No Comments

This content is accessible to paid subscribers. To view it please enter your password below or send mike@standardsmichigan.com a request for subscription details.

Playgrounds

July 16, 2026
mike@standardsmichigan.com
No Comments
…”Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams…”

 

Dufferin-Peel Catholic District Schools | Ontario

Outdoor play facilities for school children are governed by several key codes and standards to ensure safety and accessibility. The European Standard EN 1176 outlines safety requirements for playground equipment, covering design, installation, and maintenance to minimize risks like entrapment and falls.

The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 mandates risk assessments and safe environments, while the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 (revised 1984) ensures playgrounds are reasonably safe for users.

The Consumer Protection Act 1987 holds manufacturers liable for defective equipment. The Children Act 1989 requires facilities to be suitable and safe. Ofsted emphasizes stimulating, inclusive, and varied play environments that promote physical and mental health, encouraging year-round outdoor learning. Compliance with these standards, alongside regular inspections (e.g., TÜV certification), ensures safe, durable, and engaging playgrounds that foster children’s development while minimizing injury risks.

Today at the usual hour we update our understanding of the technical literature that supports making these facilities safe, sustainable and enjoyable.  Use the login credentials at the upper right of our home page.

Playground Equipment

ASTM Playground Standards

Fences & Zoning

Bleachers, Folding Seating & Grandstands

Outdoor Power Equipment

Sichere Kinderspielplätze mit Standards

Sports, Recreational Facilities & Equipment

Gallery: Playgrounds

July 16, 2026
mike@standardsmichigan.com
No Comments

Red, White and Blue Smoothie

July 15, 2026
mike@standardsmichigan.com
, , , , , ,
No Comments

COLLEGE PARK WEATHER

University System of Maryland | $12.225B

Strawberries

Soda Jerk, 1953 by Norman Rockwell - Paper Print - Norman ...

Blueberries

University of Maryland Extension

Standards Maryland

The choice of red, white, and blue in national flags often carries historical, cultural, and political significance. Here are some reasons why various nations have chosen these colors:

  1. Historical Connections:
    • United States: The colors were chosen for their flag in 1777 and have been interpreted to symbolize valor (red), purity (white), and justice (blue). The colors were influenced by the British Union Jack.
    • France: The Tricolour flag adopted during the French Revolution represents liberty (blue), equality (white), and fraternity (red).
    • United Kingdom: The Union Jack combines elements from the flags of England (red and white), Scotland (blue and white), and Ireland (red and white).
  2. Cultural and Political Significance:
    • Russia: The flag’s colors were adopted from the Dutch flag, symbolizing pan-Slavism (red for bravery, blue for faithfulness, and white for honesty).
    • Netherlands: The Dutch flag’s colors (originally derived from the Prince’s Flag) have historical roots, symbolizing the struggle for independence and liberty.
    • Czech Republic and Slovakia: Both countries use red, white, and blue to represent their Slavic heritage.
  3. Influence and Inspiration:
    • Chile, Costa Rica, and Panama: These countries were influenced by the colors and symbolism of other flags (e.g., the French and American flags) during their independence movements.
    • Australia and New Zealand: Both countries incorporate the Union Jack in their flags, reflecting their colonial history with the United Kingdom.
  4. Symbolism:
    • Croatia, Serbia, and Slovenia: The colors are traditional pan-Slavic colors, representing freedom and national unity.
    • Iceland and Norway: The colors reflect their historical and cultural ties to other Scandinavian countries.

The exact reasons can vary, but often the colors reflect a mix of historical alliances, cultural heritage, and political ideals.

 

Healthcare Organization Management

July 15, 2026
mike@standardsmichigan.com
,
No Comments

Open consultations:

US TAG is transferred to Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation from InGenesis.  Administrative details in process.  Stay tuned.

ISO FDIS 16473 Healthcare organization pandemic response information management standard | Comments due September 4th

VF_40_2025_-_Re-allocation_of_ISO_TC_304_ | Comments due July 17th

ISO_DIS 20364 Pandemic Response Standard Draft Open for Public Consultation Comments due July 1

ISO Healthcare Management Comments on Smart Hospital Standard due January 15

 Send Mike a message to coordinate comments (maanthon@umich.edu)

“Une leçon clinique à la Salpêtrière” 1887 André Brouillet

ISO Technical Committees | ANSI (U.S. Participation in ISO Activities)

Many large research universities have significant medical research and healthcare delivery enterprises. The leadership of those enterprises discount the effect of standards like this at their peril. It is easy to visualize that this document will have as transformative effect upon the healthcare industry as the ISO 9000 series of management standards in the globalization of manufacturing.

Scope

Standardization in the field of healthcare organization management comprising, terminology, nomenclature, recommendations and requirements for healthcare-specific management practices and metrics (e.g. patient-centered staffing, quality, facility-level infection control, pandemic management, hand hygiene) that comprise the non-clinical operations in healthcare entities.

Excluded are horizontal organizational standards within the scope of:

    • quality management and quality assurance (TC 176);
    • human resource management (TC 260);
    • risk management (TC 262);
    • facility management (TC 267), and;
    • occupational health and safety management (TC 283).

Also excluded are standards relating to clinical equipment and practices, enclosing those within the scope of TC 198 Sterilization of health care products.

This committee is led by the US Technical Advisory Group Administrator —Ingenesis.   The committee is very active at the moment, with new titles drafted, reviewed and published on a near-monthly basis,

 

DPAS ballot for ISO PAS 23617- Healthcare organization management: Pandemic response  (respiratory) —Guidelines for medical support of socially vulnerable groups – Comments due 16 October

ISO-TC 304 Healthcare Organization Management- Pandemic response – Contact tracing – Comments due August 3, 2023

[Issue 14-99]

Contact:  Lee Webster (lswebste@utmb.edu, lwebster@ingenesis.com), Mike Anthony (mike@standardsmichigan.com), Jack Janveja (jjanveja@umich.edu), Richard Robben (rrobben1952@gmail.com), James Harvey (jharvey@umich.edu), Christine Fischer (chrisfis@umich.edu), Dr Veronica Muzquiz Edwards (vedwards@ingenesis.com)

Category: Health, Global

Workspace / ISO 304 Healthcare Administration

More

Journal of Healthcare Management Standards: Operational Resilience of Hospital Power Systems in the Digital Age

ISO Focus Special Issue on Healthcare

ISO/TC 48 Laboratory equipment

ISO/TC 212 Clinical laboratory testing and in vitro diagnostic test systems

ISO/TC 198 Sterilization of health care products

How do standards contribute to better healthcare?

  • The American National Standards Institute — the Global Secretariat for ISO — does not provide content management systems for its US Technical Advisory Groups.  Because of the nascent committee, inspired by the work of Lee Webster at the University of Texas Medical Branch needed a content management system, we have been managing content on a Google Site facility on a University of Michigan host since 2014.Earlier this spring, the University of Michigan began upgrading its Google Sites facility which requires us to offload existing content onto the new facility before the end of June.  That process is happening now.  Because of this it is unwise for us to open the content library for this committee publicly.  Respecting copyright, confidentiality of ISO and the US Technical Advisory Group we protect most recent content in the link below and invite anyone to click in any day at 15:00 (16:00) UTC.  Our office door is open every day at this hour and has been for the better part of ten years.

Layout mode
Predefined Skins
Custom Colors
Choose your skin color
Patterns Background
Images Background
Standards Michigan
error: Content is protected !!
Skip to content