AN ACT Relating to the sale of water filtration devices; adding a new chapter to Title 19 RCW; and prescribing penalties.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds and declares that advertising, sales, and business practices of companies selling water treatment devices have worked financial hardship upon the people of this state; that the health of the people of our state is an important public concern; that the state has a direct interest in assuring the delivery of safe drinking water to the people of this state; and that the public welfare requires regulation of companies selling water treatment devices in order to eliminate unfair advertising, sales, and business practices.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. Unless the context requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter.

(1) "Advertisement" includes all representations of fact or opinion disseminated to the public in any manner or by any means that are designed to induce, directly or indirectly, a person to enter into an obligation to acquire any title or interest in, or to utilize, any water treatment device.

(2) "Water treatment device" means any point of use or point of entry instrument or contrivance sold, or offered for rental or lease, for residential, commercial, or institutional use and designed to be added to the plumbing system, or used without being connected to the plumbing, of a water supply intended for human consumption in order to improve the water supply by any means, including, but not limited to, filtration, distillation, adsorption, ion exchange, reverse osmosis, or other treatment.

(3) "Person" means any individual, firm, corporation, or association, or any employee or agent thereof.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. (1) An advertisement of a water treatment device is false if it is false or misleading in any particular regarding the water treatment device.

(2) It is unlawful for any person to disseminate a false advertisement of a water treatment device by any means for the purposes of inducing, directly or indirectly, the purchase, rental, or lease of water treatment devices.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. It is unlawful for any person soliciting a sale, rental, lease, or order for water treatment devices to do any of the following:

(1) Make false claims or statements that are not entirely true, or statements that are misleading, about contamination problems in tap water.

(2) Make statements which are not true or applicable in all situations which they purport to cover. This prohibition includes, but is not limited to, the following:

(a) Claims that state or imply scientific certainty regarding the relationship between acute or chronic illnesses and water quality;

(b) Statements which overstate the kind and degree of problems caused by water treated by public water systems; and

(c) Statements stating or implying that the water flowing from a water treatment device is "pure," "safe," or the use of other words or terms which state or imply that the treatment device improves the quality of tap water.

(3) Make product performance claims or product benefit claims, either for the product alone or for the product in conjunction with other products, unless they are based on factual data of a type and quantity reasonably appropriate for the claims being made, which data is in existence at the time the claims are made.

(4) Notwithstanding subsection (3) of this section, make product performance claims or product benefit claims that the device affects health or safety of drinking water, unless the device has been certified by the department of social and health services pursuant to chapter 43.20 RCW.

(5) Make statements about the performance attributes or benefits claimed for a product unless they are adequately described or qualified in complete, comprehensive, and detailed terms and are based on proven facts.

(6) Make claims which describe a problem and offer a solution unless the circumstances under which the problem is likely to arise are clearly and accurately identified.

(7) Use pictures, exhibits, graphs, charts, or other graphic portrayals unless they are clearly and unambiguously truthful.

(8) Omit material facts from advertising material or statements if the effect would be to mislead or to misrepresent.

(9) Use endorsements or testimonials unless they contain no misleading implications and they reflect the most current opinion and qualifications of the person giving it.

(10) Use an electrical precipitator test, unless it is disclosed to the consumer that the electrical precipitator test is not a comprehensive water quality test, all material facts about the test are disclosed to the consumer, and any representation about the consequence of dissolved solids in tap water is substantially supported by scientific documentation acceptable to the department of social and health services.

(11) Make statements that imply that the seller of the water treatment device is an official water quality agency.

(12) Offer a discount for the purchase, rental, or lease of a water treatment device, unless the discount is a substantial discount off the regular price at which the water treatment device has been sold. "The regular price at which the water treatment device has been sold" means the price at which on average the water treatment device has been sold within thirty days preceding the offer.

(13) Make statements which imply that treatment of a contaminated water source at a centralized water treatment facility is more expensive than installation of point of use water filters by all consumers drawing on that water source.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. Any advertisement soliciting a sale, rental, lease, or order for water treatment devices shall include at least the following statement:

"Operational, maintenance, and replacement requirements are essential for the product to perform as advertised."

The disclosure statement required by this section shall be printed in a clearly legible and conspicuous manner, or shall be clearly audible if the advertisement is broadcast.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. Any violation of this chapter shall constitute a gross misdemeanor punishable under RCW 9A.20.021(2).

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. A violation of this chapter shall constitute an unfair or deceptive business or trade practice affecting the public interest under chapter 19.86 RCW. All public and private remedies provided under that chapter shall be available to enforce this chapter.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. Sections 1 through 7 of this act shall constitute a new chapter in Title 19 RCW.