IAPMO Mexico, an accredited product testing laboratory in Monterey, Mexico, that tests toilets and urinals for the Mexican market as specified under the Norma Oficial Mexicana NOM-002-CONAGUA-2021 standard, celebrated its grand opening Oct. 16 with a ceremony featuring government officials and manufacturer representatives.
The ribbon cutting included Lic. Héctor Morales Rivera, deputy mayor of the city of Apodaca, Mexico, IAPMO Mexico General Manager Dr. Donato Lozano, IAPMO Chief Technical Services Officer Tom Palkon, and IAPMO R&T Vice President of Continuous Compliance Jose Madrigal.
Attendees were given an exclusive tour of the state-of-the-art lab, which is initially equipped to test toilets as specified under Norma Oficial Mexicana NOM-002-CONAGUA-2021. The products will be tested for material and performance compliance, ensuring their quality for consumers.
The ceremony concluded with a reception lunch at Restaurante Los Fresnos and mariachi band performance.
Quotable
DR. DONATO LOZANO: “I thank all of you, very much, for your presence here today. I am happy that you are able to witness the results of the effort that is being made to achieve the goal that we are all pursuing. Not the manufacturing of toilets and valves but saving water. This is very important.
“For years, we sat on committees made up of manufacturers, consumers, technicians and very specialized people. And we couldn’t agree, there were many interests, it took a long time. There was always a group that kept bringing the banner of saving water because they saw a disastrous outlook. These Organizations continued to work together until they managed to make the standards for manufacturing water-saving toilets mandatory. More demanding international testing methods were implemented.
“It was announced in November 2022 that NOM-002-CONAGUA-2021 would come into force in May 2023. So, we set up a laboratory to test the new standard, betting on a dream without knowing what was going to happen. But the decision was not very difficult, the equation is very simple. The amount of drinking water in the world is constant and the population increases every day. Therefore, with each passing day there is less water per person.”
Rivera, and several members of the Association of Plumbers of Mexico (APLOMEX). Right: Tom Palkon, IAPMO chief technical services officer, welcomed guests and commended the IAPMO Mexico team for doing “an unbelievable job” of setting up the entity in Mexico.
TOM PALKON: “Donato, Jose, all of the staff at IAPMO Mexico, you’ve done an unbelievable job. It’s not easy setting up an entity in Mexico. I am very proud of the team, I am happy to be here, and I want to thank you all for joining us. It was about two years ago that Donato and Jose approached me and said, ‘It’s time for IAPMO to expand into Mexico.’
They were very prepared with a business plan and said, ‘We need a lab in Mexico for companies that sell products in Mexico that need testing.’
“The companies in Mexico, they want to test with IAPMO, in Mexico, for the Mexico market. So, to me, the decision was very easy to expand here.”
Right: Madrigal and David Garcia Llaguno from the IAPMO R&T Technical Certification
Committee. PHOTOS COURTESY OF IAPMO MEXICO
JOSE MADRIGAL: “We are very excited for the opening of our new lab, but this is just the beginning for IAPMO testing in Mexico. We are looking forward to the near future when we will add testing capabilities for fill valves, flush valves, and low lead. Of our highest priority will be testing to Mexico’s new NOM-012-CONAGUA standard. NOM-012-CONAGUA will require, for the first time in Mexico, the testing of faucets, valves, and fittings that involve drinking water. IAPMO Mexico will be prepared to do this testing.”
LIC. HÉCTOR MORALES RIVERA: “Today, the inauguration, the beginning, the start of operations of this great laboratory takes on the greatest relevance, because it complements precisely a very wide range of industrial and commercial activities in Apodaca.
“Dr. Donato and his team are dedicated precisely to studying and researching how to conserve, preserve and manage the most valuable element that we have as human beings, which is water. This laboratory that opens today will undoubtedly be number one, not only at the national level, but also internationally, and they have arrived at a good location, a great place such as the new industrial capital of Mexico.
“Today, we are in a very important battle here in Nuevo León and practically throughout Mexico, precisely because our resources are becoming scarcer every day. And to that extent, we are hopeful that our awareness will increase further, sooner. We wish this great company the greatest success. It is a great project that will undoubtedly have enormous success because our futures depend on taking care of water, saving it, and properly managing it.”
Geoff Bilau
Last modified: December 20, 2023