ยง 350-h. Water treatment units. 1. No person shall sell, offer for
sale, rent, lease or possess for the purpose of resale or distribution
any water treatment unit for use in this state unless each water
treatment unit has a conspicuous and legible label stating, "IMPORTANT
NOTICE, Read the Performance Data Sheet." and is accompanied by a
performance data sheet placed on, in, or otherwise made a part of the
containers or wrappers of such units.
2. No person, firm or corporation shall engage in the following
practices in the sale, offer for sale, rental, lease or other
distribution of water treatment units, as defined in section three
hundred fifty-g of this article:
a. Make materially false or misleading claims concerning the quality
of a prospective purchaser's public water supply or private well water;
b. Make materially false or misleading claims which state the kind and
degree of problems caused by water from a public water supply;
c. Make materially false or misleading claims that state or clearly
imply scientific certainty regarding the relationship between acute or
chronic illnesses and water quality, unless based on valid scientific
studies;
d. Make product performance claims and product benefit claims unless
such claims are based on factual data obtained from tests conducted by a
qualified laboratory following scientifically valid test procedures, and
for which data is in existence at the time such claims are made;
e. Make uses of pictures, exhibits, graphs, charts or other graphic
portrayals in advertisements in a materially false or misleading manner;
f. Make materially false or misleading claims that state or clearly
imply that serious harm may or will occur or be prevented if the product
is not purchased, or may or will be prevented if the product is
purchased;
g. State or clearly imply that the water flowing from a water
treatment unit is pure unless such water meets or exceeds all federal or
state drinking water guidelines and maximum contaminant levels;
h. Make claims that state or clearly imply that a water treatment unit
would provide a health benefit or diminish a health risk unless
reasonably defined;
i. Make materially false or misleading statements that the
contaminants reduced by a water treatment unit are present in excess of
permitted levels in the drinking water of the person to whom the
statement is made;
j. Make use of endorsements or testimonials which do not state the
qualifications of the person giving them; are materially false or
misleading; or which do not accurately reflect the context in which they
were made or given;
k. Knowingly omit facts from advertisements to mislead or to
misrepresent;
l. Make use of tests or test results of a consumer's drinking water in
a materially false or misleading manner in order to induce a person to
purchase a water treatment unit; or
m. Make materially false or misleading claims that the following
characteristics are in and of themselves health-threatening contaminants
or contaminations: color, odor, taste, corrosivity, pH, total dissolved
solids, turbidity, hardness, iron, manganese, sodium, chlorine, sulfate,
zinc, copper, foaming agents, or chloride, unless designated to be a
primary contaminant by the United States Environmental Protection
Agency, or if existing characteristics exceed any federal or state
drinking water guidelines or maximum contaminant levels.