(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to print or disseminate any false advertising or to use or employ any deceptive act or practice as described in subsection (b) in the conduct of any trade or commerce for the purpose of inducing the sale, lease, rental, or distribution of water treatment units.
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Terms Used In Hawaii Revised Statutes 481H-5

  • Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
  • Water treatment unit: means a product, device, or system designed for personal, family, or household use and for which a claim or claims are made stating that it will improve the quality of water by reducing one or more contaminants through mechanical, physical, chemical, or biological processes or combinations thereof. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 481H-2
(b) No person shall use:

(1) Materially false or misleading claims concerning the quality of a prospective purchaser’s public water supply or private well water;
(2) Materially false or misleading claims concerning the kind and degree of problems caused by water from a public water supply;
(3) Materially false or misleading claims of scientific certainty regarding the relationship between acute or chronic illnesses and water quality;
(4) Product performance claims and product benefit claims unless such claims are based on factual data obtained from tests conducted by a testing facility following scientifically valid test procedures, which data is in existence at the time such claims are made;
(5) Materially false or misleading pictures, exhibits, graphs, charts, or other graphic portrayals in advertisements;
(6) Materially false or misleading claims that serious harm may or will occur if the product is not purchased;
(7) Statements that the water flowing from a water treatment unit is “pure” unless such words are reasonably defined;
(8) Claims that a water treatment unit would provide a health benefit or diminish a health risk unless reasonably based on factual data;
(9) 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 consumer;
(10) Endorsements or testimonials, unless such endorsements or testimonials state the opinion and qualifications of the person giving them, are not materially false or misleading, and accurately reflect the context in which they were made or given;
(11) Tests or test results of a consumer’s drinking water to state or demonstrate the presence of contaminants in a prospective purchaser’s drinking water for the purpose of inducing a person to purchase a water treatment unit unless those test results have either been obtained from a certified laboratory or were performed in accordance with the United States Environmental Protection Agency approved test methods or guidelines, where applicable, and the results of the tests are not used in a materially false or misleading manner; and
(12) Tests or test results of a consumer’s drinking water without providing maximum contaminant level information.
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