Tuticorin: The demand for packaged drinking water has gone up with the soaring mercury levels. At the same time, this has also raised concern over the quality of water sold by the companies. To empower residents to check the quality of water and certifications obtained by their manufacturer, the district administration has asked people to check for Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and ISI certifications of the companies online.
Drinking water manufacturers should print the licence number issued by FSSAI and ISI number issued by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). This is applicable to 20 litre bubble top cans, five litre, two litre, one litre, 500 ml and 300 ml bottles and the 200 ml water sachets. Collector N Venkatesh said that people can check for the certifications online at https://safewater.fssai.gov.in/CleanWater/home by entering the FSSAI or ISI number.
Apart from knowing the validity and truth of details furnished by the companies, people would also be able to have a look at result of water samples tested from those companies for the last six months and one year, obtained from the periodical tests in National Accreditation Board for Laboratories (NABL) accredited laboratories for chemical and microbiological analysis.
Designated officer for food safety, Tuticorin district, J Thanga Vignesh said there are 40 packaged drinking water manufacturers that have their units in the district. “Two of these units are closed for the last few months as they have not obtained the ISI certification,” he said. The officer added that they collect samples from all packaged water sellers once in every six to eight months.
“Apart from this, we also test samples if we receive specific complaints against a particular unit,” he said and added that this year, tests on samples collected from five manufacturers in the district showed they were not fit for consumption. Results showed that the samples from three units were unsafe due to some problem in the filter. The two others were samples were substandard.
He added that these flaws were rectified and verified by food safety officials. However, they are preparing the chargesheet against these companies because they were selling poor quality water to customers. “The companies would have to deal with it legally,” added the officer. Violations in the details disclosed by companies or water quality can be reported to FSSAI through WhatsApp at 9444042322 or over phone at 0461-2340699.
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