Consider Rainwater Harvesting

We take Govt norms sometimes as a kind of those unnecessary things, which the govt makes us follow. This is a wrong assumption. Same is the case with Rainwater Harvesting. How ?

How Rainwater harvesting will help you generate profit ?

( You may also refer to this Video ) 

The Bottled Water Plants actually extract groundwater & treat that with RO. In this process, it removes the TDS from the groundwater. Usually, the extracted groundwater is stored in Raw Water Tanks before processing at the Water Treatment Plant. If Rainwater, being almost Zero TDS water is mixed in these tanks, it will reduce the total TDS of the water in the Raw Water Tanks. This will result in the following benefits  :-

• Decreased Groundwater Demand
• Increased life of the RO system
• Reduced wastage from RO Plant
• Tax benefit at the municipal level

How to Implement This at the plant ?

While construction, build a proper rainwater collection system on roof tops & elsewhere. Build a sufficient capacity storage tank. It's easy. Your Architect can guide you on this.

Branding helps cross-segmentation

Once you establish your brand, you can take it to anywhere. And if you have a B2C brand, that too, an FMCG product, you have better chances. In addition, if you have an established distributors network, it works like magic. You just need vision.

Kinnera : An example of this

Telangana State Cooperative Oil Seeds Growers Federation Limited (TS- Oilfed) , are already popular in Telangana State where the market their Oil with Vijaya Brand. Having surplus groundwater water, and an established distribution network, they decided to go for a Packaged Drinking Water Plant , way back in 2019. However, now, they are fully ready with the plant & the products will be seen in the market shortly. Original News Here.

Takeaway :-

Once a brand is established , one can even go cross segments, if the ultimate market remains same.

Water ATM's need a self sustaining model !

The Govt funded ATM's don't work

Update : Dec 2022 :-

In Karnatak, recently there was an internal survey conducted it is found once again that the Govt funded model ( though the intentions are noble ) does not work. The sorry condition is : They built the ATMs, they couldn't run them, they demolished !

April 2021 

Look at this latest news from Hyderabad, that the Water ATM's installed in 2017, many of them are in defunct condition, meaning , not functioning at all. Why is it like that ? Clearly , they were funded & not run as someone's business. When it's the responsibility by the Govt, who looks over the deliverables ? From the pics in the video , it looks like some NGO from Sweden has donated some money for the project. It's pure waste of money & effort & just faking the people.

Here is an Opportunity

There is an opportunity for private players to run such Water ATM's, they can install & charge Rs. 2- to Rs. 3 per 500ml or so & still make a good amount of money. Any local NGO fund like a Rotary Club from the local area can fund the entrepreneurs and a mediator agency can be appointed to check whether the business is being run properly. 

Alternate ( Better ) Model

Alternatively , an entrepreneur can establish franchise run Water ATM business as well. With a proper training, the entrepreneurs can be trained to operate & maintain these Water ATMs. this needs to be taken very seriously. This should be run as a Business. The idea should be funded as a loan, not the Setup.

New fssai Order for Packaged Drinking Water & Natural Mineral Water

Recent Order by the fssai dtd 26th March 

With ref to this order the fssai has made it compulsory to get BIS license before getting fssai license for Packaged Drinking Water & Packaged Mineral Water. It further says, that there are many manufacturers found who have fssai license & don't have BIS license.

So, let's finally accept, that there ARE producers of Packaged Drinking water without a BIS license, and the govt has accepted this. Though the BIS has made this under it's mandatory certification list, there are many manufacturers : meaning they have a mfg unit 9or claiming to have. 

A Welcome Move 

Now, before applying/Renewal, fssai will require the BIS valid registration copy to be uploaded on their portal. It says :-

Little More Clarification Needed 

1. fssai says FBO. FBO means food business operators. It consists of producers (manufacturers) as well as the distributors as well. Both require registrations/licenses. I am sure the new order is for those who claim they manufacture PDW or NMW, still it should be made clear as to, in case of a distributor or a co-packer, what should be the pre-condition, as they use someone else's BIS certifications.
2. Secondly, some more clarification needed for other types of water such as Alkaline Water, Flavoured Water, Aerated Water, Tonic Water. They can be registered with fssai without the BIS license. There should be certain clear order on this.

Banning Bottles below 1 Ltr : Is this a correct step towards restricting pollution ?

Recently , The Mokokchung district administration, Nagaland exercised a complete ban on Packaged Drinking Water Bottles below 1 ltr. Many states have experimented this in past or even in present. 

What may be the general strategy ?

The admin must have implemented this to reduce the number of bottles with smaller denomination, indirectly reducing the total plastic. Looks right, at the face of it. Let's verify, whether it really serves the purpose.

• It acts as a breakdown measure, something done to temporarily address the situation, not attacking the cause.
• The cause is the habit of littering. Is something done to educate people on this aspect parallelly ?
• There should be a drive to promote reverse vending machine usage at public places. This educates & rewards people more.
• For recycling, some special "Feel Good" drive should be implemented by the govt. This will encourage citizens to recycle the plastic PET bottles. 
• As it is, almost 90 per cent of PET is recycled. There is no much point to include smaller bottles in the ban. This decreases the convenience of travelers and increases the usage of bigger sized bottles which provokes wastage of water ultimately.

In general, the policy looks good, however, the recycling should be more emphasized in parallel.

Does a Water Bottling Plant Waste 50% Water ?

Well, this is a very loose talk. Even the plant suppliers also sound very loose when they easily claim that 50% of water is only usable, & the rest is thrown, waste. This has to be corrected properly, let's do it :-

It's not 50 % flat

Agreed, the RO system, in a way to filter out even the dissolved solids, reject certain salts, which go with water. However, this depends upon how much quantity of salts or solids are there in it first. There are many minerals, the collective count is called as the TDS. Roughly the count of the TDS will give you how many these salt particals are there in the Raw Water. It's measured in PPM (Particals per million) : How many salt particals are there in 10 Lakh total Water Particals. 

There is a simple device called TDS Meter, which can easily tell you about the same. If the TDS is 200, meaning just 200 particals in total 10 Lakh (1 million) particals. Depending upon the level of impurity it is decided as to how much water can be bottled as pure water. It can be 90% also if the raw water is of very good quality.

It's not waste, It's Reject Water

It is allowable to used in own toilets/sanitary system or trees/plants/gardens to be used which ultimately will flow to the sewage system to get further filtered ultimately. Hence it is NOT waste water, it's reject water.

Can the Reject Water be re-used ?

Technically, yes. Practically : Not advisable for Water Bottling Plants. Why ? You can read a special post here on Zero Liquid Discharge Plants

Process of choosing a supplier ...

While finalizing a vendor for your water plant, you can follow this simple process :-

• Be ready with specifications
• Ask references from peers
• Go to Google , Indiamart & other sites
• Check their reputation
• Shortlist 3 of them
• Insist for an installation visit
• Compare & Appoint
• Be clear with contract terms

Don't go into emotional decisions.

You should take intelligent decision, not emotional. Wait for 48 hours before arriving at decisions. Just finalizing something in a hurry might land into troubles later on. Take Calculated decisions. 

Why Bottles are marked with "With Added Minerals" ?

Little Background

Bottled Water is used to be consumed while travelling mainly, when domestic water tap/supply is not available. This is the basic use of "Bottled" water. Obviously all corresponding points arise like the life of this water, the uniform quality, the validity, and so on. 

BIS : the controller body

Water , being a basic need, and also being a major cause of various illnesses/ deaths is a very sensitive edible substance in a country like India, which diverse & hugely populated. Hence from 2003 water, the bottled water came under the BIS lens. And it was made compulsory to secure a BIS license & hence every bottled water label has an ISI number printed on labels.

Universal treatment definition

The water, which is very good & qualifying to the standards at its raw form, at source itself, is called as Natural Mineral Water & IS13428 is awarded to that. There are 25+ plants in India at this moment. 

The water, which might be very good, however, not meeting the standards at its raw form, at source itself is called as Packaged Drinking Water & IS 14543 is awarded to that. There are 6000+ plants in India at this moment.

The NMW plants don't need to remove any minerals from it. However the PDW plants need to remove all those minerals and add back the necessary ones. This is a standard process. Re-Mineralization. This is the "Added Minerals" This is the added minerals. 

fssai , an additional licensing authority, has also made it compulsory to add certain amount of Calcium & Magnesium as added minerals. We have covered this in an other blogpost.l

You can also watch the video below :-

What does the cost of bottled water include other than the Itself?

 The Cost of Bottled Water

If you observe the Packaged Drinking Water Bottle, you will observe the following visible cost components :-

1. The Water
2. The Bottle 
3. The Cap 
4. The Label
5. The ink which prints the Batch & Price Information

Besides these, there are other components, which are indirectly responsible for the produce of the Bottled Water & even reaching to the citizens like :-

• The Machinery & Equipment Cost, its investment cost (for the banker)
• The legal cost of the whole business as it is strictly regulated by Law.
• The Profit of the Business Owner while producing the water
• The Profit of the distribution Channel which makes you get the water at your doorstep

These all can be called as the Cost Components. A very close look at these factors can serve a great deal for any future plant setup. We do cover this in details inside our training sessions.

Why Water ATMs are not that popular still ?

When I speak or talk on Water ATM , people show different reactions. Most of the times, they don't seem to know. And whatever they know , is usually about the Railway Station Water Vending Machine.

It's a perfect Solution in fact !

Water ATM is a booth where pure, good drinkable water is dispensed through a tap, after proper treatment. You carry your container (Re-use focused), and get it filled at a cost. This is at much lesses cost than pre bottled water & saves the earth from plastic.

What's the Cost ?

Railways sell it at Rs. 5 per litre. Its very expensive actually, but IRCTC being a company, is profit centric & they will make their money from the revenue by selling water. It looks like they are eyeing at the traveller who otherwise pays Rs. 20 , showcasing it to be 75% cheaper. Private Agencies have also been charging the same.

However, there are Govt agencies who installs Water ATMs. Some at their own budget, some through BOLT basis through agencies. This has been in operation since last 10 years now. 

Besides these, there are many private companies who execute these ATMs through CSR funding.

The challenges 

Low public awareness 

Somehow, we don't see much campaigns on making general public aware about this. You would see campaigns on using the PET bottle crushing machines, but not on the usage of these machines. 

Poor Maintenance 

When they are a responsibility of the user, the systems have observed failures. The systems where they are maintained properly are still running properly. It's because of proper care & maintenance. Irrespective, whether the agency is Governmental OR Private, the issue is Poor maintenance. You might look at this example of the Guwahati Smart City case, where they had outsourced Water ATM project to a private agency.

What needs to be done ....

Users need to be aware of the cost structure of the whole. There will be both the costs : The Capex & Opex. Capex being the 1-time installation cost & Opex being the repeated operations & maintenance cost, which will include various factors like water cost, consumables, operators, supervision etc. Once the user group understands the cost of this water per ltr, then they will be ready to spend for that, and believe me, it will be much much lower in comparison to the cost of water which is paid currently.

Water ATM is the true answer to this challenge !

There has been a stream of news I have been observing from quite a few days about those "illegal water plants" being raided by govt officials. 

• 13 plants from Mehbubabad, from Telangana
• NMC, Nagpur starts shutting down these plants. Activists claim that there are 800 such plants (....??) in Nagpur alone
• Mira Bhayander Corpn found such plants during demolition of illegal houses.
• Bhuvaneshwar found some plant using Bisleri's illegal license.

I have just listed a few, you will find many of such cases.

First, let's know WHO raids these plants :-

Usually it is the Corporation, local. They get instruction by state or central from seniors. Like from NGT or Pollution Board etc. 

Why are they called "illegal" 

They don't have the valid BIS licence (Read Footnote). Its an easy way to get into this business by installing a small non-isi plant Check Indiamart or Google, you will find many options. That's why so many plants.

Is Prosecuting the real solution ?

I think, having a better water availability in all areas is the real solution. To start with, Water ATMs can be the real solution. (Read Footnote) At present, the ISI marked plant owners run this prosection campaign to defeat the illegal people. However, if a strong alternative is build, this is an automatic care.

Footnote 1 : BIS issues the ISI number which you see on water bottles. 2 Blogposts on this ( The Original Bottle and How do you get this ISI License)

Footnote 2 : Water ATM is a booth like Money Vending system. You insert coin or show a smart card, and you get Water dispensed in your bottle/container. You can check blogs on subject from the list of subjects.

New fssai new Rule : Who are the real targets ?

The Background :-

The fssai, has come out with a new rule that every Packaged Drinking Water producer must add minimum  amount of calcium & magnesium in their produce. The limits have been specified by them like 20-75 mg/ltr for calcium & 10 to 30 mg/ltr for magnesium. The highlights of this rule are :-

• These rules are made after the push of NGT (National Green Tribunal) in 2019.
• This is the 4th & final extension given to all Packaged Drinking Producers.
• This has to be implemented from January 1, 2021.
• All majors (the Brands) are said to be ready, which contribute to almost 60% of the market share still 

There are certain questions came to my mind ....

Whom are they targeting exactly ?

I have observed everytime, when a rule is created, its to target some particular segment within the sector itself. The key issues are identified, and , with the help of certain associations & govt bodies, these issues are identified. Then the action is formed & implemented.

What may be the key issue here ?

If it is the Water Quality (retention of minerals), then why the BIS doesn't make it compulsory. The BIS is the main licensing authority. There are 6000 + units all across India who possess a BIS license, and it's mandatory & fairly descriptive that fssai compliance. 

Is it to get more units registered with fssai ? The fssai license is also a compulsory thing in addition to the BIS. However, many units (almost75%) do not possess an fssai license. These all are from the inorganized sector- the nobrands. Is it to get them under fssai ?

Is it to just satisfy the Green Tribunal ? As mentioned in point 2, if it was that serious, they would really make amends in the BIS rules. However, there is no news from them. The NGT has been shouting quite a loud from last couple of years. Is it just to give them some consolation ? 

Shall we be observing a Price Hike ? The Packaged Drinking Water Bottle MRP looks to be settled at Rs.20 , quite for some time now. Is there an overall, well justified plan to take it to Rs.25 or Rs.30 ? The Industry has incurred some major losses during the Covid-19 period & has been reporting these losses. Is it an all-industry combined action-plan to justify the "would-be" price hike ?

Reduce the "Duplicators" ?

This is an other challenged by this industry, if more rules are imposed, there will be lesser people who may dare to duplicate without license.

WHO connected guidelines

Has WHO issued more guidelines after Covid in particular ? This rule may be in line with implementing them.

Favoring the NMW

NMW means the Natural Mineral Water segment. It has rich content of minerals, naturally. The price is like heaven for these bottles. Right from the Himalayan to the Veen, these waters are heavily charged, almost 5-10 times than them. This rule benefits them, that's for sure.

Points to make ...

1. The rule seems to be good/ok. However, challenge is the implementation. The inorganized sector doesn't seem to care about the basic value principle of this industry : Offering Hygiene. To really make them aware on their principle value is a major thing. 
2. Who are those "purifying companies" which Bisleri says, who are doing excessive filtration ? If we observe all packaged Water companies (bisleri & others) have a TDS count of 30-72 for final water. And they too implement the RO process, which itself setup to remove the TDS - Total Dissolved solids from the source water.
3. A technical point : There are many other minerals, with which the water quality is observed. Just increasing the Calcium & Magnesium ....will it balance the Water Quality ?

Conclusion

Let's welcome the rule, as it is created after numerous amends from time to time, after being reviewed by several scientists, industry experts. With a very clear & assertive mindset, we should always look at the positive outcomes of the rule. That's an assertive thought.

Bottled Water ... does this really de-hydrate you ?

Bottled Water ...Dehydration

I just came across a post which says the the american traveller, while traveling bought aquafina or Dasani, and did face sour throat, dehydration etc. Earlier he was having his own tap water from his house. He didn't face it then. You can read the story here. Further he has blamed it on the Brand Owners : Pepsi & Coke & has vented out his frustration mostly; this is my opinion.

Question : Does it really dehydrate ?

Frankly, I have never tried to judge this. Because I have never suffered cm from such a phenomena. While checking internet, still, haven't come across any solid incident where people have suffered from this. However, it might be happening gradually over a period of time. A reason is that we remove what nature has formulated, suits to the environment , the local environment. However, this will be the case with tap water either. The answer : it's still not that important.

But Look here...

The traveler says that during his 8 hours drive, he didn't have an option to buy anything, but bottled water. Here : Exactly here is an opportunity + a new Idea as well. What's that ? 

                Water ATM / Water Station

A Water ATM is the right solution which will ensure good water for travelers.

Is ZLD practicable for a Mineral Water Factory ?

 ZLD for a Mineral water Plant

Since everything is available at your fingertip through internet; it doesn't assure you that all the information is the right information. Similar things happen when people come to us with queries from time to time. It's important to understand the logic & usability in context of a Business Unit. That is : how relevant is the factor in context of the profitability. ZLD is one of the queries we receive from time to time.

( You may refer to this Video to know exactly what can be done with the mineral water plant wastage water, though pretty small in quantity)

What is ZLD ?

ZLD is Zero liquid Discharge. A system which doesn't reject any water from the RO system. Practically you may get systems with almost 95% recovery. Is it possible ? Yes, there are systems available. However, here are my key point suggestions to all those Business Owners who wish to do something in this space :-

Do Not Bother if your reject water TDS is below 2000 PPM 

You can use the water in sanitary pipelines or gardening within your own premise. Why I said "Don't Bother" is for a simple reason that the cost is not worth it.

When is it really worth ?

It is advisable for very huge quantities of water like 100000 Ltrs per hour & TDS more than 30000 etc. These applications are for industrial usage or Marine applications.

20 Ltr Jar Mineral Water Business... Needs better Hygienic standards

20 Ltr Mineral Water Jars

In the water-shortage areas, or the "Pure-Water" shortage areas, 20 Ltr Jars are very commonly consumed by citizens. They are also very popularly consumed by institutions. After Covid-19, the demand has increased from the consumers as they are going towards "Storage" of the jars more and more. However, just don't follow those indiamart quotes blindly. Consider these factors while arriving at the investment decision smartly :-

The Hygienic standards

The water factories do need to certify as per the BIS norms, who issues ISI license has laid down certain standards for production units. The standards are really good. Then there is also the fssai, which further ensures the packaging & labeling and there is pollution board which which takes care of the social hygiene. 

The Plant Owners Don't Observe them 

It's observed that the plant owners, pressurized by their own cash-flow; many a times takes price-decisions in anxiety, which indirectly enforces them to neglect quality measures to be strictly implemented in order to meet the profitability. Over and over, this becomes a habit. This non-observing the quality standard is not over-looked by consumers. Some day or the other, he shifts to another brand. There are brands who take care of this.

No Self Driven Guidelines

In order to meet a "Vision", there will be mission-or missions-Campaigns. Campaigns repeated several times forms another habit, which helps you going closer to your "Vision". The plant owner should setup some kind of standards himself/herself to have an ethical vision, not just profiteering. This is lacking.

Have a Proper Business Plan

Creation of a proper Business Plan with correct, time-spread pricing policy is the key to this. First, when you begin with a resolution to maintain a world-class water factory, your thinking will change, and so the other things. 

Share Your Thoughts

Please share your thoughts on what do you feel on this. We also run a special group on Linked-In where we discuss just on this business. 

Groundwater Extraction is going to get tougher.....!

It's not going to be a cake-walk for Bottled Water Industry anymore ...

The bottled water industry in India, is dominated by the "Packaged Drinking Water" segment. And the Packaged Drinking Water plants use Groundwater as their Raw Water Source. They typically install a Borewell & start extracting & using the water. Then water passes through other processes to make the safest water be available to the civilians. 

The Water comes from Aquifers

Water, as we know, is stored in the soild, rock, in form of aquifers, which are the pockets where it has been preserved for many many years. The Rainwater, is passed through the soil to the channels and stored again in the earth. The process is called "Infiltration". From here the water is fed to the Borewell, which extracts it from the ground. The specific pockets are "Aquifers".

India uses the maximum Groundwater

India uses maximum groundwater, the most of it (>70%) is used by irrigation, and the rest for other purposes, which consists of Industry & Domestic use as well. 

The laws are getting tougher .....

Already, states like West Bengal (Where you need to furnish your groundwater usage strictly), Kerala (where you need to take a permission for the propsed drilling site) & Tamilnadu, (where there are notifies areas not to drill a borewell) have started to implement certain strict laws, which is going to be challenging in future.

The Bottled Water Industry

Still, there is a good ground for the Bottled Water Industry on 2-3 accounts such as ...

• It's going to be used for drinking water, the most essential commodity
• Comparative water usage is lesser

Consider it in your cash-flow

If you are setting up a unit, please consider another licensing cost (it's no way easy to do business in India ) and the type of permissions too! 

An update Aug '25 :- CGWA is compulsory for Packaged Drinking Water Plants now. And extraction above 10000 LPD is going to be chargeable.

Ozonation as Pre-treatment : A New "Must-be" after Covid-19 ?

What is Ozonation ?

Ozonation is the process of adding ozone into the produced pure water in a Bottled Water Plant, before final packing. The very general usage for common man to understand is that it enhances the life by increasing the oxygen level, till the bottle gets opened.

The Whole Process in brief

Usually Groundwater doesn't need this.The Ozonation is required for Biological Treatment, removing microbes from Source Water. In ground water the chances are lesser, compared to surface water. Bottled Water uses the groundwter mostly, hence no need actually.

But, can be a better additional measure

However, it can be an additional measure to have more purity. And you can also "Market" the same. It can be a great addition to your post covid-19 marketing weapons.

Be careful while paying "Under the Table"

A Mineral Water Plant needs many formalities

A mineral water plant needs many formalities to get completed, out of them the BIS is the most important in case you are establishing a Bottle + Jar Plant. You can go alongwith just the fssai license in case you wish to start a Chilled Water Jar Unit. The Chilled Water Jar Units are not an excellent way for a water business, however, people go with that as it is a very easy option out.

What is this "Under the table" thing ...

Agreed, there may be many places where you might require to pay under the table (common term for bribing) ; you need to be careful. Recently, an entrepreneur from Balirampur Nanded went to a Gram-Sevak to get a "Permission" from a Gram-Sevak for his Mineral Water Plant. The entrepreneur laid a trap through the Anti Corruption Department & caught the Gram-Sevak red-handed.

What can be the permission from a Gram-Sevak ?

If it's Mineral Water Plant, it can be as simple as a Gram -Panchayat NOC. Besides that, if it's an agricultural land etc, the matters go to the collector etc. If you want to run the plant in Gram-Panchayat Area, the Sarpanch or the Gram-Sevak will help you get this NOC, which actually is the starting point for all documentations for the plant.

You can read more about this here

What about the other documents ?

There are many documents & formalities needed for a Mineral Water Plant. You may go to this Video, which explains not just the Documentation Part, but also the Cost of Plant.

How Bisleri maintains quality in a Packaged Drinking Water Plant

Learn from the leaders

Bisleri, as you know, has been there since last 50 years. Who would have thought besides Mr Chouhan, to introduce this concept in a country like India. Truly a visionary, a forward thinker in all respects.

In the following post on Linked-In, he shares how his company takes care of the quality aspect. Also follow the link to the post he has shared to see how Bisleri has handles troubled Covid-19 times.

If you read the post carefully, you will find how important are the quality aspects for a Water Business Success, Also read simple 10-Point tips on Water Plant Quality

10 Points to observe water quality in a Packaged Drinking Water Plant

Water Quality in a Packaged Drinking Water Plant

There are 2 prominent reasons why Packaged Drinking Water is consumed :

1. Convenience while in transit
2. Uniform quality irrespective of the place you go to.

However, point no2 is discussed below. There is a Govt Body, the B.I.S. which has made it mandatory to every Packaged Drinking Producer to get the ISI license under standard IS - 14543. And there are also set norms through detailed documentation on how every production unit needs to maintain uniform quality standards.

Point No1 : Follow the Hygienic Standards as per the IS : 14543

In a Packaged Drinking Water Plant, usually, the raw water source is the Borewell Water. The Water Treatment section, with the help of the R.O. Unit, removes nearly all the Minerals from the raw water & adds back the required ones in necessary dosage. These added minerals should be within the prescribed limits defined by the B.I.S. as per the Standard allotted IS-14543. Following & respecting the process is the 1st most important point.

(Video Stamp :- 00:12)

Point No.2 :- Understand "Why" there is a need for consistent monitoring

The Raw water , which comes from ground water is sourced from the aquifers. This quality might change from time to time. This might affect the treatment required for the raw water. Hence it needs a consistent monitoring at various stages on a regular basis, as specified by the B.I.S.

( Video Stamp :- 00:41)

Point No.3 :-  Follow the B.I.S. Testing schedule

The B.I.S. has cheated a schedule for testing water. Some tests are 4 hourly, some of them are daily, weekly, monthly etc. Following the schedules as a ritual is the key to quality. 

(Video Stamp :- 01:17)

Point No.4 :- Have it all within the Plant itself

B.I.S. has laid down the complete document on its website about the hygienic standards to be followed. It has to be maintained WITHIN the plant itself.

(Video Stamp :- 02:11)

Point No.5 :- Have in house Quality Personnel to maintain it 

The B.I.S. has specified 2 separate laboratories : One for Chemical Parameters & One for Microbiological Parameters. These departments are looked after by 2 quality Chemists.

(Video Stamp :- 02:41)

Point No.6 :- Maintain the Labs Properly 

The labs should be exactly as per the specified document by IS 14543. Outside labs for daily testing is not allowed. However, certain reports on annual basis & monthly basis are still required from an outside BIS approved lab; but the regular ones from the In-House lab itself. In the hygienic Requiremement, there is a full list of Glassware & Chemicals given.

(Video Stamp :- 03:08)

Point No.7 :- Maintain the Parameters

As the raw water quality changes from time & season, thus the quantum of added minerals if any. However, as mentioned earlier, play within the limits & maintain the records.

( Video Stamp :- 03:32)

Point No.8 :- Be prepared for surprise visits

If you maintain all books & records as per the B.I.S. specifications, you will hardly need to worry about surprise visits. However, you will need to keep a close look at all the departments through diplomatic HR policies etc.

(Video Stamp :- 04:03)

Point No.9 :- Observe your Distribution as well

If BIS finds you faulty samples from any of your Point of Sale (POS) places, without delay they will place a "STOP" mark , meaning you can't start production until it's cleared off. Hence it's not just important to maintain quality at your factory, but also at the POS.

(Video Stamp :- 04:23)

Point No.10 :- Follow fssai rules strictly

Besides the ISI license, the producers also need to maintain the fssai license. Please see to it, observe their rules, schedule & renewals properly. This is also a key quality hack.

(Video Stamp :- 05:22)

These 10 points will cover most of the quality hacks for a Hygienic Packaged Drinking Water Plant.

If you have some question/ something valuable to share, please reply in the comment section. Thanks