KOCHI: The office of the commissioner of food safety will examine the purity of water at its sources as part of the effort to prevent the supply of contaminated water by water tankers.
“We are planning to launch the scheme this month itself”, V.K Shibu Assistant Food Safety Commissioner in Ernakulam told DC on Monday. Inspecting the source of the supply would help in further streamlining the quality parameters, he added.
The licence of the Food Safety office is mandatory for the suppliers of drinking water in tankers.
According to the guidelines issued by the Commissioner of Food Safety, water sources other than that of the Kerala Water Authority used by distributors to collect water should also have a licence as per the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards regulation.
Distributors are permitted to collect water only from sources having such licences. According to the provisions, it is also mandatory that the quality of the water from the source should be tested in a government of NABL laboratory every six months.
The distributor should also carry a certificate in this regard. According to Mr. Shibu, the presence of e-coli bacteria and chemical contaminants are the major problems found in the water in Ernakulam region.
Chlorination at the source was the only solution to curb the presence of e-coli, he said. Boiling the water before use was the best way to avoid e-coli bacteria at the level of households, he added.
In Ernakulam, around 33 distributors having more than 10 tankers have been issued licences by the food safety department. Apart from this, many others have registered themselves in the 14 circle office of the food safety department.
