Kozhikode: Faecal coliform bacteria and the presence of yeast and moulds have been found in samples collected from 18 packaged drinking water suppliers in the city, according to food safety department officials.
Packaged in 20 litre bubble top plastic bottles and one litre mineral bottles, samples were collected on a direction from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), to test the quality of packaged drinking water across the state.
“On a suspicion of the presence of these particles in packaged drinking water,that people in various offices and other institutions depend on, we collected samples from 18 suppliers.
Twelve of them were found to be flouting the norms of FSSAI”, said P.K. Aleyamma, FSSAI Assistant Commissioner. “We also found that many of the potable water sources being tapped by these companies were poor in quality and unhygienic,” she added.
“In these processing plants which claim to use processes like reverse osmosis or ultraviolet filtration to purify water, we have found that a majority of them were not in working condition. Issues like low PH levels, presence of nitrite and e-Coli bacterial contamination are found more in this packaged drinking water,” she added.
It has to be noted that there was not even a single institution or office in the city that did not depend on this drinking water facility and hence inspections would be more stringent in the coming days in order to ensure the safety of water consumed by the public, she further pointed out.
The inspection has also pointed out that many local companies were supplying filtered water collected from home-based wells and packed in sealed containers and were not really processed or treated water, which is against the norms of FSSAI.
Food safety officers also added that two suppliers were found running the firm without renewing their licence from the FSSAI.
