Bore-well water testing is required where households, small businesses and manufacturers use bore-well water as a source of drinking water because of lack of municipal water supply. Any kind of change in bore-well water can
Bore-well water testing is required where households, small businesses and manufacturers use bore-well water as a source of drinking water because of lack of municipal water supply. Any kind of change in bore-well water can be a health hazard and therefore requires laboratory testing from a recognised chemical lab.
Reasons for water testing
Bore-well water can be contaminated by pathogens which cause cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery, etc. These water – borne diseases can become particularly harmful as they are the cause many deaths worldwide. Besides microbial contaminants bore-well water is susceptible to contamination from heavy metals like arsenic and even iron, pesticides and volatile organic compounds. When lodged in the human body, these contaminants can cause long term health issues like cancer. Bore-well water often loses its transparency and becomes turbid with suspended particles and so becomes unsafe to drink.
Water in residential colonies
Quite often residential colonies and even private residences get bore-wells installed where municipal water supply is not available. Water from bore-wells installed in residential colonies needs to be tested for microbiological, physical and chemical parameters in testing laboratories to ensure it meets the BIS standards of IS 10500 which is the standard for potable or drinking water or it could cause health hazards for the residents.There are several water testing laboratories that carry out quality water testing to ensure its meets drinking water standards.
Foods and beverages
Bore-well water is not only used as a source of drinking water but is used by food manufacturing companies as an ingredient in foods and beverages. Water contaminated with heavy metals, pesticides and iron can alter the outcome of a finished product and so it is necessary to get the water tested and analysed from a reputed water testing lab or it could result in product contamination and even recall leading to monetary loss. In India, water which is used by food industry needs to be in compliance with the BIS standards of IS 4251.
Another major industry that uses water as a raw material or starting material is the pharmaceutical industry. They need to ensure the water is analysed and found safe if they use bore-well water in the pharmaceutical products. Any contaminants in the bore-well water can become a hazard as the dissolved contaminants could react with the ingredients and even the active pharmaceutical substances.Besides being in compliance with Indian standards, water testing for pharmaceutical products needs to be carried out according to World Health Organisation (WHO) or US EPA requirements if pharmaceuticals are exported to other countries.
Packaged Drinking water
A number of packageddrinking water manufacturers use bore-well water as a source of water. These companies need to have the bore-well water tested from a recognised water testing laboratory as the water testing analysis report is required as part of the application process for packaged water licence. Also any drinking water being packaged through a water purification system cannot be used without water testing as it needs to meet the BIS standards for drinking water.