Water and Water based Beverages

Hygiene Prescriptions for Collection Of Drinking Water:

• In the case of extraction or collection of water intended for packaging from surface water or ground water or sea water sources or any other consistent source of water, it should be ensured that it is safe from pollution contamination, whether caused by natural occurrence or actions or actions of neglect or ill will.
• The unit shall identify the parameters with its frequency to be tested in raw water for usage and for designing the process parameters.
• In particular, this includes identifying any specific points in such activities where a high probability of contamination may exist and taking specific measures to minimize that probability.
• The pipes, pumps or other possible devices coming into contact with water and used for its collection should be made of such material that they do not change the quality of water.

Protective Measures:

• All possible precautions should be taken within the protected perimeter (zone of protection) to avoid any pollution of, or external influence on, the quality of the ground or surface water.
• Disposal of liquid, solid or gaseous waste that could pollute the ground or surface water should be controlled.
• Disposal of pollutants such as microorganisms, fertilizers, hydrocarbons, detergents, pesticides, phenolic compounds, toxic metals, radioactive substances and other soluble organic and inorganic substances in the watershed should be avoided.
• Drinking water sources should not be in the path of potential sources of underground contamination, such as sewers, septic tanks, industrial waste ponds, gas or chemical tanks, pipelines and solid waste disposal sites.

Protection of the Area of Origin:

• The immediate surroundings of the extraction or collection area should be protected by limiting access to authorized persons only.
• Wellheads and spring outflows should be protected by a suitable structure to prevent entry by unauthorized individuals, pests and other sources of extraneous matter.
• Where sampling points are necessary, they should be designed and operated to prevent any contamination of the water.
• Methods and procedures for maintaining the extraction facilities should be hygienic. They should not be a potential hazard to humans or a source of contamination for the water.
• Wells should be properly disinfected following construction and development of new wells nearby, after pump repair or replacement, or any well maintenance activity and whenever biological growth inhibits proper operation.
• Water Extraction devices such as those used for bore holes should be constructed and maintained in a manner that avoids contamination of water and minimizes hazards to human health.

Transport Of Drinking Water:

Means of Transport, Piping and Reservoirs

• Water collection chambers should be disinfected within a reasonable time before use.
• When storage and transport of the water intended for bottling from the point of origin to the processing plant is necessary, these operations must be conducted in a hygienic manner to prevent any contamination.
• Where or when they are necessary, bulk containers and conveyances such as tanks, piping and tanker trucks should be designed and constructed so that they:
  • Do not contaminate the water intended for bottling;
  • Can be effectively cleaned and disinfected;
  • Provide effective protection from contamination, including dust and fumes; and
  • Allow any situation that arises to be checked easily.

Maintenance of Vehicles and Reservoirs:

• Means of transport of water intended for bottling should be kept in an appropriate state of cleanliness, repair and condition.
• Containers and conveyances, particularly in bulk transport, should preferably be used only for transporting water intended for bottling.
• When this cannot be achieved and should conveyances and bulk containers be used for water transportation, it must be cleaned and disinfected as necessary to prevent contamination.

Establishment For Processing of Drinking Water Design and Facilities:

• Establishments should be located in areas which are free from objectionable odours, smoke, dust or other contaminants and are not subject to flooding.
• When subsequent (after establishment of the unit) developments in the area result in any deterioration of the conditions, appropriate remedial measures shall be put in place to prevent contamination in the final product during its processing, filling, storage and dispatch.

Roadways and Areas Used by Wheeled Traffic:

• Such roadways and areas serving the establishment which are within its boundaries or in its immediate vicinity should have a hard paved surface suitable for wheeled traffic.
• There should be adequate drainage and provision should be made for protection of the extraction area.

Building and Facilities

• Buildings and facilities should be of sound construction and maintained in good repair.
• One or more of the following should be installed on doors, hatches and other opening to the building to render opening pest proof:
  • Doors, self-closing type
  • Air curtains or Strip curtains.
  • Strip curtains

Disposition of Holding Facilities

• Rooms for recreation, for storing or packaging of water and areas for cleaning of containers to be reused should be apart from the bottling areas to prevent the end product from being contaminated.
• Raw materials and packaging materials and any other materials which come into contact with drinking water should be stored apart from other materials.
• Adequate working space should be provided to allow for satisfactory performance of all operations.
• The design should be such as to permit easy and adequate cleaning and to facilitate proper supervision of hygiene for drinking water.
• Where appropriate, the internal design and layout of establishments should protect against cross-contamination between and during operations.
• Buildings and facilities should be designed to facilitate hygienic operations by means of a regulated flow in the process from the arrival of the drinking water at the premises to the finished product, and should provide for appropriate conditions for the process and the product.

Personnel Hygiene and Health Requirements:

Hygiene Training

• Managers of establishments should arrange for adequate and continuing training of all water handlers in hygienic handling of water and in personal hygiene so that they understand the precautions necessary to prevent contamination of drinking water.

Medical Examination

• Persons who come into contact with drinking water in the course of their work should have a medical examination prior to employment. As far as possible, a system should be put into place to avoid direct contact of persons or handlers with drinking water.
• There shall be special examination, if the official agency having jurisdiction acting on medical advice, considers that this is necessary, whether because of epidemiological considerations or the medical history of the prospective water handler.
• Medical examination of water handlers should be periodically carried out as and when clinically or epidemiologically indicated.
• The drinking water units shall maintain records for all medical examinations carried out

Communicable Diseases

• The management should take care to ensure that no person, whether known or suspected to be suffering from, or to be a carrier of disease likely to be transmitted is permitted to work in any drinking water handling area in any capacity
• Also, to be separated from water handling areas are those afflicted with infected wounds, skin infections, sores or diarrhoea.
• All areas in which there is any likelihood of such a person directly or indirectly contaminating drinking water with pathogenic micro-organisms should not be associable to these people.
• Any person so affected should immediately report to the management.

Injuries

• Any person who has a cut or wound should not continue to handle drinking water or contact surfaces until the injury is completely protected.
• The protection shall be with a waterproof covering which is firmly secured and which is conspicuous in colour.
• Adequate first-aid facilities should be provided for this purpose.

Washing of Hands

• Every person, while on duty in a drinking water handling area, should wash the hands frequently and thoroughly with a suitable hand cleaning preparation under running warm water.
• Hands should always be washed before commencing work, immediately after using the toilet, after handling contaminated material and whenever else necessary.
• After handling any material which might be capable of transmitting disease, hands should be washed and disinfected immediately.
• Notices requiring hand-washing should be displayed.
• There should be adequate supervision to ensure compliance with this requirement.

Personal Cleanliness

• Every person engaged in a drinking water handling area should maintain a high degree of personal cleanliness while on duty.
• They should, at all times while so engaged, wear suitable protective clothing including head covering and footwear.
• These should be cleanable, unless designed to be disposed off and should be maintained in a clean condition consistent with the nature of the work in which the person is engaged.
• Personnel should not wear any insecure jewellery when engaged in handling drinking water.

Personal Behavior

Any behaviour which could result in contamination of drinking water, such as eating, use of tobacco, chewing (for example, gum sticks, betel nuts, etc) or unhygienic practices, such as, spitting, should be prohibited in drinking water handling areas.

Establishment: Hygienic Processing Requirements

Raw Material Requirements

• Control measures must be taken at all steps of processing to ensure that food safety and suitability are not compromised by hazards or other contaminants during operations.
• Should there be a perceptible lacking in meeting the requirements, necessary corrective measures are immediately to be taken.
• No water intended for bottling should be accepted by an establishment if it is known to contain pathogens or excessive residues of pesticides or other toxic substances.

Treatment

• A hazard analysis which takes into consideration pathogens and toxic substances should be undertaken in the overall context of the application of principles such as HACCP to the production of Packaged Drinking water.
• This should provide the basis for determining the appropriate combination of control measures to reduce, eliminate or prevent, as necessary, hazards (microbiological, chemical and radiological) for the production of safe Packaged Drinking water.
• When necessary, treatments to remove or reduce chemical substances may include chemical and particulate (mechanical) filtration such as achieved with surface filters (e.g., pleated membrane filters) or depth filters (e.g., sand or compressed fibre (cartridge) filters), activated carbon filtration, demineralization (deionization, water softening, reverse osmosis, nano-filtration), and aeration.
• All treatments of water intended for bottling should be carried out under controlled conditions to avoid any type of contamination, deterioration, growth of pathogenic and spoilage micro-organisms, formation of toxic by-products and the presence of residues of water treatment chemicals in amounts that raise health concerns.

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