Water Testing for Food Packaging
It appears we will have to start testing our water beyond the local municipality's testing and report. Having looked at the Ed 9 info under 14.5.2, I don't see anything about requiring laboratory results for microbiological testing of water supply? Am I missing something? It states that the analysis should be conducted to verify the cleanliness of the water, should be collected on site and analyzed using reference standards and methods. Our local home improvement store sell a test kit that tests for: Lead, coliform, pesticides, iron, copper, iron bacteria, nitrates, nitrites and hydrogen sulfide. There is an additional kit that can be used for E.coli detection also. But it doesn't specifically state a requirement for an outside (or internal) laboratory. The test kits would be about $25.00 total per sample which seems reasonable. Given that water doesn't contact our product, we should only need to take 2 or 3 samples to verify quality and then (risk based) only annually. Does this sound reasonable?
yes it does
with 1 exception-----------water testing is dirt cheap------------just have a lab do it for you
you're auditor is probably going to question the validity of the DIY kit-so avoid the hassle and take your water to an accredited lab
That second part is KEY. They will question it if you do it yourself. Also that opens you up to on-site "labs", proficiency testing requirements and the like. You don't need all that...just send it to an accredited lab.
We test ours through a state certified lab, and no issues. But the lab we use for our finished product micro testing can do it too....it runs about what you were gonna pay for the DIY kit (not including shipping).
Would your local water municipality be willing to test your water on site? We get lucky in the fact that the city uses our facility as one of their testing sites. They test plenty but were willing to do more if needed.
Might be something to look into.
The town our facility is in is very small (Pop < 5,000) but they might be interested in this. I know their report states that they test monthly although, unless we ever got a positive for a substance of concern, we would only need to check annually according to our Risk Assessment. Definitely something to look into. Not sure if they have a lab for this in town or if they send theirs out too. I could at least find out where they send their sample to!
With it being a smaller town, you might be in a better position. Especially if you are a major employer.
the main reason for water testing, even if it comes from the city, is to validate there is no contaminates that might be falling into the water supply because of your company's pipes. That's what I'm getting from this element at least.