11.5.2.3 Treated water shall be regularly monitored to ensure it meets the specified indicators. Water treatment chemicals usage shall be monitored to ensure chemical residues are within acceptable limits. Records of testing results shall be kept.
Unfortunately SQF guidance docs aren't specifying what they mean by this section of code, but the glossary has this:
Water Treatment: The microbiological, chemical, and/or physical treatment of water for use in processing or cleaning, to ensure its potability and suitability for use.
I've never had to work in a plant that treats the water, but if I were to take a stab at this from an auditor's perspective, you'd need to ensure your water softener isn't adding an unacceptable amount of salt into your treated water. And in circumstances where your cleaning validations might mention softened water at x level, they could call into question the efficacy of your wash/rinse if the water softener starts adding or removing salt at dramatically different levels.
And per 11.5.2.3, I think you need to be tracking the amount of salt your water treatment devices are using at some specified interval.
Edited by jfrey123, 24 April 2023 - 06:13 PM.