CHENNAI: The State food safety department is conducting inspections on drinking water purification units to ensure the availability of clean packaged drinking water for the public.

The food safety department officials say that the drinking water should be labelled stating the FSSAI number, ingredients, symbol, manufacturing addresses, batch numbers, calorific value and others.

"All the packaged drinking water should be an ISI authorised product and if the FSSAI details are not provided, the water should not be consumed. The manufacturing and purification units should conduct lab tests every six months and they should not have any bacterial violation. The FSSAI label should display all the details as mandated by the licensing authority on the water bottle. The best before date for a 1-2 litre water bottle is usually about 6 months but the festive packs should be used within 50 days. The cans should be used within a month's time, " said a designated food safety officer.

The food safety department mandates that the purification method should be as per the food safety rules of maintaining the hygiene in the process and handling by the purification units.

The department is keeping a check on the water cans and the units are being issued a license by the State authority and if the unit is above 2 metric tonnes, the Central license should be obtained.

"The purification units rotate and clean the filters. We are instructing the water can providers to discard old cans if it becomes pale or blurry white. People should also check that there are no impurities and sleeve should be put on the water can covers. The public should be aware of this information and can also raise complaints regarding impure water supply to the food safety helpline," added the official.

The department is also conducting fastrack training for the handlers and the lab technicians on the parameters to be checked and safety parameters to be checked when purifying and supplying the water.