The crowded mineral water market will soon have fewer players as the ISI mark becomes mandatory. In India, the bottled water market is a new and booming market, with an organised and a large, active unorganised sector.

With an increasing demand for clean drinking water, more and more manufacturers of bottled water are joining the market by the day. However, the number of units in the Indian bottled water market is bound to reduce drastically as the ISI mark becomes mandatory. This requirement has been issued by the Central Committee of Food Standards, according to which all branded mineral water must be packed and sold only after the ISI mark has been accorded to the product.

In developed countries, all manufacturers are required to take up the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) test. According to one study on bottled water, Indian manufacturers take up the HACCP only when the product is for export and not when it is meant for local consumption. In fact, a study showed that only four of 12 brands from the market carried the ISI mark and actually qualified to be called ‘mineral water’.

Again, a distinction has to be made between 'mineral water' and 'packaged drinking water'. The BIS has certified only 6 companies till date for ‘packaged mineral water’. According to the study, most of the available mineral water is fortified mineral water. It has neither undergone much treatment nor have any salts been  added to it.

In the case of natural mineral water, the manufacturer has to maintain the purity of the source, the surroundings, and even of the plant and the packaging material, in terms of highest standards of hygiene, so that the quality of the end product is assured.

'Packaged drinking water', the official notification defines as water derived from any source of potable water, which is subjected to treatment such as filtration, activated carbon filtration, demineralisation and reverse osmosis. The standard for packaged drinking water, which is being introduced for the first time, is more flexible in terms of source and processing.

All mineral water manufacturers and traders will now have to seek ISI certification from the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). The new quality standards laid down in the final notification by the government for the bottled/mineral water industry conform to international standards

Many manufacturers say that they do not claim to be making mineral water. However, consumers may not be aware of these distinctions. In fact, Bisleri, a popular brand, has become a generic term for bottled drinking water.

When approached on the question of standards, many companies contacted refused to speak or said there was no official authority who could be spoken to. Very few companies responded. Of the three companies contacted in Bangalore, one said that its brand had no ISI mark. However, it continued to bottle and sell the product.

A representative from another company said they sourced the water from a borewell at the city outskirts and brought it for processing to Bangalore. He said he never claimed that his product was mineral water and said he was only selling “packaged mineral water”.

The company representative of one unit was forthcoming on the product. This company has applied for the ISI mark and is in the process of getting it. He said that his company had a water treatment plant in Devanahalli in Bangalore. The plant packs water in three capacities types - 20 litre, one litre and 2 litre, all of which are packed in PET bottles. The plant produces 1,000 cases per day of the one litre packs. (One case has 12 bottles.) Also, the company packs 250 ml water packs in pouches. These are bought for large gatherings such as political assemblies or get-togethers of thousands of people. The pouches are cheaper than bottles or sealed glasses and are of the ‘use and throw’ type.

He said, “Sixty per cent of households use 'can water'. Different types of packaged water are used by different segments of consumers. The sealed glasses, also of the disposable type, are used by high-end customers such as five star hotels. The masses use the pouch packets,” he said.

According to this businessperson, the number of units in the bottled water segment will reduce greatly. “There are 150 companies, but only 25 will remain after it becomes mandatory to abide by ISI standards.”

“The ISI has very high standards. In fact, ‘mineral water’ means that it should have undergone no processing at all. Presently, what is sold in the market as ‘mineral water’ is actually ‘packaged’ water. Real mineral water must have no additions, must have not undergone any ozonisation and should not have had any processing in the first place.”

He added, “A large number of small manufacturers exist in Karnataka and 95 per cent of them belong to the segment that can be defined as ‘packaged water’.”

In order to get the ISI mark, a unit needs labs of its own for chemical analysis and to check microbiological content. This can cost Rs 10 lakh and small companies cannot afford it. Also, the ISI authorities carry out checks through six inspections a year, which could be anytime. If any one parameter is not present, the company gets penalised.

The ISI standards will weed out units in the mineral water segment that do not conform to quality standards. Though the number of units will come down, it is important that such norms are laid down in a product that demands stringent quality such as drinking water.