Bottled water is a food product in a class of its own when it comes to protecting product quality

Bottled water is a food product in a class of its own when it comes to protecting product quality. Water has unique risk factors for contamination during processing, packaging and storage. This article will discuss helpful tips for protecting bottled water products, some common pitfalls to avoid that can affect product quality and successful sampling suggestions for preventing sample contamination and improving the water testing experience.

Protecting Product Quality

If you are only getting occasional customer complaints about these calcium precipitates, and nothing ever seems to settle in your retained product samples, frigid temperatures may be the enemy.

Be mindful of exposure to the environment. Microbiological growth can occur in bottles due to exposure to direct sunlight. Airborne mold spores, insects, rainwater or other foreign objects can get into uncapped returnable bottles that are stored outside. Algae growth is a common summertime nuisance. These microscopic organisms like to latch onto crevices in well-worn returnable bottles. The sunlight and warmer temperatures can cause algae to flourish in a bottle of water. Even though the bottles go through the wash cycle, the organisms are very resilient. The best practice would be to discard any bottles with visible algae growth so that it does not become a reoccurring quality problem.

Successful Sampling

When submitting water samples to the laboratory for analysis, be sure to read all of the instructions provided with the kit or forms you receive. Familiarizing yourself with the proper sampling procedures in advance can help avoid problems and save time. Here are some tips for avoiding such problems:

• Call and ask questions if an instruc- tion is not completely clear.
• Gather all sampling supplies in advance and verify that everything is included and in good condition. If anything seems incorrect, call your laboratory representative.
• Have ice on hand to put in coolers (where indicated).
• Make sure you have gathered all of the information required.
• Fill out all of the information requested on the sample information form or chain of custody (collection date and time, specific sample identification, type of water, etc.).
• If you are submitting samples for more than one type of finished product water, be sure you are using the correct forms with each sample that has been designated for that product type (if indicated). Some types of water have different analytical requirements than others. Therefore, your purified water test may be flagged for a different scope of testing than your spring water test. These forms give the lab direction on what testing is to be performed on the specific samples accompanying them, so sending the correct forms with the correct samples will help you to get the appropriate analysis.