Water testing criteria

Hi,

We are using city water for our meat processing and the city does provide an annual report on various chemical, physical and microbial parameters. For our annual internal water testing, what parameters should i get tested? especially the chemical ones

Do you really need to test for chemicals - provided, you already have an official city report? I'm testing only for micro, TC & E. Coli. However, it might depend on products you're manufacturing: what do you produce? 

We are producing beef and chicken donair meat and we do add water in our meat mix. I was thinking just getting tested for heavy metals provided we are preparing for a CFIA audit. Let me know your thoughts.

I'm not experienced in meat production. Do you have any CFIA requirements RE: water or product testing? I would wait and see what other meat-experienced forum members say.

Here state side I utilized a full EPA panel to verify the results of the local municipality.  This is an expensive route and generally I have always tested for APC/TPC and E.coli. for water potability.  No issues with this come audit time.    

Keep in mind the water report from the city is a great starting point, but you need to consider what hazard can occur in your use.  For the most part the faucets connected to the plumbing are going to be pretty safe.  I'm with others that test for APC, TC and general potability standards.

 

But consider all points of use.  I've had auditors randomly point out various water sources during a walkthrough and ask whether my water tests ever get pulled from that source.

• If you have hoses, especially ones that roam the facility from one spigot to another, they can be capable of picking up something airborne or when dragged across the floor.  You might consider testing those for pathogens of concern for your business.
• If water is used as an ingredient or processing aid, those points of use should be tested periodically for the same concerns of your business.

That's not to say I test all of them each and every time, but I will test all of them once and then spread tests around during the year to provide a more complete picture.

I test in house water for potability quarterly (including the main line into the building as the baseline).  I include the municipality water report as supporting evidence

 

Heavy metal/chemical testing is only done once/year 

 

You could only get away with skipping the chem/metal testing IF you're in a brand new facility and none of the water lines are metal (e.g. all pex type)

 

10+ years in poultry in Canada

IS 10500:2012 can refer for complete water testing. It may be very high proability of contamination in water because its comes from far distance through pipe line and they could be damaged from any where 

The parameters mentioned below can be tested:

1 Odor 2 Taste 3  pH 4  TDS (mg/l) 5  Hardness (as CaCO3) (mg/l) 6  Alkalinity (as CaCO3) (mg/l) 7  Nitrate (mg/l) 8 Sulfate (mg/l) 9  Fluoride (mg/l) 10  Chloride (mg/l) 11  Turbidity (NTU) 12  Arsenic (mg/l) 13  Copper (mg/l) 14  Cadmium (mg/l) 15  Chromium (mg/l) 16  Lead (mg/l) 17  Iron (mg/l) 18  Zinc (mg/l)  19  Fecal Coliform (cfu)  20  E. Coli (cfu) 

 

مصادر المياه

المادة ) 46 ( يجب توفير إمدادات كافية من المياه الصالحة للشرب ولضمان عدم تلوث المواد الغذائية : )أ( أن تكون المياه، وكذلك الثلج والبخار المصنوع منها، مناسبا

للغرض المقصود منها وفقا لنهج قائم على تقييم المخاطر، وينبغي ألا تؤدي إلى تلوث الغذاء . )ب( أن يكون تخزين المياه والثلج وتداولهما على نحوٍلا يؤدي إلى تلوثهما،

ويجب ألا يؤدي توليد البخار الذي يلامس الغذاء إلى تلوثه .)ج( أن يكون للمياه غير الصالحة للاستخدام في ملامسة الغذاء ) على سبيل المثال ، المياه المستخدمة لمكافحة

الحرائق والبخار الذي لا يلامس الغذاء بشكل مباشر ( نظاما منفصلا لا يتصل أو لا يسمح بحدوث إرتداد عكسي إلى نظام المياه التي تلامس الغذاء )د( أن تتم معالجة المياه

المعاد تدويرها لإعادة الاستخدام مرة أخرى ومعالجة المياه الناتجة، على سبيل المثال، من عمليات تجهيز الأغذية عن طريق التبخير و/أو الترشيح، وذلك عند الضرورة

لضمان أن المياه لا تشكل تهديدا لسلامة الغذاء أو صلاحيته .

 

1-4-4 - ينبغي توافر إمدادات كافية من مياه الشرب، مع وجود مرافق مناسبة لتخزينها، وتوزيعها والتحكم في درجة حرارتها، عند الضرورة، لضمان سلامة الأغذية

وصلاحيتها. وينبغي أن تكون مياه الشرب متوافقة مع التشريعات الصادرة في هذا الشأن. ويجب أن تكون شبكة توزيعها منفصلة كما يجب تمييز شبكات المياه: غير الصالحة

للشرب وعدم ربطها بشبكات مياه الشرب بما قد يؤدي إلى اختلاط مياه الشبكتين. 5 - 5 - 1- ينبغي أن تستخدم المياه الصالحة للشرب فقط في حال ملامسة المياه للأغذية "عند

تداول الأغذية وتجهيزها". 5 - 5 - 2- ينبغي أن تستخدم المياه الصالحة للشرب فقط في حال إضافة الماء الي الأغذية.

 

Hi Scampi

 

I test in house water for potability quarterly (including the main line into the building as the baseline).  I include the municipality water report as supporting evidence

 

Heavy metal/chemical testing is only done once/year 

 

You could only get away with skipping the chem/metal testing IF you're in a brand new facility and none of the water lines are metal (e.g. all pex type)

 

10+ years in poultry in Canada

Hi Scampi, 

Thank you for your reply, do you just check the main line or from other sources as well?

Hi,

 

We also had a request from auditor to have our water tested annually by an accredited  third party lab (water provided by the city). Our procedure for water testing is sample water from city line (incoming water), hot water and cold water in used in production.

We tested our water quality (heavy metal, hardness, chlorine etc...) and water potability (total coliforms and ecoli counts). The standard of testing is followed as CFIA guidance for water. Hope this help

I rotate all sites throughout the year, but the main line is done every time.  It's a way of ensuring that IF there is a problem, you'll know if it's in house or from your initial water supply

 

 

https://inspection.c...1/1511377945080

 

Use the above link for guidance