Ahmedabad, November 03, 2015: The Water Quality India Association (WQA India) today launched the first ever microbiological standard to certify household water treatment devices for consumers in India. These standards have been specifically developed for Indian conditions and match global norms. WQA India also released a recognizable mark, SEAL OF PURITY, which will help consumers choose water treatment devices that meet these standards. Leading water purifier manufacturers have pledged to adopt these standards. This development marks an important step towards ensuring genuine standards for water quality in a country where water borne diseases are a major health hazard.
Interesting statistics:
· Statistics compiled by the United Nations show Over 1 lakh people die of water-borne diseases annually in India.
· It is reported that groundwater in one-third of India’s 600 districts is not fit for drinking as the concentration of fluoride, iron, salinity and arsenic exceeds the tolerance levels. About 65 million people have been suffering from fluorosis, a crippling disease due to high amount of fluoride and five million are suffering from arsenicosis in West Bengal alone, due to high amount of arsenic.
· The World Bank estimates 21% of communicable diseases in India are water related. Of these diseases, diarrhoea kills more than a 1000 people in India every day. The highest mortality from diarrhoea is in children under the age of five, highlighting an urgent need for focused interventions
More than 10 Indian Water Purifier manufacturers have pledged to adopt these standards. These include leading brands like Eureka Forbes, Kent RO, Alfaa UV, Filtrex, AO Smith, Ion Exchange, Luminous, Tata Swachh and HUL among others. Together these WQA India members represent more than 70% of water purifier sales in India.
Commenting on this landmark development, President, WQA India, Rajul Parikh of Alfaa UV said : “Microbiological Standard developed by WQA India, which will be recognized as the SEAL OF PURITY, is set to become the trusted mark of the water purification industry and will give consumers assurance that the water purifier they are using is giving them safe drinking water free from microbiological contaminants.”
Vikram Surendran , CEO and Sr. VP at Eureka Forbes said: “At Eureka Forbes, our vision has been to provide not just the best, but the most appropriate water purification solutions to our consumers. However, one of the key challenges the industry has faced is the lack of a common standard or certification against which products can be judged. This resulted in many unorganised players making unsubstantiated claims. We believe that the Seal of Purity by WQA India, will bring us a step closer towards creating confidence in the minds of consumers, providing them with a standard against which they can judge products and instilling in them the confidence that they would be using best-in-class technology.”
Ajay Popat , President, Ion Exchange India Ltd commented “The unique Microbiology Standard for Water Purifiers is result of WQA India initiative with contributions from Indian Water Purifier Industry. The Standard, first of it’s kind, developed using Global methodology will meet the vital need of Global consumers and buyers of Purifiers, to own a Product that delivers Safe, Pure Drinking Water”.
Corporate Comm India(CCI Newswire)
