Packaged Drinking Water Testing Laboratory

IS 14543:2016 covers packaged drinking water other than natural mineral water, and it is stricter than IS 10500, the general drinking water standard. IS 10500 is still used as a reference. The requirements published on our IS 10500 guide include:

• Total dissolved solids: 150 to 500 mg/L, against up to 2000 mg/L allowed in IS 10500 when no better source exists.
• pH: 6.5 to 8.5, with no relaxation for packaged water.
• Ozone residual: a maximum of 0.2 mg/L for ozone-treated water.
• Container requirements: plastic composition and migration limits.

The FSSAI checklist for packaged drinking water adds TDS, pH, turbidity, chloride, sulphate, nitrate, fluoride, iron, heavy metals (lead, arsenic, cadmium, mercury, chromium), pesticide residues, residual chlorine and microbiology (TPC, coliform, E. coli, Pseudomonas). Full detail is in our IS 10500 and IS 14543 guide.

Auriga does full testing of packaged drinking water: chemical, microbiological, pesticide, virological and radioactivity parameters. Radioactivity testing is described on our radioactivity testing page.

Packaged drinking water brands register with FSSAI through FoSCoS, and FSSAI's product standards cross-reference IS 14543. A plant therefore works to both: the BIS standard for the product and the FSSAI rules for the food business licence.

For licensing, FSSAI looks for a laboratory test report for the water. The report lists the physical, chemical and microbiological parameters tested and the result against each limit. Our page on the water test report for FSSAI licensing explains the parameters, what the report contains and how the process works.

Plants that also need to prove compliance for other food products can find the parameters for each category in the FSSAI compliance checklist and in the FSSAI lab test report for licensing page.

IS 14543 requires BIS certification for all packaged drinking water sold in India. The product must carry the Standard Mark, the ISI mark, and without it packaged water cannot legally be sold. The differences from IS 10500 that matter most in a lab report are the stricter TDS range, the fixed pH range, the ozone residual limit and the container migration limits listed above.

BIS licensing requires quarterly testing by an accredited third-party laboratory. Auriga Research is accredited under ISO/IEC 17025:2017, and its NABL-endorsed reports are accepted by regulatory authorities and BIS licensing offices, as stated in our IS 10500 guide.

Auriga lists packaged water testing against IS 14543 for manufacturer compliance within its water testing scope. See the main water testing page for the full range of water analysis.

Results are issued as an NABL-accredited report that lists each parameter, the method, the result and the limit it is read against.

For the licence file, pair the report with the FSSAI checklist parameters for packaged drinking water: TDS, pH, turbidity, chloride, sulphate, nitrate, fluoride, iron, heavy metals, pesticide residues, residual chlorine and microbiology. Quarterly testing means four reports a year for each plant, so it helps to fix a calendar of test dates in advance.

Report turnaround: 8 to 10 working days.

Share the pack size, the treatment used (for example ozone) and whether the report is for BIS, FSSAI or both, and we will confirm the parameters and the quote. Start with a quote request or call +91-7428116100.