Wastages and efficiency ratings must be mentioned by water purifiers: Officials

According to officials from the environment ministry, manufacturers of reverse osmosis-based water purifiers, will now have to provide ratings on efficiency of their appliances and water wastage, while water supply agencies will have to declare Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) in the water being supplied. This would help consumers make informed decisions on the kind of water purifier, if at all needed, The Economic Times, reported on Monday. The new regulations will come into effect 18 months from now.

Back in May 2019, the environment ministry was advised by the National Green tribunal, that it should come with regulation on appropriate usages of RO-based water purification systems. And on based on this, the regulations have tasked all agencies and organisations engaged in water supply to inform customers on the quality of water being supplied, including the TDS level.

They would be disseminated by means of advertisements and awareness campaigns, besides being mentioned in utility bills.

As per the new Regulation on Use of Water Purification System (WPS), each water purifier has been mandated that each water purifier has been mandated to come with a conformance label, similar to star rating, which shows the efficiency, water rejection and wastage levels.

Current recovery efficiency at around 20%

According to the publication, The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is said to have developed IS Standard (IS 16240:2015) for drinking water purifying systems which is deemed to be technology specific and also detail the acceptable quality of purified water, apart from the recovery efficiency of the machine.

Presently, purification machines have a water recover efficiency at around 20%, as they are estimated to reject waste of the water taken in for purification at almost 70 to 80%.

The RO manufacturer will now have to obtain standard mark and certification under a license from the BIS on the water purification system.