Water Quality and Safety: Tips for Food Processors On Establishing Programs to Manage Water

Years ago, I observed a poorly designed system in a cannery. When all retorts were running and in the cooling cycle, the volume of wastewater going into the drains was so great that the toilets backed up and flooded the rest rooms. The system definitely did not “properly convey sewage and disposable liquid from the plant.”

All food processing facilities should also have complete and accurate diagrams of their plumbing systems. These diagrams should include freshwater lines, sanitation chemical lines, wastewater lines, and the sewage system and clearly demonstrate that there are no cross-connections between these systems. Ideally, they should also provide the company with insights as to whether there are any dead legs or dead ends in the system. Dead ends or dead spots can adversely affect product quality and safety and are extremely hard to properly clean and/or flush. They may even harbor spoilage organisms or microorganisms of public health significance. This may be a challenge for processors in old buildings or in structures that have been adopted for use in food processing.

Water Supply

Processors need to understand the source or sources of their water. Many processors draw water from city water supplies or from public or private wells. Processors may also obtain water from multiple sources, and the water from these sources may have different chemistries. The assumption is that these are safe sources, but this needs to be verified periodically by the processor. There are also many operations around the world that draw from reservoirs, rivers, or other open water sources and must treat water on site to assure its sanitary quality. In the United States, for example, salmon canneries in remote locations of Alaska operate in this manner. Treatment plants must, therefore, be an integral part of these facilities. In the early 1980s, two outbreaks of botulism that were traced to canned salmon processors underscored the need for both good sanitation and good water quality in these operations. The cause was determined to be post-process contamination by Clostridium botulinum type E, which gained access to the containers through a container defect. Several operations installed reservoirs for chlorinating can cooling water to minimize the potential for a reoccurrence. Using information developed by the National Food Processors Association in 1990, the waters were treated to achieve a five-log reduction of spores of C. botulinum in an effort to reduce the potential C. botulinum type E hazard from water.

All food processors should test water from each and every water source and in the plant from different outlets at least once a year, and preferably more often. Operators should collect water samples from the farthest outlet from main entering the facility. This should be done even if water is obtained from a city water system. The water quality as it leaves a treatment plant and its condition when it gets to your plant may vary. This is especially true in cities where pipelines are old. If the pipes are iron, water can pick up that metal quite easily from the lines. High iron water, whether from old pipes or a natural source, is quite easy to detect. All one needs do is look for iron stains wherever there are leaks or drips. Now, iron might not be a safety risk, but iron in the water can affect product quality and may be an indicator of other potential problems. Along these lines, processors should always request that the city provide them with water test results on a regular basis.

If a company uses water from multiple sources, such as wells, city, or other places, they must be sure that samples from each source are tested on a regular basis for both microbiological and chemical parameters. Keep in mind that these analyses may be used to do more than just assure the safety of your food and ingredients. Knowing the chemistry of the water coming into the plant will help in other areas, as will be discussed below. If there are concerns that the water may have been contaminated with runoff from fields or elsewhere, the processor should not only look for pathogens or parasites but should also run a series of chemical tests, including pH, water hardness, heavy metals, pesticides, radiological hazards, iron, and nitrates.