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Quality of Water used in Hotels and Restaurants Industry
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Monday, 16 December, 2019, 13 : 00 PM [IST]
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Trupti Bhat
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Water is the key element of life, but new information is coming to light on the element which we thought we were so familiar with. Why is it that water quality is an important factor for the hotel and restaurant industry? Often it is a common observation that guests do complain about the water “taste” and ask for an alternative and at such times the restaurant has over endless varieties of drinks to offer but not an alternative to offer for water! The feel good factor is associated with quality. The topic starts with an important word “quality” which means “fitness for use.” The conclusions for this word completely depend on interpretations hence while discussing the quality of water in restaurants it is of utmost importance to start with the definition of the very word “quality.” It is not as easy as it sounds.
Types of water
“Water,” the word itself is presumed to be very simple but it is not as simple as it appears. Hence there is a wide variety and there’s a wide choice of ‘waters’ offered in hotels and restaurants: still water, RO water (reverse osmosis water), sparkling water, glacier water from Iceland, Hawaiian volcanic water, citrus-infused water, basil-infused water, then there’s alkaline water, ionised microclustered water, gold charged water - where 24 karat edible gold flakes are added to water, to derive health benefits on ancient wisdom.
Not just this, Ayurveda has absolute ancient wisdom and proven science in ancient India. Scriptures have been indicative of “Kshaara” added to water from ashes of burning various combinations of plants and herbs and also use of specific metal vessels such as copper to derive the health benefits and treat a few symptoms of gut discomfort.
Source of water
Irrespective of the variety and choice of water which is offered, it is important to note that the source of water is Mother Nature. It is either from groundwater simply water taken from borewells at any location, that has undergone some or the other water treatment, and could have added minerals while treatment process or it could be natural mineral water which always has a single natural source such as a borewell or spring, an artesian well, reservoir or glacier. You can taste the region through water and the mineral levels that create flavour are measured by Total Dissolved Solids (TDS).
Spring and mineral water come from the same source, rainwater, which naturally falls through earth’s layers and becomes filtered while picking up various minerals. It is an undeniable truth that water too has its own taste such as metallic, sweet or bitter. This depends on the amount of minerals or total dissolved solids in water. Nevertheless the “quenching of thirst” or the satiety value too is associated with natural characteristics such as mineral composition, carbonation, the age of the water, the hardness, the origin and also the pH level. While the potability of water is the basic quality across the globe, what most of the people in India do not know about water is the fact that potable drinking water has a standard which is IS 10500 and is totally in line with global standards of drinking water quality.
Different technologies
While different technologies are utilised by the industry to offer a variety of water, the non-potable output of water is diverted towards gardening, landscapes and other utilities for optimum utilisation of water as a resource through a commercial angle and as such other activities do not necessarily require drinking quality standards to be maintained.
More than anything else, even water has become a style statement in the consumer-driven trendy food and beverage industry. It is certainly time for a wake up call for the entire hotel and restaurant industry as well as the consumers. The concern from variety of availability has shifted to sustenance and survival. India is undergoing the worst water crisis in its history. Already, more than 600 million people are facing acute water shortages. Critical groundwater resources – which account for 40% of our water supply – are being depleted at unsustainable rates. Most states have achieved less than 50% of the total score in the augmentation of groundwater resources, highlighting the growing national crisis—54% of India’s groundwater wells are declining, and 21 major cities are expected to run out of groundwater as soon as 2020, affecting ~100 million people. With nearly 70% of water being contaminated, India is placed at 120th amongst 122 countries in the water quality index.
Conservation of potable water
The National Green Tribunal has issued directives in the month of May 2019 specific to conservation of potable water by preventing its wastage on account of unnecessary use of RO systems and avoid use of RO system where TDS level is below desirable threshold results in deficiency of calcium and other minerals by bringing down level of TDS to undesirably low level. BIS standards on Reverse Osmosis based Point of-Use Water Treatment System (IS 16240:2015) should be made mandatory for RO manufacturers. RO manufacturers should also provide proper labelling on the purifier specifying that the unit should be used if TDS is more than 500 mg/I. While the Food Safety & Standards Act, 2006, specifically states about potable water to be tested once in six months, it is also pointed out by FSSAI that the trouble lies in the storage tanks which if ignored may not be adequately cleaned and maintained therefore impacting water potability.
The FSS Act, 2006, has also not specified any specific technology to be utilised for treatment of water. However, the industry misinterprets and goes overboard with the concept of maintaining “quality” of water and utilises latest and expensive technologies as per their interpretation which are neither demanded nor specified for utilisation by the law and at times may not be scientifically adequately proven. The hotel and restaurant industry has to be therefore updated and informed about the quality issues associated with different types of water treatment technologies.
In a consumer-driven industry, certainly quality of water at hotels and restaurants is an obvious concern but as a conscious consumer instead of making water a style statement, the need of the hour is to realise the fact of availability of potable water as a natural resource and hence be inclined to demand and choose simple tap water combined with the simplest technology of boiling used by our grandparents. It has scientifically been proven to be the simplest and safest and needs to be used even today. It is important to realise that different technologies of water are in the commerce more because of claims related to” feel good factor” and “consumer demands” and not always proven scientific evidences.
Therefore, as a shared responsibility every little bit that conscious consumer does will change the way the hotel and restaurant industry views water.
(The author is national resource person trainer; consultant for food safety and nutrition. She can be contacted at truptione@gmail.com)
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