9 August 2019, New Delhi, India
Water Quality India Association (WQIA) organized its 10th Annual Meeting at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi on 9th August 2019.
Prior to the event, Dr. Neeraj Gupta of AO Smith was elected as the new President of WQIA in a board meeting held on 8th August 2019. On the same day, an awareness program was conducted by AWRTCL for new standards of water purification systems. It was identified that component performance testing standard needs to be developed for sediment filters, carbon blocks, and UF filter module. The group desired a fancy logo similar to energy-efficiency logo with star ratings.
The main event saw an attendance of 70 water professionals. Major participant companies included Alfaa UV, Sarjan, HSIL, LG, Havells, Livpure, Dupont, AO Smith, New Age Techsci, Imerys, Bluestar, V Guard, Carrier Midea, Pratham Filters, Global Water Solutions, Eureka Forbes, HUL, Franke Faber, Active Carbon, and Xiomi.
IAPMO-I New Standard titled “Evaluation of Point-of-Use Water Purification Systems -Specification WPS – 01:2019” was launched. This was jointly developed by IAPMO-I and WQIA.
Various interesting presentations were made during the meeting. The topic of “Standards and Conformity Assessment” was covered by the Chief Guest Anil Jauhri, who recently retired as CEO, National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies, India’s national accreditation body, and a constituent Board of Quality Council of India. He explained that the standards written by other certification bodies cannot be recognized under BIS but it can accept 3rd party certifications. He informed that there is a lot of harmonization of standards in the discussions at BIS and a positive view is shown by BIS towards trade associations. He emphasized on standards to be developed in India, in line with international standards as mobility has increased over a period for product, process and people.
Tom Palkon gave the insight into “Global Drinking Water Treatment Industry Scenario and Market Access”.
DuPont Water Solutions presented an “Advanced RO Membrane” which can deal with 50% water efficiency.
IPSC representative talked about “Service Technician Scheme for Water Treatment Sector”. Its apprenticeship program is offered to the industry.
An illustrative presentation was delivered on “Point-of-Use Indian Market Scenario” by Tech Science Research Group to show growth of the market at 20% CAGR up to 2025.
The HOD of Food & Agricultural department committee of BIS Mr. Rajesh attended the meeting and explained the rationale behind NGT order with regards to banning of RO for water with TDS lower than 500 ppm and minimum requirement of RO water TDS at 150 ppm. He recognized the efforts made by WQIA and IAPMO India/AWRTCL to work closely with BIS to refine the standards.
An excellent panel discussion cum open discussion on “Myths on Health Issues Due to Drinking Low TDS Water” was moderated by Tom Palkon in which participants were from NGOs, academia and the industry.
Water purifier manufacturers were excited about the 50% recovery RO membrane which can be the potential business in India. The recovery testing services can be provided by AWRTCL. Several manufacturers would like to initiate testing/ certification with IAPMO India for the new standard.
In general, water purifier manufacturers are hopeful to provide enough scientific data to combat the NGT issue. More industry participation was envisaged during the meeting.
Kent RO was the Gold Sponsor, while the other sponsors were IAPMO-I and NZO (High Tea Sponsors), Sarjan (Networking Lunch Sponsor), and Aquadiagnostics (Welcome Kit Sponsor).
Overall, it was a successful meeting conducted by the WQIA. The next meeting is scheduled on 6th February 2020 in Hyderabad.
Smart Water & Waste World Magazine was an official Media Partner of this event.
© Smart Water & Waste World. Send us your editorial contributions at mayur@smartwww.in
