Indian Standards for Drinking Water | Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)

Indian Standards for Drinking Water- Relevance for UPSC Exam

GS Paper 2: Governance, Administration and Challenges- Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Recently, the Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution informed parliament that the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has made two Indian Standards pertaining to drinking water.

Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has made two Indian Standards pertaining to drinking water, namely-
- IS 10500:2012 on Drinking Water – Specification and
- IS 17482:2020 on Drinking Water Supply Management System – Requirements for Piped Drinking Water Supply.
Voluntary in Nature: BIS quality standards are not mandatory for civic agencies engaged in supplying drinking water to houses across the country.
Significance: Under Jal Jeevan Mission, as per existing guidelines, IS 10500:2012 is to be adopted for ensuring a safe drinking water supply.
- States/ UTs have been advised to carry out testing of drinking water sources once in a year for chemical and physical parameters and twice in a year for bacteriological parameters.

About: BIS is the National Standard Body of India established under the BIS Act 2016 for the harmonious development of the activities of standardization, marking and quality certification of goods and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
Parent Ministry: BIS functions under the Department of Consumer Affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution.
Ex-officio President: The Minister in charge of the Ministry or Department having administrative control of the BIS is the ex-officio President of the BIS.
BIS Headquarters: BIS has its Headquarters at New Delhi.
- BIS has also 05 Regional Offices (ROs) located in- Kolkata (Eastern), Chennai (Southern), Mumbai (Western), Chandigarh (Northern) and Delhi (Central).
Key Functions of BIS: Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is entrusted with the following key functions-
- Standards Formulation
- Product Certification Scheme
- Compulsory Registration Scheme
- Foreign Manufacturers Certification Scheme
- Hall Marking Scheme
- Laboratory Services
- Laboratory Recognition Scheme
- Sale of Indian Standards
- Consumer Affairs Activities
- Promotional Activities
- Training Services, National & International level
- Information Services