When you pick up a bottle of water, you trust a long chain of decisions you can't see — where the source is, how it was treated, who tested the batch, what the seal protects against. The label promises "BIS certified". This piece walks you through what that actually means at ORA, and what we test before any bottle leaves the line.
Step 1 — Source water and intake checks
Every line at ORA starts with a documented, protected source. Before any treatment, source water is tested for TDS, pH, turbidity, conductivity, hardness, and microbial counts. We log these readings every shift; if any reading moves outside the agreed band, the line is held until it normalises or the source is re-evaluated.
Step 2 — Five-stage purification
- Sediment filtration — removes suspended particles down to 5 microns
- Activated carbon — strips chlorine, dissolved organics, taste, and odour compounds
- Reverse osmosis (RO) — semi-permeable membrane removes 95–99% of dissolved solids
- UV sterilisation — destroys remaining bacteria, viruses, and protozoa with ultraviolet light
- Ozonation — final disinfection inside the bottling line; ozone breaks down to oxygen before sealing
For mineral water, controlled re-mineralisation follows RO so the final product carries balanced calcium, magnesium, and bicarbonate levels. For alkaline water, that re-mineralisation is dialled toward pH 8.0–9.0 with electrolyte-balanced minerals. For vitamin B12 water, methylcobalamin is added under sterile conditions just before filling.
Step 3 — Every batch tested before bottling
Every batch — not every shift, every batch — goes through pre-bottling testing in our QC lab. Tests include:
- pH and TDS (target band per SKU)
- Total alkalinity, hardness, dissolved oxygen
- Microbiological load (total plate count, coliforms, E. coli, Pseudomonas)
- Heavy metals (arsenic, lead, cadmium, mercury, chromium)
- Pesticide residues (rotating panel, as per BIS schedule)
- Taste and odour panel (sensory)
A batch that fails any pre-bottling test does not leave the plant. It's held, re-tested, and either reworked through the line or discarded. The batch number on every bottle ties back to that certificate — we keep them on file and provide them to B2B accounts on request.
Step 4 — BIS IS 14543 certification
IS 14543 is the Bureau of Indian Standards specification for packaged drinking water (other than packaged natural mineral water). It covers source, treatment, packaging materials, microbiological limits, chemical limits, labelling, and testing frequency. ORA holds a valid BIS licence under this standard — the licence number is printed on every bottle, and BIS surveillance audits are scheduled on the line every year.
For our packaged natural mineral water SKUs, the relevant standard is IS 13428 — same rigour, different baseline (the source must be a protected, naturally-occurring underground water source).
Step 5 — Packaging, sealing, and traceability
PET and glass formats are sourced from FSSAI-approved suppliers. Caps are tamper-evident; if the ring doesn't separate cleanly when you open the bottle, something has been wrong with the seal. Every bottle carries: batch number, manufacturing date, best-before date, FSSAI license, BIS license, and the source / plant address. The batch number alone is enough to trace the bottle back to source water, treatment line, shift, and QC certificate.
What this looks like for your business
- Hotels and fine dining — consistent pH, TDS, and taste from one shipment to the next; custom labels on the same audited line
- Corporate offices — predictable bulk supply, monthly batch summaries on request
- Distributors — full chain-of-custody documentation per dispatch
- Event teams — last-mile cold-chain logistics for premium custom-label batches