that the values have been taken from the 1962 

 revision of the USPHS Drinking Water Standards. 



Water for Washing and Hydrocooling Raw 

 Farm Products: Advances in agricultural tech- 

 nology relating to the production and handling of 

 farm products has brought about changes in water 

 requirements. An increasing number of large 

 growers are preparing raw fruits and vegetables 

 for direct shipment to the market. Many root crops 

 and some fruits and vegetables are washed before 

 they leave the farm. Changes in fruit production 

 associated with mechanical harvesting and bulk 

 handling and emphasis on quality have made 

 hydrocooling of fruits a common farm practice. To 

 gain greater consumer acceptance of fresh fruits 

 and vegetables, as well as to minimize problems in 

 the processing of fruits and vegetables, washing 

 and hydrocooling of certain crops on the farm is 

 expected to increase in the future. 



Although the use of water for hydrocooling and 

 washing has increased, its use in the slaughtering 

 and preparation of livestock for marketing has 

 decreased. The slaughter of animals for home use 

 and commercial marketing has largely been taken 

 over by firms specializing in this operation. Water 

 use in the preparation of poultry products, meat 

 and eggs, for market is also of little importance in 

 the present farm system since this operation has 

 largely been taken over by poultry and egg proc- 

 essing firms. 



Water used in the washing or hydrocooling of 

 farm products destined for human consumption 

 on the farm, for sale on the fresh market, or for 

 delivery to a processing plant for canning, freez- 

 ing, or other type of preparation prior to market- 

 ing, should meet drinking water standards. 



Water for Use in Washing Milk Handling 

 Equipment and Cooling Dairy Products: To 



maintain and improve the quality of milk, farmers 

 must produce a premium product. The quality of 

 water used to clean milk utensils may greatly affect 

 the quality of milk. Since modern methods for 

 bulk handling milk on farms require large volumes 

 of water and provide many opportunities for 

 chance contamination of milk, water must be safe 

 and not injurious to milk quality. 



Steadily increasing demand for water in the 

 rural areas due to intensified production of live- 

 stock, milk, and agricultural crops has required 

 many farm operators to develop additional sources 

 of water. Generally, these secondary sources are 

 of inferior quality and must be treated before use 

 in milk-handling equipment. 



The grade A Pasteurized Milk Ordinance of the 

 USPHS {176) is accepted as the basic sanitation 



standard for an ever-increasing portion of our raw 

 milk supply. By December 1964, the Milk Ordi- 

 nance (1953 edition) was the basis of the milk 

 sanitation laws or regulations of 37 States. The 

 1965 ordinance has been accepted by the Inter- 

 state Milk Shippers Conference as its basic sanita- 

 tion standard. Additional States are accepting these 

 requirements as the basic standard for the develop- 

 ment of local inspection regulations and for re- 

 ciprocal inspection agreements. Milk supplies for 

 the Interstate Milk Carrier program and for many 

 Government installations and programs must com- 

 ply with requirements of the 1965 ordinance. The 

 sanitation requirements for grade A raw milk for 

 pasteurization describe farm water supplies as a 

 major compliance item. Item 8r in section 7 of the 

 1965 ordinance defines acceptable water supplies 

 under this USPHS standard. It states that "water 

 for milkhouse and milking operations shall be 

 from a supply properly located, protected, and 

 operated, and shall be easily accessible, adequate, 

 and of a safe sanitary quality." Specific instruc- 

 tions for location of water sources, construction 

 of individual farm and milk plant water systems, 

 and disinfection of these supplies are described in 

 appendix D of the 1965 ordinance. The bacterio- 

 logical requirements for private supplies and re- 

 circulated cooling water are listed in appendix G 

 of the ordinance. 



While contributing greatly to the development 

 of a safe, sanitary raw milk supply in this country, 

 the water quality standards described in the 1965 

 ordinance (as well as in previous USPHS model 

 milk codes) are inadequate. Farm water supplies 

 may meet these standards, yet have a detrimental 

 efi'ect on the quality of our modern milk supply. 



Traditional concepts of "potability" and "soft- 

 ness" no longer suffice in this era of mechanized 

 milk-handling systems. Lengthy storage of raw 

 milk prior to pasteurization is common in today's 

 marketing operation. The breakdown of normal 

 milk constituents by organisms able to grow at 

 refrigeration temperatures produces quality 

 changes not tolerated in fluid milk or manufactured 

 dairy products. Since many of these low-tempera- 

 ture-tolerant species of microorganisms are com- 

 mon soil and water contaminants, water quality 

 standards must be developed for farms producing 

 milk to prohibit the presence of those species 

 which can cause the breakdown of milk con- 

 stituents. 



The following characteristics are considered es- 

 sential in a water supply to produce a milk supply 

 able to meet the demands of a modern marketing 

 system. 



1 . Sufficient quantity. — Enough water must be 



120 



