Water water everywhere, not a CLEAN drop to drink!  Who would have thought that there will be a day when sanitation of available water would be more of a concern than availability of water itself ? Hygiene is of great concern to everyone today, and this is evident with the surging rise in the consumption of packaged/bottled water. The rate at which this industry is growing is phenomenal and as every growing sector, this sector also has brought about tremendous job potential.

Bottled water industry is growing at a mouth watering rate of 40 per cent annually. The current market size of bottled water industry is Rs 1,800 crore and is poised to grow to a Rs 2,200 crore industry by 2010. With the growing market, there is a growing demand for employees in bottled water industry. It is surprising, but there are around 1,600 brands of bottled/packaged water in India.

This market has been experiencing exponential growth rates and industry predicts it will soon be the largest segment in the soft drinks market, outstripping even carbonated drinks, which has been losing market to both, fruit drinks/juices and packaged drinking water.

With the growing market size, one can imagine the employment opportunities being created with the surge in bottled water industry. It’s just not manufacturing of bottled water any more. Professionals required in this industry are engineers with mechanical, electrical and chemical background.

Demand for chemists and microbiologists is also on rise too .Each operation of a bottled water plant, requires candidates with specialised skill. Organised packaged water industry provides unique employment opportunities to the locals under following segments:

*Geological engineers (water diviners): For setting up a bottled water plant, the most essential element is raw water. The geological engineers’ services are required to find out the underground source of water.

*Mechanical/electrical engineers:  Bottled water industry demands mechanical & electrical engineers to run most sophisticated bottle blowing machines, bottle filling machines and other utilities like compressors, chillers, generators, etc.       Along with the mechanical engineering background, one needs to be knowledgeable about the plastic technology. Candidates with the knowledge of blow moulding & other allied plastic processing fields too are in great demand.

*Chemical engineers: In bottled water industry, water processing forms the main operation. Hence, one needs to employ chemical engineers, who are well versed with the different types of water treatments. New technologies like reverse osmosis, UV Treatment & Ozonation, calls for specialised knowledge in processing.

*Chemist: Bottled water undergoes around 50 to 52 tests, before it is released to the consumers. Out of this nearly half of the tests, needs to be conducted in-house. For this, industry needs graduates and post-graduates from analytical chemistry faculty. nMicrobiologists: There are 6 to 7 bacteriological tests to be conducted on each batch of the bottled water. These tests plays a very important role and should be conducted by a microbiologist, who has experience in microbiological technique. Thus chemists & microbiologists plays an indispensable role in the bottled water industry. According to Bureau of Indian Standards, experienced chemists and microbiologists are a must to carry out the tests as per the ISI specifications. Along with engineers, the industry needs operators, with the Diploma or ITI trade skills, to operate various equipments & maintain the same.

*Researchers: Now-a-days, in a very competitive market, bottled water needs to be focused on technological advancement through continuous Research and Development. Usually the companies have a full-fledged R&D team, in which engineers, food technologists, design experts work for product design & development as well as upgradation of existing facilities.

*Marketing & distribution:  Bottled water industry deploys huge manpower in marketing & distribution. The well spread market needs general managers, regional managers, area managers with a post-graduation in management. 

Retail sales executives and sales representatives are needed in large numbers. The distribution of bottled water to the retailers is handled by distributors/dealers, who deploy transport vehicles & delivery boys to reach the customers. 

The boom in this industry also opens up a plethora of opportunities in the field of cost accountancy, branding, advertising, marketing & technical expert consultancy. Although technical knowledge is the basis of running a water plant, the demand for skilled & talented manpower in other business related aspects cannot be overlooked. Thus to cap it up, one may say that the bottled water industry is creating a revolution of sorts and the employment opportunities in this sector are huge!

The writer is Project Head, Manikchand Oxyrich