Agricultural Water

The Produce Safety Rule (PSR) requires growers to initially establish a Microbial Water Quality Profile (MWQP) for each untreated agricultural water source used during growing activities of covered produce (other than sprouts) using a direct water application method and conduct annual surveys for that water source in subsequent years. The water quality profile is based on the levels of generic E. coli in your agricultural water. There are different requirements for agricultural water that comes from surface or ground (well) sources.

More information on the Produce Safety Rule and agricultural water can be found at FSMA Final Rule on Produce Safety. (FDA)

Microbial Water Quality Profile (MWQP) for Agricultural Water

Resources

• Environmental Assessment / System Inspection Questionnaire (Bond-Partyka, 2020 Western Center for Food Safety) (PDF 280 KB)
• From United Fresh Produce Association: United Fresh’s Food Safety Council and Harmonized Calibration Committee agreed that the industry would benefit from a document that a grower can use to guide their thought process through the assessment of their agricultural water risk. The following document is a compilation of existing resources and approaches developed by the volunteer workgroup.
  • Assessing Risk of Pre-Harvest Agricultural Water (PDF 222 KB)
  • 3.2.2. Interpretation Summary – Considerations for the postharvest use of surface water (PDF 198 KB)

  Videos

  FSMA: Preparing to Collect Water Samples