Home delivery of water could be hit

To say that drinking water is precious in the Kingdom would be stating the obvious. But, with the crackdown on undocumented expatriates, the thirst-quencher can be expected to become dearer, though not in the immediate future.
With more than 50 percent of the expat employees in bottling plants disappearing following the crackdown, it remains to be seen how long the prices of bottled water, which has so far been stable, will remain unaffected. Drinking water is supplied to families in the Kingdom in five gallon bottles, but there are apprehensions on how long the supplies can be sustained.
There are about 50 bottling plants in Jeddah, and most of them are large or medium-sized industrial units including branded ones. And all of them are popular following all specifications. The large plants produce and deliver water in all sizes of bottles ranging from 500ml to 5 gallons.
Besides, there are about 300 water plants in the neighborhood of the city which are maintained by expatriate workers, who refill empty water bottles, besides selling and delivering them to customers at their houses and offices.
The physical delivery of water bottles forms an integral part of the water business, with the involvement of manual labor in loading and unloading. Each water plant employs between 8 and 15 workers to carry out delivery of water bottles to houses in the neighborhood. The entire business is dependent on these workers, most of whom are violators of labor and residency laws.
Even large plants with brand names are having a problem since they too are dependent on foreign labor for loading, unloading and delivery of bottles.
The small-scale water filling plants operating in neighborhoods are categorized under small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and as such, are not in a position to justify hiring of additional labor either through direct visas or transfer of sponsorship.