What if the one element essential for the survival of all known forms of life is at risk of contamination? In January this year, a report issued by the General Administration of Permits and Commercial Audit at the Jeddah Municipality stated that out of 247 factories producing bottled drinking water in Jeddah, 50 had been shut down and 197 given a warning to abide by the rules and regulations.
Mohammed Kinsara, assistant to the municipality’s undersecretary who is in charge of permits and commercial audit, was quoted in local newspapers as saying that there was a noticeable increase in the number of water factories in Jeddah this year. On this basis, the municipality established a strict supervisory system where ongoing inspection campaigns take place to make sure that all the factories comply with health rules and regulations.
“Factories that don’t apply standard specifications violate the regulations and are therefore shut down,” said Kinsara. “Other violations are considered a lack of health precautions. The owner is warned and then given a deadline to fix the problems. When he fails to comply with the regulations the place is closed down.”
Kinsara explained that the majority of violations have to do with the absence of laboratory technicians, the insufficient number of processing machines, the neglect of using automatic packaging, the unavailability of factory premises, the lack of safety and precaution requirements, the unhealthy water storage, and the violation of Saudi Arabia’s water standard specifications.
The quality of drinking water is an issue of concern for human health in developing and developed countries worldwide. The risks arise from infectious agents, toxic chemicals and radiological hazards. But the increasing number of water factories in Jeddah indicates a growing demand for bottled water.
The question is: Why do people pay money for something they can get for free?
“When I first arrived in the Kingdom, I was told that tap water was not fit for drinking,” said 45-year-old Ismaeel Mohammed who works in Jeddah. “I’ve been drinking bottled water ever since.”
Khalid Fadel said that he drinks bottled water because he does not trust tap water. “Tap water is yellow and filthy because the owner of my building doesn't maintain or clean the water tank on the building’s roof,” said the 32-year-old Saudi teacher. “I don’t think any landlords look after their water tanks.”
Nisreen Abdo, 36, uses filtered tap water at home and bottled water outside her home. “I don't trust the quality of water outside my home,” she said.
Mazin Bayoumi, 29, also does not trust tap water. He said that he had seen the build up on the inside of screw bits where the water comes out of the tap. “It’s rusty and dusty. That’s why I drink bottled water.”
Siraj Wahab moved recently from Jeddah to live and work in Dammam. He and his family noticed immediately the difference in tap water between the two cities on opposite coasts. “Here in Dammam, the water is very salty and not fit for human consumption. We have no option but to use bottled drinking water,” he said.
People say they drink bottled water because they believe it is safer, cleaner and healthier than tap water. But how safe and clean is bottled water?
An American woman who lives in Saudi Arabia with her family and shares her experiences through her blog (www.sandgetsinmyeyes.blogspot.com) wrote about an incident with bottled water in April this year.
She mentioned that the “raw” water in Saudi Arabia is not really fit to drink, so bottled water, rather than being a luxury like it is in other places, is a necessity.
“A while back I started noticing that when I drank certain brands of water, my gut really started to hurt. More specifically, I started to experience acid reflux (heartburn),” wrote the blogger.
When the same started happening to the blogger and her husband after drinking bottled water, they decided to research the matter.
“Turns out, most bottled water contains chlorine gas, which is a primary cause of acid reflux for a lot of folks,” wrote the blogger. They eventually found out that it was possible to get rid of the chlorine gas by boiling the water. “We noticed the difference almost immediately! No more acid reflux!”
Arab News examined the average chemical composition part per million in a 330 milliliter bottled drinking water of three different local brands. Chlorides were 33 in the first bottle, 29 in the second bottle and 17 in the third bottle.
According to the World Health Organization’s Guideline for Drinking-Water Quality, chloride is the most commonly used disinfectant and oxidant in drinking-water treatment.
“Chloride greater than 600 mg/liter would markedly impair the potability of the water. The 1963 and 1971 International Standards retained this value as the maximum allowable or permissible concentration,” the guidelines stated.
Maqbool Ahmad and Ahmad Bajahlan, two Saudi laboratory managers working in the Environmental Control Department at the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, conducted a study in March 2008 to compare the quality of bottled water with potable desalinated tap water in the industrial city of Yanbu. The study was published in the Springer Netherlands’ Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Journal.
They collected 14 brands of local and imported bottled water samples from the local market and analyzed them for physio-chemical parameters in the Royal Commission Environmental Laboratory. Results were compared with 5-year continuous monitoring data of tap water from different locations in Yanbu Industrial City.
“Results showed that there was no significant difference in the quality of tap water and bottled water... Hence, it is the responsibility of the Royal Commission to encourage the people in the city to drink tap water as it is as good as bottled water, even better than some of the brands, and is monitored regularly. It is also much cheaper compared to bottled water and is available around the clock,” the study concluded.
This May, ABC News published an article online reporting that a report commissioned by the Switzerland-based World Wildlife Fund International stated that bottled water may be no safer or healthier than tap water.
The reason, according to the environmental group, is an absence of standards regulating bottled water. “In fact,” said the report, “there are more standards regulating tap water in Europe and the United States than those applied to the bottled water industry.”
Yet the question still remains: Is bottled water better than tap?
