The rise in sales of bottled water is no surprise given the poor quality of tap water where it is available. Bottled water is a big business – unfortunately some of it is as unsafe as that which comes out of our taps. The Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) has announced that 12 out of the 77 brands of bottled water on sale are unfit for human consumption. Arsenic and sodium have been found in greater quantities than are deemed safe. Sodium is a cause of hypertension and there is a linkage between arsenic and a range of cancers. Bacterial contamination by human bodily wastes was also present in some of the samples. The only way such a contaminant could have got into the bottle is by poor hygiene at the point of production, and that the contaminated bottles have not been picked up by a quality controller before it reaches the retail market. This amounts to an act of criminal irresponsibility on the part of the producer – not that producers are likely to care or do much about remedying things.
People buy bottled water because they believe it to be safe. It is worth reminding ourselves that 45 percent of infant deaths occur as a result of diarrhoea, and overall 60 percent of infants that die, die of infectious water-borne diseases. Any infant fed with water from a contaminated source is at risk of illness and perhaps death. The bottled water industry needs to look closely at how it regulates itself and exercise considerably more corporate social responsibility. Bottled water is an essential part of our lives today and the public has a right to expect that it is purchasing a safe product – but this is not a ‘safety-first’ culture. Unsafe production practices are rife and not just in the bottled water sector. The PCRWR report is a timely reminder that we should be careful about what we drink, and that some of what is in the market may be deadly.
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