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Mineral water or tap water in a bottle?
By Wenceslaus Murape
Water is arguably the most important liquid in the world.
The precious liquid makes up three-quarters of the human body hence its importance cannot be overemphasised.
Its importance is underlined by the proliferation of bottled water on the market, and there are more than 40 brands on Zimbabwe’s supermarket shelves — some of them imported.
The increase is attributable to the quest for safer drinking water following cholera outbreaks, inadequate municipal supplies, poor quality of tap water and an increase in health consciousness.
But with so many brands available, the quality of the bottled product is naturally — and rightly — questioned.
Mineral water is that which contains minerals or other dissolved substances that alter its taste or give it therapeutic value and is generally obtained from a naturally occurring mineral spring source.
The trend across the world is for this water to be bottled at its source.
In Zimbabwe, this has seen a lot of bottled water purportedly coming from the Eastern Highlands.
However, there really is no proof that this is where the water comes from and companies have never been clear on which springs they have ownership rights of.
Ordinary people have been heard saying the liquid is simply tap water that is boiled, chlorinated, filtered and exposed to ultra-violet light before packaging in a fancy bottle with catchy labelling.
Mr Tichaona Kamoyo of Chitungwiza said he was now wary of buying bottled water because he genuinely suspects that its tap water.
"I was shocked one day to find bottled water that had turned brownish while sitting on a shop shelf," he alleged.
Ms Evelyn Mangwiro of Glen View said bottling was not regulated and this left consumers at risk of water-borne diseases.
"If the water is contaminated, even if you refrigerate it, the bacteria can still infect you."
The director of the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe, Ms Roselyn Siyachitema, said they had, however, never received any complaints concerning bottled water.
"Our advice, though, to the general population is that if they have a genuine complaint, they should come to our offices and we’ll take up their grievance with the relevant authorities," said Ms Siyachitema.
The term "mineral water" is now colloquially used to refer to any bottled water in Zimbabwe.
Businesspeople know that bottling water is big business and hence the need for some sort of standards to be put in place.
The Standards Association of Zimbabwe — though not a regulatory authority — carries out in-depth assessments and tests on quality of goods and services, water included.
However, carrying a SAZ seal of approval is voluntary, though having the seal is an independent assurance that the product or service complies with a certain minimum standard.
Some of the bottled water brands with the SAZ seal are Schweppes, Mr Juicy, Pot-o-Gold, Tinga Mira and ZLG.
SAZ has published various standards of relevance for the water bottling business in regard to natural mineral water, food hygiene, manufacturing, as well as implementation and management of ISO 22000, which deals with food safety and management.
By virtue of its reference, the SAZ standard is enforceable by the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare, while the organisation is there to assist suppliers who want to meet certain standards.
In 2011, the global market of bottled water is forecast to be worth US$86,4 million with a volume of 174 million litres being sold.
Water rights campaigners say this privatisation of water bodes ill for the poor, as societies might start emphasising production of packaged water rather than making it universally accessible.
Environmentalists also oppose the use of non-biodegradable packaging that is used for packaging bottled water. |
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