The convener of the Central Province Drinking Water Bottle Manufacturers Association, Sapumal Kumara, emphasizes the bottled water industry has a huge potential to boost as a foreign reserve generation industry.
To reach this target it should find new foreign markets, where there is a scarcity of drinking water supply. However he empathised that some of the bottled water available in the market in this country contains ‘dead water’ that has no minerals. According to a revelation made by Kumara, the interest shown in the value of water in today’s Sri Lankan society is not enough. In particular, although the local consumer is rapidly becoming accustomed to bottled drinking water day by day, the knowledge of the customers is very little about the quality of the water they consume.
He added that this is a serious health concern that the health sector or the Consumer Affairs Authority in this country has not paid attention to the issue so far, but it is a red light to the lives of the people. Although people usually drink water to maintain their health, it is said that some of the bottled water available in the market does not contain any minerals that are essential for the healthy functioning of the human body. Water treated using the RO (Reverse Osmosis) method, which is a high-profit purification method, is produced ‘dead water’ ie the water doesn’t contain any minerals.
In this process, the beneficial minerals in the water are also removed, and the consumer has to pay for and drink only the basic water component. The main reason for the spread of the RO water purification system in this country was the rapid spread of kidney disease. Although the RO system has a positive effect to some extent in controlling the kidney disease, as a side effect, essential minerals are removed from the water. Therefore, it is time for the authorities in this country to open their eyes to the adverse effects of the RO purification system. He added that their Association has discussed this serious situation with the Deputy Minister of Health and the Director of Food Control of the Ministry of Health, but it is reported that no proper solution has been made so far. He said that the people of this country are facing a serious risk of suffering from various diseases due to certain large-scale companies maintaining a monopoly in this industry, without concerning the water quality and pursuing profits.
A consumer who pays for a bottle of water has a fundamental right to know how the water he buys has been produced. As a remedy to this, the Association requested the government to introduce a labelling system that clearly distinguishes between nutritional water bottles and water bottles produced using the RO system.
Source : Daily News
