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Bottled water not always safe
Monday, 27 April, 2009
In early 2009 tests by health officials in Vietnam showed widespread contamination of municipal tap and bottled water. In recent years, as incomes have risen, more people have been buying bottled water. Twenty-litre jugs that sell for around 50 US cents are affordable for most Vietnamese. However, tests on hundreds of brands across the country reveal that bottled water cannot be trusted either.
Dozens of samples failed safety standard tests in Ho Chi Minh City in March 2009. "We detected bacterium in our samples, mainly coliform and Pseudomonas aeruginosa," said Le Truong Giang, deputy director of the city's health department.
At the last count 38 water-bottling firms had been ordered to close in Ho Chi Minh City, 12 in central Quang Ngai Province, and at least a dozen in Hanoi.
An official of Ho Chi Minh City’s health department has advised that consumers shouldchoose reliable brand names only but even then it is safer to boil the bottled water as well.
Source: United Nations IRIN news
