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activities and meetings are also held elsewhere across the country every day.
One thing perhaps cuts across all the subjects, and topics; locations and settings. Bottled water has become not only an indispensable part of the proceedings, owing to the natural call for the same, but a part of the very set itself. The trend permeates to the offices and the streets as bottled water becomes a necessity and a trend (think of TV stars and other celebrities).

Already, hotels, restaurants and shops – big and small – have stocks of different brands of bottled water.
What one might find disturbing apart from the tragic innocence of many consumers is what was said by Minister Nhema. Apart from shying away from naming and shaming the offending companies, at least those operating within the purview of law or for that matter name those who are right, he seemed to suggest that the offenders could live a day longer. He said: “We can’t take action now . . . because the tests are conducted regularly and by the time we conduct the next tests they should have rectified the problem.”

So does this mean that people’s health and the environment have to suffer another day until these gods of profit, which our authorities decide to slap on the wrist, comply? The interests of the people’s health should come first. A responsible Government must jump to protect them the very moment they are threatened. When Minister Nhema gives offending companies – which clearly know what is expected of them – another day, it means he is giving them the chance to not only immorally take people’s money but also kill the goose that lays the golden egg.
And to think that some people actually buy bottled water believing that it is safe!

This means that while Minister Nhema was actually right to point out the fact that registered companies were not meeting the required standards, he exposed himself to be offside; that is with his EMA in tow.
It is the citizens that need protection when they err – for example, when they collect some few logs of firewood when the situation of want arises out of the inaccessibility of alternatives.
Concerns have been raised in relation to bottled water, moreso with the proliferation of so many players in the industry. Worldwide, the problem is the same.

Some of these concerns include:

• Dangerous chemical toxins and contaminants which are released into the air and water when these bottles are manufactured. A PET bottle manufacture is said to release 100 times more toxins than glass or steel bottles. Transportation, burning fossil fuel, adds to the carbon footprint of these bottles

• Unrealistic pricing as bottled water is said to be 240 to 10 000 times more expensive than tap water, even though more than 25 percent of bottled water comes from municipal tap water systems. In fact, it has been observed that bottled water is not guaranteed safer than tap water as some bottled water contains contaminants, bacteria and synthetic chemicals ranging from plastic chemicals, industrial solvents, chlorine compounds and arsenic.

• Disposal of water bottles have a significant environmental impact. (And don’t say some people have found employment collecting and selling these bottles)

• Leeching of plastic bottle chemicals, especially when exposed to heat

• Impact on environment as water is sourced out of springs and aquifers but not returned thereby disturbing the ecosystem. There is also the depletion of groundwater systems which impacts on the flow of rivers, streams and lakes as well as wetlands

• Purification of water by various means, from boiling, chlorination, filtration, to UV light, does not eliminate the risk that contamination can still occur at any point of the purification process with serious consequences.

These are legitimate concerns that can, and should not wait any day longer for them to be addressed.
And it is not a case for EMA and the Environment ministry only. The Standards Association of Zimbabwe is on record as not being comfortable with some of the water. SAZ has to date published various standards of relevance to water bottling business such as: SAZS 457: Natural mineral water, SAZS 126: Food hygiene: Part1: Manufacturing, SAZS 749: The implementation and management of a HACCP system and ISO 22000: Food safety management system.

SAZS 457 is referred to in the Foods Standards, Natural Mineral Water and Bottled Drinking Water Regulations – Statutory Instrument 263:2002.
SAZ works hand-in-hand with the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare which enforces regulations.

In all honesty, that the majority of bottling companies are not complying with regulations should actually constitute a state of emergency that should be accordingly treated with the involvement of all stakeholders.
The biggest stakeholder in this case cannot be the bureaucracy but the individual. Consumers must help authorities in identifying players who produce bottled water under unhygienic conditions. Many people have witnessed how some unscrupulous individuals collect tap water and package it as mineral water or some such well-meaning description.

And the sooner people realise that there is no “swag” in holding a water bottle that contains nothing more than tap water and contaminants the better.