The head of the Indonesian Consumers’ Protection Foundation (YLPKI) in Bali has warned residents and visitors to beware of locally bottled drinking water, saying that a couple of minor brands may not meet official national safety standards.
Speaking to reporters in Denpasar, Putu Armaya of the YLPKI said that his organisation had received many complaints about bottled water produced by small Bali-based companies. Locals have reported buying bottled water with a bitter taste and smell, Armaya said.
“Some of the consumers we have asked say they have sometimes got discolored bottled water too,” he added, saying that poorly treated water might cause health problems.
According to Armaya some of the water bottlers involved do not have Indonesian National Standard accreditation, or the necessary permits from the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency and Health Ministry.
Armaya said his organization would be lodging a recommendation for an investigation and laboratory testing of two local brands of bottled water with the Bali Health Department this week. He did not name the brands, but said there may also be other water bottlers in Bali that do not meet the necessary standards.
“We’ve done our spot checks, and this week we will be forwarding our data to the Health Ministry,” he said.
Lots of small-scale bottled drinking water manufacturing utilize ultraviolet rays to treat tap water for bottled drinking water.
Armaya urged Bali authorities to conduct more rigorous checks on neighborhood filtration plants that provide refills for water dispensers. Many of them do not possess the required operating licenses, he added.
Happy New year 2011
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