When asked whether or not Kuwaitis should be concerned by the safety of tap water he immediately said “yes”.
“All of Kuwait’s water comes from government-constructed seawater desalination plants and domestic tap water is not completely safe to drink,” Tehfe expands, recommending the use of a filtration system for kitchen use in order to avoid staining.
Despite this assertion, the quality of drinking water in Kuwait is among the world’s highest and meets the hygienic standards of the World Health Organisation (WHO), according to a report in June by Dr Joseph Cotruvo, member of an expert committee on water supply, sanitation and hygiene.
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For many though, it is the taste of tap water that leads them to buy bottled as Krishna Kumar, regional manager – ME for Highland Spring Group explains.
“The selling point of Highland Spring is drawn from protected organic land, certified by the Soil Association, which has been kept free from farming, habitation, fertilisers or pesticides for more than 30 years, helping to make our water as pure as can be.”
Heathcliff adds that there are “differing opinions” in the region regarding the quality of tap water: “Many people are complaining because of the taste, which is far from spring water,” he explains. “Myself, I prefer buying bottled water as I find the taste of the tap water weird.”
It is not hard to imagine that there would be a clash between water authorities such as Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) and bottled water companies, both parties wanting to increase market share.
But this is not the case, Kumar stating the company never tries to compete with municipal water and Heathcliff adding that due to population growth and a limited supply of water it is little wonder that authorities are trying to push the message that tap water is safe.
“I don’t really think that is a matter of competition, but solving the problem with limited supply and protecting the environment,” he adds.
Tehfe explains that the Kuwaiti Ministry of Electricity & Water is mainly responsible for ensuring that the water desalination plants are fully in operation, but he sees little competition with bottled water as “personally I have not seen any changes in the quality of tap water for the past ten years,” he says.
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