Majority of private water bowsers unregulated

Potable water supplied by bowsers may be cheaper than mains water, but very few suppliers are registered with the health authorities, according to the Department of Public Health.

Business for suppliers who extract water from boreholes thrives in summer, and it has been positively flowing since the surcharge on water from the Water Services Corporation's distribution system.

However, the manager health inspector at the Department of Public Health, John Attard Kingswell, told The Times that just two private suppliers have the necessary certification required by the law.

"We have another nine applications from suppliers who are seeking registration but as yet have not presented all the necessary documentation," he said.

There are at least 25 water transporters who advertise their service on the Yellow Pages, besides a good number who are making themselves known through word of mouth.

A legal notice introduced in 2004 under the Food Safety Act regulates the registration of private water suppliers, including water from private treatment or reverse osmosis plants. The law states that "no person may supply, distribute or in any way make use of water from a private supply unless such supply is registered with the Health Authority". And it goes on to provide a long list of biological and chemical parameters that water intended for human consumption has to comply with.

Mr Attard Kingswell said: "Water suppliers have to carry out their own tests. It needs to be made clear, however, that by no means is water necessarily safe because a supplier is registered. Likewise, water supplied by unregistered suppliers is not necessarily unsafe. But registration makes it possible for us to know about the suppliers, and to be able to trace the water source".

Over the past two months, the Department of Public Health has been carrying out surprise inspections and audits on hotels - the major consumers of bowser water - to make sure that potable water is from an approved source.

"Like in the case of food, it is their responsibility to keep records and ensure they are getting water from an approved source. At the end of the day, the onus is on the operators. It is in their interest to buy water from a certified supplier, as they can suffer the consequences if there are insurance claims or legal action by clients not to mention that they are liable for prosecution," Mr Attard Kingswell said.

"It is desirable that the situation gets better," he said.

Asked to what extent do hotels rely on bowser supplies, water engineer Marco Cremona said a significant number buy their water in this way, especially those that are not close to the sea and, therefore, do not have their own reverse osmosis plant.

"They have a big incentive to do so because the mains water tariff for hotels is at the high end, much more than it is for households that choose to fill up their wells in summer," Mr Cremona said.

Bought in big daily quantities, he said, bowser water is about 50c per cubic metre, around Lm1.30 cheaper than water from the national distribution system, which includes a 65 per cent surcharge.

"If, for example, a hotel consumes 100 cubic metres per day, the savings will amount to more than Lm45,000 a year,"

Mr Cremona explained. Water suppliers contacted by The Times said they would charge between Lm10 and Lm12 to fill up a reservoir at a person's home. One said he could sell both first class and second class water, and added that he had the necessary certification from the health authorities.

When asked if his water was certified by the health authorities, a water supplier said: "That's all nonsense. You can use the water for pools, gardens, wells and to wash with, but you shouldn't drink it".