Which bottled water is safe?

Bottled water now popular in Zimbabwe.

WITH the uncertainty of which brands of bottled water are safe and which are not, gripping the nation, the Standards Association of Zimbabwe (SAZ) has re-iterated that it has on its books 22 companies whose water it has certified. SAZ operates a voluntary Product Mark Certification Scheme where products are certified as assurance to consumers that they meet the requirements of the applicable standards and will therefore perform as required.

Currently water brands certified by SAZ are: Sommerby Water, Schweppes Water, Mr. Juicy, Adlife, Well Pure, Tingamira, ZLG, Aquasplash Water, Aqualite, Krystal Water, Vivon, H20 Pur, Bubble Springs, Kumakomo, Mr. Water, Nyanga Water, Oasis, Natures Paradise, Zim Zim, Absolute Aqua, Inwai and Baobab Water.

Any other brands of water not mentioned here are not on SAZ’s current list, which it is important to note, is a voluntary certification scheme. SAZ issues a three-year valid certificate to a water bottling company that would have registered with the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare, and have had their water samples tested by SAZ’ accredited laboratories, and on-site verification of the entire production process. During the three-year cycle, SAZ conducts surveillance audits and sample testing to ensure continued compliance to the standard ZWS 457:1995.

SAZ reserves the right to withdraw, at any time, a certificate of a bottling company which is no longer compliant with the requirements of the standard. Organization Trade/Product Name Date Certified Date of Expiry:
1. Sommerby Sommerby Water 27-07-2013 27-07-2016
2. Schweppes Schweppes Water 12-03-2014 12-03-2017
3. Rainbow Beverages Mr. Juicy 16-01-2012 16-01-2015
4. Chromopak Adlife 16-07-2013 16-07-2016
5. Mukati Investments Well Pure 31-03-2014 31-03-2017
6. Tanganda Tingamira 12-03-2014 12-03-2017
7. ZLG ZLG 02-06-2012 02-06-2015
8. Reichmark Aquasplash 31-07-2012 31-07-2015
9. Dairibord Aqualite 05-11-2012 05-11-2015
10. Nilestroom Krystal Water 24-05-2013 24-05-2016
11. Vivon Vivon 14-08-2013 14-08-2016
12. Hayling H2O Pur 14-06-2013 14-06-2016
13. Bubble Springs Bubble Springs 15-10-2013 15-10-2016
14. Kumakomo Beverages Kumakomo 01-02-2013 01-02-2015
15. Ellengrow Investments Mr Water 11-02-2014 11-02-2017
16. Norseman Nyanga Water 26-02-2014 17-02-2017
17. Oasis Oasis 13-03-2014 13-03-2017
18. Natures Paradise Natures Paradise 14-03-2014 14-03-2017
19. Zimpac Zim Zim 14-08-2013 14-08-2016
20. Liquid Asset Absolute Aqua 25-10-2011 25-10-2014
21. Inwai Inwai 28-03-2014 28-03-2017
22. Baobab Water Baobab Water 07-05-2014 07-05-2017

newsdesk@fingaz.co.zw