Safe drinking water: Wasa looking to break into bottled water business

Sale of 19-litre bottles to start in November

FAISALABAD: The Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) has announced that it would start selling bottled water to consumers from November.

Wasa Managing Director Syed Zahid Aziz told media people on Sunday the agency had established sales points in various parts of the city. He said 19 litres of water will be sold for Rs50. Wasa will also start a service under which the water would be delivered to houses for Rs70 per bottle.

He said that Wasa would transport the bottles via motorcycle-rickshaws and donkey carts. “We did not award the contract to a big firm because we want motorcycle-rickshaw and donkey cart owners to earn decent livelihood.”



He said that Wasa had installed a water plant near Munda Pind at an estimated cost of Rs8.2 million. The plant has the capacity to produce 45,000 litres of safe drinking water every day.

He said the Wasa strictly adheres to the World Health Organisation’s health standards. Wasa labs check the quality of drinking water daily and Wasa supplies this water after getting lab reports for its fitness for human consumption. Two warehouses in the eastern and western parts of the city will be set up to ensure continuous supply of water to consumers.

Wasa Vice Chairman Mian Irfan Manan said the day that consumers preferred Wasa-supplied water to international brands was not far.

Aziz said Wasa was completing all necessary arrangements in this regard.

Manan said the agency was also making strenuous efforts to overcome the agency’s revenue shortfall. He said all revenue officers and Wasa officials have been told to accelerate efforts to achieve revenue recovery targets.

He said the Wasa management was taking tough decisions to overcome its revenue shortfall and strict action would be taken against chronic defaulters without discrimination.

He said Wasa teams had been told to conduct surprise checks to unearth illegal water supply and sewerage connections in the city.

Aziz said there were approximately 25,000 consumers in each subdivision. Of them, only 25 to 30 per cent consumers were paying Wasa bills regularly. He asked revenue officers to trace out defaulters and remove their connections.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 13^th, 2015.