THIRD PARTY WATER TESTING

Please tell me, if the water from the faucet as supplied by the water concessionaires is safe to drink, then why are we still buying bottled water? That should not be a problem for the rich people, but what about the poor people who could hardly afford to buy food to eat? Is it not that more money to pay for bottled water is too much of a burden for them to carry? Actually, the Metro Manila Drinking Water Quality Monitoring Committee (MMDWQMC) regularly tests and certifies that the water supplied by Maynilad and Manila Water fully complies with the 2017 Philippine National Standards for Drinking Water (PNSDW). They are basing their certification supposedly on “microbiological and physico-chemical examination”. Their certification states that the water as tested is “100% free from thermotolerant coliforms” and is generally compliant with physical and chemical standards”. In so many technical words, they are saying that the water is safe to drink. If that is so, why are we still buying bottled water? Could it be that we do not trust the MMDWQMC? Or that we do not really understand what PNSDW means? Looking at it from a layman’s point of view, I know for a fact that it is not only coliforms that we have to worry about. And what chemical standards are they talking about? Does that include mercury contamination, among others? I think that the answers to my questions boil down to trust. To address that, we need third party testing other than MMDWQMC. IKE SENERES/09088877282/1-3-2024