80% of Lebanon’s bottled drinking water is not suitable for drinking

The majority of drinking water supplied to Lebanese households doesn’t meet the minimum safety standards, the Ministers of Health and Industry announced last week according to a report by An Nahar newspaper

In a joint news conference, Health Minister Wael Abu Faour and Industry Minister Hussein Hajj Hassan outlined the latest efforts to regulate the operations of private water bottling and distribution companies across Lebanon.

“The decision taken two months ago to shut down businesses that don’t meet sanitary standards followed tests showing that more than 80 percent of water sold did not conform to the required standards” said Hassan.

Both ministries had given companies selling drinking water a deadline to apply for licenses in compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

Companies would only receive their licenses after teams from both ministries inspect factories to ensure that operations are in line with the set guidelines.

“The company that fails to meet the requirements shall be given a notice in order to fulfill the necessary conditions, while those that did not apply for licensing will be closed,” said Faour.