Water-borne diseases make comeback
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The mineral water that you have bought might not be as hygienic as claimed. For, there has been an increase in the number of typhoid, diarrhoea, cholera and gastritis cases even from the upper strata of society.
“Children who have never tasted anything but mineral water are coming down with typhoid and gastritis,” says a senior paediatrician at the Institute of Child Health, cautioning people on water borne diseases.
Dr Rakhal Gaitonde says non-availability of clean drinking water is a critical problem and due to this, private sector firms have been roped in to provide water.
“For private drinking water companies, making profit is the only goal and this also compromises the water quality,” he says Dr Gaitonde, pointing out that people believe that anything that is packaged well and available for a price is of good quality.
“TWAD conducts regular water tests in villages, but the government does not have the monitoring capacity to check water samples from the thousands of small and large firms that sell packaged drinking water in urban areas,” he adds.
Even mineral water purchased in bubble cans needs to be boiled before consumption, advise doctors.Businessman K. Aravinda quips, “The re-usable cans are not cleaned before re-filling...How can this water be pure?”
Mr Aravinda has invested in a domestic RO water purifier costing Rs 12,000 for his home, a pricey solution that many Chennaiites are opting for this summer.
However, one can never be too careful.
“It is best not to drink fruit juice even in high-end restaurants, because even if they use purified water for the juice, you do not know where the ice comes from. Ice is usually the culprit as it is stored in unsanitary conditions,” warns Dr Dharini Krishnan, clinical nutritionist.
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