Bottled water wins over tap water

new delhi: five years ago prakash anand''s daughter came on a visit from america and prompted her to buy bottled water for drinking. she refused to have the tap water which was boiled at home. but anand, a resident of east of kailash, did not stop buying bottled water even after her daughter left. her family found bottled water more "reliable" than water supplied by delhi jal board (djb).today, the anand family spends rs 200 every week on bottled water. "it tastes better than djb water and we know it is safe," anand says. anand, however, continues to pay the bill issued by djb, despite not using its occasional services. like the anands, others are forced to buy water because the quality of the municipal supply is poor — the water often flows through corroded pipelines, getting contaminated on the way. in several places, no piped water is available at all. jeetu kohli, a businessmen and resident of greater kailash, lives on the second floor where supply of water is irregular. concern for quality apart, he is never sure when the water will come. for another greater kailash resident, t s anand, installing a water purifying system did not kill his distrust for the municipal supply. he too spends rs 200 a week on bottled water. "we do not know whether the water we purchase is safe or not. but any water is safer than djb water," anand says. his belief finds echoes in residents elsewhere in the city. tamanna suri, a housewife and mother of two in rajouri garden, started buying bottled water two years ago, primarily because the municipal supply was irregular. she continues to buy water because she thinks what she gets in bottles is safe and will save her and her family from water-borne diseases. "i live on the second floor. there were times the water was very irregular due to low pressure," suri says. djb''s supply falls 150 gallons short of delhi''s total demand. many areas depend solely on groundwater. but the water drawn from the ground is not tested and people worry about they are drinking. shubha misra, a resident of east end apartments in mayur vihar phase i extension insists on purchasing water. "i do not like the taste of water in this locality," misra says. the claim of several delhiites is supported with the increase in sales of bottled water. two major companies — hello water india and bisleri — which have come up with 20 litre bottles for households have witnessed a yearly increase of 25 per cent in their sales. g k mehta of hello water india says: "the trend of purchasing bottled water started in 1995. now we sell 10,000 bottles of 20 litre capacity every day. at least 40 per cent is consumed in households." ditto for bisleri. the company too sells about 12,000 bottles (20 litre) every day. "the growth is all over in delhi. earlier we used to sell one litre bottles. the 20 litre bottle was started on increase in demand," says ashish sethi, director, aqua minerals ltd, a parley group company which sells bisleri. s k palikar, senior vice-president, marketing of eureka forbes limited who provide aquaguard connections says their business has grown every year between 10 to 15 per cent. "about 10 per cent of delhi''s households have a water purifying system," palikar claims. standard bakers and confectioners supplies water to at least 20 societies in mayur vihar. proprietor joginder chugh says he started the business three years ago and now sells 10 cans everyday. comparing his present sales to last year''s, chugh says: "they have doubled since then. people want clean water to drink."