S'pore the top guzzler of bottled water, says report

Experts see convenience, affordability as reasons, rather than fears over tap water

- Gabrielle Chan

People in Singapore consume the most bottled water and spend the most on it per capita, far more than any other country, a recent report has found.

Published on March 16, a report by think-tank United Nations University's Institute for Water, Environment and Health analysed the global market for bottled water and traced the impact of the industry on the UN's sustainable development goals.

In the report, Singapore was ranked first, and Australia second, in terms of global annual revenue and volume of water sold per capita in 2021. Bottled water is defined in the report as water packaged in any type of container - bottles, water dispensers, sachets, for both individual and household use.

According to the report, each person in Singapore spent US$1,348 (S$1,800) on bottled water and consumed 1,129 litres of bottled water in 2021, compared with second-placed Australians, who spent US$386 and consumed 504 litres a person.

The United States, Indonesia and Malaysia ranked significantly lower in both per capita bottled water consumption and revenue compared with Singapore.

National water agency PUB said that tap water here is "perfectly safe to drink and entirely wholesome straight from the tap".

"The quality of tap water complies with the Singapore Food Agency's Environmental Public Health (Water Suitable for Drinking) (2019) regulations, and is well within the World Health Organisation's (WHO) guidelines for drinking water quality," a PUB spokesman said.