Audit report finds profit margins in bottled water sale unjustified, 31 October 2018

A forensic audit report on the bottled water business of Nestle Pakistan Ltd submitted before a Supreme Court [SC] bench on Tuesday [30 October]... showed that the company had virtually paid no amount to any government department for the 4.43 billion litres of water extracted between 2013 and 2017… The figures showed that 1.9 billion of the total 4.4 billion litres of water were wasted, indicating a 43 per cent loss.  

While the Nestle Pakistan management said that 15 per cent water was wasted during the Reverse Osmosis (RO) process in water treatment, it could not justify the rest of 28 per cent wastage of water.

The report highlighted that Pakistan was one of the most water-stressed countries in the world and due to the ill-planning and callous attitude of the successive governments, water resources were rapidly depleting.

...The bottled water business in Pakistan is being dominated by three international companies — Nestle Pakistan Ltd, Pepsi Co Inc. and Coca Cola Beverages Pakistan Ltd — with Nestle having the largest share…The report also highlighted legal inadequacies in regulating the bottled water business in the country and its impact on the respective aquifer. 

During the proceedings, the court was informed that the plastic bottles being used by the mineral water companies did not meet health safety standards. The chief justice also recalled his visit to the Nestle site in Karachi, where the company was given land on lease without any charge. He said a sample of Nestle water was not found up to the standard…fit for human consumption...