Price of large purified water bottles jumps amid water supply problem

The water supply problem in some areas of Yangon City this year prompted the urban people to buy more purified drinking water in large bottles (20 litres) . Consequently, the price of water bottles is rising in the market on the back of high demand.
The price was up by K900 in July 2023 up from K700 in 2020 for the ground floor and K1,200 for the 7th and 8th floors, Ko Win, a resident on the 8th floor of an apartment on 5th lane, Lanmadaw Township, told the Global New Light of Myanmar (GNLM).
The drinking water bottle of a popular brand is priced at K1,600. The 20-litre bottle fetched only K500 in 2016. Thereafter, the price is on a gradual rise.
The price of a 1-litre water bottle is K300-500 depending on the brand. An empty bottle (1 litre) is priced at K30, a seller of liquid soap who purchased the empty bottles from the restaurants for recycling, emphasized.
The water supply problem in Yangon is the shortage of water amid the electricity cut and salt content of salt. This year, the Yangonites are forced to use drinking water for washing, sometimes beyond cooking and drinking.
The demand for 20-litre water bottles is increasing in 2023, Ko Win Naing, a water deliveryman told the GNLM.
A household with four family members living in an apartment has to buy around 10 bottles so the drinking water supply costs K10,000 per month. Furthermore, residents have to pay additional delivery charges for the top floor of the apartments.
The delivery for upper floors is exhausting but earns more. An average wage for delivery of 60 bottles for upper floors is K15,000 per day.
Some drinking water businesses have not been accredited with FDA approval. They are priced lower than the accredited brands. Some businesspersons are using those bottles without FDA approval.
Electricity outages, transportation charges and high raw materials costs are contributing factors to the high production cost of purified drinking water. There is a highly competitive market between some brands with reduced prices and FDA-approved brands, and entrepreneurs engaged in the drinking water manufacturing business.
Some drinking water businesses receive only K500 per bottle after deducting labour wages. Consumers are facing high costs of drinking water as well. — TWA/EM