Bad news for you on the World Water Day today, March 22. The water you drink at your offices may not be all that safe. A group of pharmacy students, who recently conducted a survey across corporate offices in the city, says so.
Management students of the Bombay College of Pharmacy (BCP), Kalina, conducted the survey in 150 corporate offices spread across Nariman Point, Lower Parel, Dadar, Bandra, Worli, Goregaon and Andheri. They found that providing safe drinking water to employees was not very high on employers’ agenda.
It is true that no more do employees in most corporate houses drink tap water. But only 30 % of the offices surveyed were found to be providing packaged drinking water to their staff. Among them, 36% use any brand of packaged water, thinking all brands are same.
Majority of the offices — 60 % — use water filters. Half of them service the filters at an interval of more than three months. But for proper safety, the filters should be serviced twice in three months.
The remaining 10 % continue to use tap water. Those using water purifiers know nothing about the purification process. They just like to believe that their water purifiers are good.
A representative of a leading multinational bank rubbished the survey. “Most corporate houses take extra care about employees’ health and safety,” he said. “I am sure that none of the big offices will compromise on safe drinking water.”
A Videocon official said, “Providing safe water to employees is our top priority. We offer mineral water in most cases. Only if there is a problem, we use water filters which are very well maintained.”
Comments