Quality of China's bottled water worries consumers

The quality of bottled water in China is causing concern among consumers.

Beijing Marketing Association of Bottled Water has asked for one of China's leading bottled water brands, Nongfu Spring, to be pulled from shelves in the capital. The brand is under question over its quality. Earlier, local Chinese media said the company is using Zhejiang province standards, rather than the higher standards needed to sell its product in Guangdong.

Consumers are now confused about what standard should be referred to and if there is a set standard for producers all over China.

But there IS a national standard for bottled water.

It has 21 required quality indicators. But more questions emerge as people find TAP WATER has more than one hundred. In fact that proves tap water is better quality than bottled water.

Some experts say if tap water is the source of bottled water, there is no need to conduct a further test after examining the 21 indicators.

While others are more cautious.

"With just 21 indicators, there isn't a thorough quality test for bottled water. There ARE loopholes." said Chen Guoguang, Senior engineer, Shanghai Water Supply Admin.

That's not all.

The quality standard for China's tap water requires many kinds of bacteria to be detected, while bottled water allows them.

China's bottled water standard dates back to the Soviet era. An up-to-date standard is urgently needed for the health of its 1.3 billion people.