Bottled Water Industry in Brunei Darussalam: The

Unregulated Sector?
Li Li Pang1

ABSTRACT
Brunei is seeing a proliferation of bottled companies established
in the country in the last decade, driven by cheap water
Journal of Business &
supplies, easily available water filtering systems and demand
Economic Analysis
(JBEA) by the public. This research found 16 ‘companies,’ ‘producing’
and distributing over 34 brands of bottled waters in the
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Vol. 2, No. 2 (2019)

country. Since bottled water industry is ‘popular,’ it is
necessary to understand how the industry is being monitored
and regulated by the government as it involved products
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consumed by the public. Since most of the bottled water

companies use water drawn from the pipes supplied by the
government, it is also important to understand how the
government is protecting, monitoring and regulating this
valuable resource from exploitation. This paper is a preliminary
research on the bottled water industry in Brunei Darussalam.
KEYWORDS
Brunei
Bottled Water
Food Safety
Water Quality
Standards and Regulations

Received 14 Jul 2019

Revised 07 Oct 2019
Accepted 19 No 2019

CITATION INFORMATION

Pang, L. L. (2019). Bottled Water Industry in Brunei Darussalam: The Unregulated Sector? Journal of
Business and Economic Analysis, 2(2), 149-165. DOI: https://doi.org/10.36924/sbe.2019.2205.

1 School of Business and Economics, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Brunei, [email protected]

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1. Introduction
Globally, the consumption of water through bottled water is growing. In 2018, 391
billion litres of bottled water or one million bottles of water per minute, was consumed
and the volume is expected to increase to 461 billion litres by 2022 (Tapp Water, 2018).
Bottled water, an industry worth an estimated US$300 billion (The Business Research
Company, 2018), is believed to have overtaken all other types of bottled drinks
category in the world in 2018 (Arthur, 2018). Bottled water is not only convenient to
buy and carry, it is also believed to be of better quality than tap water due to the
processes involved to ‘improve’ water quality as well as being a ‘healthier’ option
compared to soft drinks available in the market. Indeed, bottled water is now
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‘inseparable from modern life’ (Prasetiawan, Nasiti and Muntalif, 2017:1). In the
United States, bottled water has overtaken carbonated drink sales since 2017 (Arthur,
2018).
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However, with the convenience of bottled water in our daily lives, there are also
threats. In March 2018, tests on 250 major brands of bottled water were found to have
contained with tiny particles of plastics, and although these microplastics do not pose
any identifiable health risks yet (Shukman, 2018; Scutti, 2019), it does however
increased public concerns on the safe consumption of water from bottle s and how
effective are the regulations in place to ensure that the water is safe for drinking. In
Singapore for example, in the space of nine months, the authorities have recalled five
brands of bottled waters (Guang Li Liang, Starfish, Sukahati, Rofina and Still, where
the last three were manufactured by the same company, Malee Mineral Water Sdn
Bhd) imported from Malaysia after traces of bacteria were found during routine
random sampling (Channel News Asia, CNA, 2018; CNA, 2019). In June 2019, the
United States, Keuring Dr Pepper was sued for selling bottled water from Mexico with
a high level of arsenic (Felton, 2019). The rise of the bottled water industry also
coincidences with global environmental concerns on the use of plastics which is non-
biodegradable and harmful to the environment and aquatic lives yet demands for
bottled water consumption are not abating. The aim of this paper is study the bottled
water industry in the context of Brunei Darussalam. In this paper we also study how
the existing framework helps to monitor and regulate the industory. Water in Brunei
Darussalam: Subsidised & Unpaid

Brunei’s tap water, supplied only by the government, is cheap and heavily subsidised.
Brunei is blessed to be located in the tropics where water resource s are abundant;
Brunei records an annual rainfall of about 3,000mm per year, which is enough for the
population to use and consume and the excess for industrial usage. The excess water
also feeds the bottled water industry and with affordable water filtering systems
available in the market now, Brunei is seeing more bottled water companies being
established. The cost of water production supplied by the government is 90 cents per
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cubic meter, but this is sold to the public at 11 cents per cubic metre, a high subsidy of
87% (Bandial, 2018 March 11th) to residential homes. Residential homes only pay 11
cents for the first 54 cubic meter (or approximately 54,000 litres) of water while
commercial areas are charged 66 cents per meter cubic of water, respectively. Yet,
despite being cheap, there are still issues of delayed or non-payment of water bills by
public (Ministry of Development, 2018). Under the 10th National Development Plan,
the government has allocated B$400million for water supply infrastructure to meet
increasing demands from the public as well as for industrial purposes (Oxford
Business Group, 2014). In 2018, it was revealed that Brunei’s water consumption had
dropped to 380 litres per day, from the high of 420 litres per day pre -2017 levels,
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however, efforts to save the water is still needed as Malaysia and Singapore only uses
212 and 151 litres of water per day respectively (Hamit, 2019, March 19 th; Borneo
Bulletin, May 12th, 2018). The MoD targets Brunei to use just 290 litres of water per
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day by 2035 (MoD, 2018).

As the government encourages the development of the private sector in the country,
the bottled water industry is thriving in Brunei. More and more brands of bottled
water are being produced and sold in Brunei, and bottled water from other countries
are also being imported. The water used by the industry comes from government
pipes subsidised by the government. The government is selling it at a loss rather than
profit, even to the private sector. The government has not raised the water tariffs for
about 50 years, so perhaps it is time for the government to revise the rates, as access
of water to the public is at 99%. As there are now more bottled companies established
in Brunei, it pertinent to see how the industry is being regulated by the government
and to ensure the resource is not abused or exploited.

In a short survey done with University students on bottled water consumption

between February and March 2019, of the 89 students who answered the survey, 39%
do not buy any bottled water as they have their own filter system at home, while 29%
would buy water bottled weekly, 13.5% would buy daily and other 10% would only
buy it monthly. If they bought bottled water, Rainfresh brand of bottled water is
popular among students (45%) while Suci (32%) and Sehat (18%) came at second and
third preference. For an international brand, Volvic (37%) is popular followed by
Evian (23%) and Spa (19%) bottled water.

In terms of different water processes, 61% of the respondents did not know what
artesian water is, while 29%, 28%, 23%, and 21% did not know what ‘treated water;’
reverse osmosis; mineral water and distillation process are, respectively. The same
number of students also did not know which of the processes provides cleaner water
(40%) and only 21% answered distillation processes (and perhaps unsurprisingly the
21% were respondents from the Faculty of Science). When asked if they think the
government checks the bottled water sold in the country, 40% of the respondents said
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maybe while another 38% said no. Only 21% of the respondents said yes believed the
government checks the quality of the water in bottled water. 47% of the respondents
believe that the government should check the water every month while 24% of the
respondents said every 3 months would be sufficient while 11% of the respondents
believed that the government should only react when the public complained about
bottled water. From the short survey, it is clear that there is still confusion among
consumers on the type of water being sold in the market and which type of water is
cleaner than others. It is also clear that the students did not think that the government
checks the water quality in the bottled water as they are unaware of the work of the
authorities; as there are rarely public announcements made on recalled food products.
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Research Methodology
The research uses qualitative research methods, collecting data through interviews,
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emails, personal observation, site visit as well as documentary research to conduct the
study. Interviews and written statements from government departments involved in
regulating the water industry were obtained as well as an interview with a major
bottled water company in the country, which also allows the researcher to visit the
bottled water production site. Two other major bottled companies did not reply to
requests for an interview as well as questions emailed to them. To ensure the
confidentiality and anonymity of the interviewees, they will not be identified in this
research. Based on the interviews, the findings are highlighted below.

3. Findings
3.1. Popularity of Bottled Drinks in Brunei: Gaining Popularity but Not Reflected
in Data
At the moment, there is no data available or collected to show the value of the bottled
water industry and how much bottled water is actually consumed in Brunei. Water
Department, which supplied water to 99% of all bottled companies (except for Sehat
water) believed that ‘water usage from these (bottled water) companies are relatively small,
compared with the top users of other commercial usage’ therefore, this means that the
market demand for ‘bottled drinking water is still small’ (Personal Communication,
2019).

Requested data from Water Department shows the amount of water drawn from the
government pipes to feed the bottled water industry is just about 34,000 cubic meter
of water, an increase of 8,000 cubic meters in the last five years (See Table 1). Of the
three major bottled water companies, only one company, Superwater Marketing saw
an increase in water usage from 9,000 to 25,000 cubic metres in the last five years.
Superwater, which produces Rainfresh, is the highest user of water in the bottled
water industry (Table 2). In 2012, Superwater, which produces Rainfresh, revealed
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that it was boosting production from 30,000 boxes to 300,000 boxes per month with
their new 15,000 square foot production facility at Muara Port (The Brunei Times,
October 18, 2012) and the increase in production is reflected in the data provided in
Table 1.

Table 1. Bottled Water in Brunei Market and the Amount of Water Used, Cubic Meter (2014 -2018)
Company Brand 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
McBrumby
Suci, Pure Water 8,526 8,274 10,427 9,394 7,486 5,781
Breverage Bhd

Bintang Ria Murni, Raia, Sida, Soon

8,443 9,547 7,843 6,099 4,063 3,664
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Sdn Bhd Lee, SKH and Hua Ho

Superwater
Marketing Rain Fresh 9,178 8,791 16,686 20,277 23,539 25,354
Sdn Bhd
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Total 26,147 26,612 34,884 35,770 35,088 34,799

Source: Water Department, Ministry of Development (2019)

Water Department acknowledged that there are now more companies that are
producing bottled water without their knowledge. It noted that the ‘the department
noticed some brand of drinking water without labelling their addresses can be found in the
market from time to time’ (Personal Communication, 2019). Despite this, it doesn’t seem
that the Department is too concerned about that issue as it did not explain what the
Department will do if they found out that their water is being sold as bottled water.

Requested data given by the Water Department revealed only three companies in the
list producing only 9 brands of bottled waters when there were more companies now
selling bottled water in Brunei. This is a concern since it would mean lost revenue to
the government since the government is still pursuing those who owe their water bills,
valued at B$39 million as of 2016. If more companies and the public, pay their bills on
time, it would mean the government, specifically, the Water Department can provide
the necessary upgrades to their system which currently seen a significant number of
breakdowns and disruptions through public announcements by the MoD in recent
months.

Table 2. Bottled Water in the Brunei Market, 2019

‘Manufacturer’ Type of Process Brand
Aqualine Water AquaLife Alkalinity
Reverse Osmosis Fresh Cool
Pure Gen Manufacturing
Oxygenated Drinking Water Oxy Plus
Unit B1, Spg 461, Jerudong Center
Reverse Osmosis Purity
Not stated Zona

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‘Manufacturer’ Type of Process Brand

Hab Ez Water Enterprise Reverse Osmosis C7
Kompleks Pg Hj Damit PS, Nano Water Filter System Fresh
Unit B11, Simpang 209, Oxygenated Water Nano Fresh
Kg Lambak, Berakas Not Stated Syifa’ A-Bakarah
Oxygenated Water Ayer
Superwater Marketing
Treated/ Purified Drinking
Muara Port Warehouse, Nikmat
Water
Jalan Belangkas, Pekan Muara
Super Oxygenated Water Rainfresh
McBrumby Beverage Sdn Bhd
Distilled Drinking Water
TLT Enterprise Suci
Reverse Osmosis
Unit 16, Perindustrian Lambak Kanan
Murni
Bintang Ria / Starhub Packaging Industries Co.
Reverse Osmosis Soon Lee
No, 10, Block K, Mulaut Industrial Park,
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Raia
Spg 114, Jln Ban 5, Kg Mulaut.
Hua Ho (Manggis)
Ar-Raafik Al Barr Sdn Bhd 1st Brand (Pertama
Reverse Osmosis
No. 308, Block C, Chandrawaseh, Seri Complex Supermarket)
Crystal Cool Trading / Lee and Da Trading
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Crystal Cool
Company
Reverse Osmosis SKH
Factory Unit 9 and 10, Block C, Kg Jungjungan,
LCK
Mukim Pangkalan Batu.
Artesian Fresh Sdn Bhd
Lot 670, Bukit Guauan, Sg Samit, Not Stated Hua Ho (Jalan Muara)
Kg Pemadang, Tutong
Ori Enterprise, Idaman Ku
Reverse Osmosis
Unit 3 and 4, Spg 646,
(Ultraviolet Irradiation system) Oris
Bangunan Abd Ghafar, KM 8, Jln Tutong
Mountain Fresh Sdn Bhd Reverse Osmosis Ion
Sabli Beverages Industries
Q48, Perindustrian Estate Lambak, Reverse Osmosis Moya
Jalan Berakas, Brunei Darussalam
Panglima Development and Marketing,
Unit 9 and 10, Block B, Not Stated Panglima
Bangunan Seri Petani Jaya, Kg Sengkarai Tutong
Miows Sdn Bhd (Ya Nur Trading), Seri Kandi
Unit E, Bloack E. Mentiri Complex, Reverse Osmosis Crystal
Spg 200, Jln Kota Batu R.N. Bill
TGT Sdn Bhd
Spg 577, Plot 7, Kg Salar Light Industrial Area, Treated Water TGT
Mukim Mentiri
AMJ Enterprise AMJ
Reverse Osmosis
Block B, No. 7, Spg 100, Jalan Jerudong D’Fit
ODECI Food and Beverages Reverse Osmosis and
Nouri
Unit 7, Block A. Kg Salambigar, Berakas Oxygenated Water
Source: Author’s Compilation

3.2. More Bottled Companies But Not Reflected in the Data: Two Companies
Producing One Brand; Incomplete Information; More Retail and Restaurants
Producing Own Bottled Water
Based on direct observation and evidence gathering, the author found 34 brands of
bottled water produced and marketed in Brunei (excluding the SEHAT brand which
is Brunei’s only Artesian water, produced since 1991), ‘manufactured’ by 16

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companies (Table 2). PureGen Manufacturing produces the most brands of bottled
water in Brunei while other companies are also increasing the number of brands of
their water. There are also companies that use two different names producing the
same brand of water, for example, Bintang Ria as Starhub Packaging Industries
producing the same water for Soon Lee Supermarket while Crystal Cool Trading as
Lee and Da Trading Company which produces LCK and SKH brand of bottled water.

One company, Mountain Fresh which produces Ion brand of bottled water, is the only
company which did not produce any labelling; on where its production is located,
except it being distributed by Wah Sing Trading. Based on Public Health (Food) Act,
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Chapter 182), lack of labelling is an offence as complete information should be

provided by the company. Similarly, there are those bottled waters which do not
reveal how the water is processed or treated like Zona, Hua Ho and Panglima.
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Based on the data provided by Water Department, it listed SKH’s water being
produced by Bintang Ria, however, it is clear now that SKH is producing its own
processed water under the company names of Crystal Cool and Lee and Da Trading.
It is currently selling bottled water, half the price of its other competitors and sending
its water to all major and minor shops in Brunei.

From the list of the bottled companies compiled, it shows that bigger retail or
supermarkets are now actively producing their own bottled water, for example, Hua
Ho and Sin Kim Huat, similarly, restaurants like Sabli Food Industries which owns
the Brunei Chicken Rice restaurants. Reverse osmosis is the popular form of water
‘processed’ while only Suci produces distilled water of bottled water produced in
Brunei while PureGen produces the only Aqaualine water in Brunei, claiming their
water has a pH level of 8.5. The popularity of alkaline water, the new health ‘fad’
which is yet to be scientifically proven but is getting popularity due to celebrities’
endorsements (Thomas, 2019; Mahdawi, 2018; William, 2018). The author also found
one local company, Terazza Restaurant and Catering, using imported bottled water
from Indonesia and marketing as its own in its restaurant. As more and more bottled
water is sold in Brunei, it is important that more checking is done on its contents to
ensure the water is safe for consumption.

The research also found one bottled water marketed as a ‘healing’ water as the water
has been read with the Quranic verses specifically Ayat Ruqyah to heal the sick. The
water, bottled by Hab Ezywater Enterprise, is being distributed by Syarikat
Perkhidmatan Syifa Al-Bakarah where its address is located at Mengkubau Housing
Estate in Brunei-Muara District. As the bottled water is marketed to appeal the Muslim
consumers with health issues, the Ministry of Religious Affairs should be involved to
ensure the water has been processed according to the proper Islamic religious rites
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before bottling. It is important for the government to step in to ensure the products
marketed are as claimed.

3.3. More Companies but Not Properly Regulated

There is no bottled water association in Brunei like those Malaysia (the Malaysian
Water Association) or Indonesia’s, Aspadin, which could help regulate the industry
together with government agencies. Based on the above statement, it shows that while
Water Department is aware of illegal production of bottled water but not actively
pursuing the matter at the time of writing this paper. Furthermore, the Department
claimed that bottled water companies are mostly in the industrial areas, however,
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Rainfresh for example, revealed in its label as being manufactured in the Muara Port
Warehouse, which is technically not an industrial location, while Miows which
produces Seri Kandi, Crystal and RNBill bottled waters at a commercial area in
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Mentiri. Personal site observation of AMJ water ‘factory’ shows that it was only a shot
lot in Jerudong therefore, it is possible that the water treatment machine they use is
small, to cater just enough for the restaurant business. Table 2 above clearly shows
that most companies operate at commercial buildings rather than a warehouse or
industrial estates. From the Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) standards,
commercial shops are not the best way to produce bottled water due to the tight spaces
involved. While the cost of water for industrial or commercial is similar, no Bruneian
bottled companies have received certification for GMP standards for their bottled
water.

The data from the Water Department is not complete and more needs to be done to
regulate the industry. The monitoring should probably be done by Water Department
and Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism (MPRT) as the latter oversees the
development of food industries in Brunei. The interviewed owner of the bottled water
company revealed that he has requested for an industrial location as he wanted to
expand his water bottled business but he has yet to receive approval from the
government despite waiting for about 10 years for it. The approval for such site is now
under Darussalam Enterprise (DARe).

3.4. Safety: Quality and How Random is Random Sampling?

The majority of the bottled water only has Brunei Halal logo on their bottles, which
just means the water can be consumed by Muslims without contamination from non-
halal ingredients such as pork, but it does not show how the clean the water should
be. Only Suci water has certifications on food safety management system through the
Hazard Analysis and Critical Point (HACCP) and International Organisation for
Standardization (ISO) 22000:2005. Although the ISO 22000:2005 is now replaced with
the new ISO22000:2018, nevertheless, it shows that McBrumby is the only bottled
company in Brunei which made efforts to get its products certified, following the
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international standard of food processing safety. Such certification is also required as

the company is also exporting its product to Japan.

How about the rest of the bottled companies? There seemed to be no regulation in
place to ensure that companies that produced bottled water to have certain safety
standards, to ensure water is produced from clean from biological, chemical and
physical hazards from raw material production, procurement and handling to
manufacturing, distribution, and consumption of the finished product. All the other
bottled companies do not have the HACCP and ISO on their labels; therefore it means
they do not want to pay for the certifications. Despite not having the certifications,
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they may follow basic health and safety standards when producing the bottled water
but without proper accreditations. More research and site inspections need to be
conducted to understand the quality of bottled water production in Brunei.
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It is common for government agencies to randomly sample food items to ensure it is

safe for public consumption, however when it is done is not publicly announced. In
the bottled water industry in Brunei, it seemed that only when there is a public
complaint, then action will be taken. A written reply from the Water Department
revealed that bottled water is ‘periodically’ tested by the Ministry of Health through
‘random sampling.’

Contacting the Ministry of Health, it was revealed that bottled water is considered
“not a high priority’ area to be regularly tested because there are many other foods that
need to be examined by the Ministry. Bottled water probably has a lower risk of
contamination as it is derived from government water supplies and companies also
need to be careful; to make sure that their water is safe for consumption as it would
damage their reputation if it was revealed to be unsafe to drinking. The recent case
faced by AMJ water is an example. Their water was found to be safe but the Ministry
did not issue any statement to say the bottled water was safe; hence the company AMJ
had to issue a statement to the newspaper to say they are resuming production. In this
example, one could assume that the Ministry could have issued a statement on the
matter to assuage the public’s concern as the matter was reported in the print media
however, the Ministry did not. Since no one made a formal complaint (it was a viral
message on social media) on the issue hence in the Ministry of Health's view is it not
considered a food poisoning case, therefore they did not have to issue any statement.
This is different in Singapore where the recently established Singapore’s Food Agency
(SFA), which oversee all food safety issue, has a website which publishes statements
on investigated food items, even if not ‘reported’ directly to the agency but as long as
the incident was highlighted in the printed media or otherwise, it would conduct an
investigation and a make statement on its outcome on its website.

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In terms of bottled water imported in Brunei, at first impression, it is just based on the
certification issued by the relevant certification from the authorities from the country
of origin and once that is approved then the water can be imported into the country.
Although sampling is said to be done at random, however, it is good to test the drinks
by importing countries as their sample might be different from what is taken, as
happened in Singapore and United States recently. In Brunei, authorities do come and
inspect production sites unannounced to ensure health and safety standards have
been complied with according to the owner who was interviewed for the research.

3.5. Public Health Law Needs to Be Updated?

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Brunei’s current law on Public Health (Chapter 182) was last updated 18 years ago, in
2001. The law does not specify the term ‘bottled water’ only ‘natural mineral water’
(Section 246) or spring water where both meanings of water were included. There is
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no Public Health Act with a specific section on bottled water. However, if one goes
deeper in the Public Health Act, Part VI of the Law under the section (326) ‘Use of
Water, Ice or Steam’ it stated, the standard of ‘wholesome water, ice or steam’ where the
water shall be clean and free from contamination, objectionable taste, and odor and shall comply
with the standard prescribed in the seventeenth schedule of the law.’ And what is wholesome
water? “Wholesome' water is fit to use for drinking, cooking, food preparation or
washing without any potential danger to human health” while portable water is water
that is safe for drinking. If that is the case, the bottled water should fall under this
section because after all, the term portable means, able to be carried or moved easier.

The standard of the water is specified in the Seventeenth Schedule of the Public Health
Act is short when compared to the recently updated Environmental Public Health Act
Chapter 95 of Singapore, on Water Suitable for Drinking which saw at 106 chemical
items listed. Table 3 shows a sample of the chemical level which is safe for
consumption. The Brunei Act saw just 37 chemicals listed in its Act.

Table 3. Some Chemical Comparison of Water Standards (for Drinking) in Milligrams/Litre Specified in Food
Safety Acts of Brunei, Singapore, and the United States

Items Brunei Singapore Malaysia United States

Arsenic 0.05 0.01 0.01 0.01
Cadmium 0.005 0.003 0.003 0.005
Cyanide 0.1 0.07 0.07 0.2
Fluoride 1.5 0.7 0.4-0.6 1.4
Lead 0.05 0.01 0.01 0.005
Mercury 0.001 0.006 0.001 0.002
Zinc 5 Not Mention 3 5
Source: Public Health (Food) Act 2001, Chapter 182; Environmental Public Health Act 2019, Chapter 95; Ministry
of Health, Malaysia (2019); Code of Federal Regulations Title 21 – Food and Drugs, 2018

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While Singapore’s standard seemed more stringent than Brunei’s, Brunei’s water
standard seemed comparable to the American standard. Nevertheless, all countries
have a different composition of water due to each country’s different physical,
geographical and environmental makeup which resulted in the type of water that is
safe for consumption; therefore continuous checks of the water quality are important.

In general, the Public Health Act does not have the power to close down companies
when food is found to be contaminated as it requires different departments from
different Ministries to act together to close a company found have caused public health
issues.
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3.6. Government Selling Water at a Loss

Overall, since the government charges only B$0.66 cents per litre, a subsidy of 26.6%
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to the private sector, the government only receives about B$22,967.34 from these three
companies based on the data provided. If no subsidy was given, the government could
have received B$31,219.10 from the companies (See Table 4). However, even then, the
amount is still small compared perhaps to the amount that companies are earning
from selling to the public, despite the costs of processing, packaging, transportation
and manpower costs involved in bottled water production. Theoretically, at 1,000
litres of water used, the company can make B$666.60 (with 1.5 litres of bottled water
being sold at B$1.00), while paying the government just B$0.66 for the 1,000 litres of
water (restaurants and hotels are charged B$0.61cents cubic meter). What then should
be the ‘right’ amount charged to bottled water companies to ensure the government
also earns profit from the sale of water and making it still profitable to the companies
to do business? The government has a different rate for ‘temporary supply’ of water
especially those for construction sites which are charged B$1.10 per cubic meter;
therefore it is not impossible for the government to increase the water tariff if it wishes.

Table 4. Net Loss from Subsidy, Per Litre B$

Government Supply B$ Industry Usage
Cost 0.90 B$31,219.10
Price Charged 0.66 B$22,967.34
Subsidy 0.24 B$8,251.76
Source: Author’s Calculation

While members of the public are willing to buy water at 50 cents 600ml water per
bottle, or B$1.00 for 1500ml of bottled water, then they would be willing to pay a
higher price for the water supplied by the government. More research is needed to see
what is the best price for the public to pay. Ending the first 54 cubic meters of water
at the rate of 11 cents is perhaps the first step to conserve our water resources.

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In Malaysia for example, the subsidy given differs between states and for Klang, Kuala
Lumpur areas, domestic household water is subsidised at RM0.57 up for the first 20
metric cube and this increased to RM2.00 after 35 metric cube of water used (Syabas,
2019). In Singapore, the government recently increased the rates of water from S$1.09
to SS1.21 for the first 40 metric cube of water, and including this charge is Water
Conservation Tax and Waterborne Fee and the final total of water is at S$2.74 metric
cube. Indeed, not only water has to be processed before it is safe to be consumed by
the public, used water also has to be treated to make sure it is safe for the environment,
hence Singapore government imposed Waterborne Fee for that purpose (Public
Utilities Board, 2019). Brunei does not impose any Waterborne Fee or sewerage
by 103.104.68.14 on 10/11/24. Re-use and distribution is strictly not permitted, except for Open Access articles.

treatment for water used by the public at the moment.

4. Implications and Further Research

J. Bus. Econ. A. 2019.02:149-165. Downloaded from www.worldscientific.com

The Government of Brunei receives no profit at all from the sale of water to both the
public and commercial usage and perhaps it is time for the government to revise the
water rate, not only for the maintenance of the water supplies for the whole country
but also ensure the quality of water being consumed is safe to drink and use. Although
Brunei’s tap water is World Health Organisation’s certified and people can drink from
the tap, however, many incidents have shown to us that Bruneians prefer to buy water
filters due to the country’s aging water piping system. The government needs to
improve its efficiency and effectiveness in collecting revenue from its water resources.
Global petroleum prices have dropped and affected national reserves, therefore it is
time for the government to be more effective in collecting revenue from the public on
services provided. It needs to be highlighted to the public that petroleum resources
are finite resources unlike water; therefore, it is time for the public to be responsible
citizens and help the government in its finances for the public to enjoy other subsidies
and welfare assistance to those who needed it most.

Since there are now 16 companies in Brunei producing bottled water and there are
probably more which are not discovered by this research, it is time for the Water
Department to investigate how much water is actually used by the industry to make
sure that no illegal tapping of water is being made. Requests for companies to show
how many bottles of water were sold monthly or yearly were given was deemed
confidential, therefore, it was difficult to estimate the amount of water used by these
companies. Nevertheless, this research believed that there is more water tapped
illegally than officially recorded by the Water Department. Illegal tapping of piped
water in the form of ‘tampering and bypass theft’ is known to the Department, both
by members of the public and private sectors, hence under the 2018-2023 Strategic
Plan of the MoD has identified the use of prepaid water meter system to tighten
unpaid and illegal tapping of water. The MoD’s Strategic Plan also identified ‘water
tariff reformation’ as a priority area to improve as well as strengthen its policy and
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governance framework. Earlier interviews done by Pang and Ali (2018) had
highlighted that the government was reluctant to increase the price of water so as not
to burden the public, however some measure may be timely and necessary to help the
government capture as much revenue as possible through services it has provided,
which have been neglected for some time. Although it was announced since 2018,
however, the prepaid water meter received little media attention and its
implementation status is unknown at the moment.

There is no bottled water association or professional non-governmental organisations

(NGOs) in Brunei which could help regulate the industries to work together and to
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make sure that the water quality and other food products are safe to consume. The
establishment of a bottled water association can help the industry to work together,
share the latest technology available to make water cleaner, safe for consumption and
J. Bus. Econ. A. 2019.02:149-165. Downloaded from www.worldscientific.com

strategies to reduce the use of plastic in the industry, which is a current global
environmental concern.

Conclusion
Brunei is seeing a proliferation of bottled companies established in the country in the
last decade, driven by cheap water supplies, easily available water filtering systems
and demand by the public. Bottled water is seen as cleaner than tap water and while
bottled water is gaining popularity, the Brunei government is still subsidizing the
water, selling it at a loss to the private sector. It is time for the government to revise
the water tariff rates to ensure more funding is available to upgrade the water supply
system in the country which has seen significant incidents of leakage. There is a need
to update and improve the necessary regulations for the bottled water industry, as
well as proactive checking by relevant authorities to ensure the products produce and
sold in the country are safe for consumption.

Acknowledgment
The author would like to thank the Ministry of Development, Ministry of Health and,
Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism for their kind assistance in providing
information for the paper. The author would also like to thank colleagues who have
reviewed the paper and providing comments for improvement. All errors are the
author’s own responsibility.

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