Unification of Standards for Drinking Water
ABA - Water Resources NewsletterTzvi Levinson, Gil Dror, Julia Lietzmann, Advocates November 2009
According to the existing legal status in Israel, only drinking water which is mineral water or spring water, and tap water, are regulated while water that is neither mineral nor spring water but supplied in bottles is not. The Israeli standard for the quality of drinking water which is not mineral or spring water supplied in bottles and containers is not mandatory. Thus, the public does not have any certainty about the quality of this kind of bottled water. In addition, the maximum contamination levels for tap water on the one hand, and mineral and spring water on the other, in Israel differ. We, therefore, recommend overhauling Israeli water quality laws and harmonizing the standards of drinking water regardless of the method of supply where that is appropriate, or at least adopting the existing Israeli standard as mandatory for drinking water supplied in bottles. Water quality standards for drinking water in the United States can serve as a model for harmonizing the Israeli drinking water standards and including bottled water that is not mineral or spring water.