The President of the Dominican Association of Purified Water Bottlers (ADEAGUA), David Toribio Lantigua, yesterday urged the government to provide the Directorate of Norms and Quality Systems (DIGENOR) the resources it needs to properly test and certify the quality of all bottled water in the nation. Toribio Lantigua asserted that DIGENOR has personnel qualified to do the task, but the agency lacks physical resources such as vehicles and a laboratory to properly test and certify the nation’s numerous bottled water producers. DIGENOR also needs more people qualified to do inspections and certifications, and to pay them salaries that would keep them working at DIGENOR instead of moving to the private sector. Last week the head of the Public Health Ministry’s Environmental Health Directorate revealed that most bottled water in the DR does not comply with DIGENOR’s current mineral content standards.
