The water from water vending machines may not be as clean as you would want it to be. Malaysian newspaper The Star tested 29 samples of water from vending machines in the Kuala Lumpur area together with Forum Air Malaysia, a commission founded to protect water consumers’ rights. Almost all of the samples where contaminated.
Most appalling was the discovery of E. coli, coliform and Clostridium perfringens, these are bacteria you would normally find in untreated sewage. Drinking water infected with these kinds of bacteria can cause cramps and diarrhea.
Forum Air Malaysia tested 14 of the water samples while The Star tested 15 samples. Forum Air research and policy executive Jesslyn Pek found it worrying that many of the samples did not have traces of free chlorine or fluoride, which are chemicals needed to kill bacteria in water.
“From the tests on the 14 water samples, six were found to have either Coliform or E. coli – and did not contain any free chlorine or chloride,” she said to The Star.
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