Tk 30 for a 19-litre jar, no licence: 48 jar-water firms fined and shut in three months, 20,000 jars destroyed

A March 2018 Prothom Alo report gives the example of a tea stall in Karwan Bazar that sells a glass of jar water for Tk 1. The shopkeeper buys a full 19-litre jar for Tk 30 and says selling water brings a good profit. The jar carries no BSTI seal; the water comes from a man's house in Tejgaon, who hung up when asked about approval. BSTI said countless unregistered jar-water firms had sprung up in the capital, and many registered ones also fail to keep standards and reuse the same jars. A Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council study the previous December found harmful levels of coliform bacteria in 97 percent of jar water supplied to Dhaka homes and offices. Then, in seven drives from January to March, 48 firms, 44 of them unregistered, were fined and shut, about 20,000 jars were destroyed and 33 people were jailed. In Bhatara, WASA line water was being filled straight into old, dirty jars. BSTI's list has 315 registered firms, 166 of whose registrations had expired. To register, a firm applies with a trade licence, a water sample, VAT papers and other documents; after two rounds of inspection and tests for chemical, microbial and heavy-metal content, a panel grants approval, which must be renewed periodically. BSTI was also considering banning water containers larger than 9 litres.