Study on the Quality of Treated and Packaged Water Sold in the Port-au-Prince Metropolitan Area
- Finds 91 of 109 samples positive on bacteriological analysis, against a norm of 0 CFU per 100 ml for faecal coliforms, total coliforms, faecal streptococci and E. coli.
- Records five-gallon containers and treatment kiosks at 100 percent non-compliance on the categories reported, so the failure is not confined to informal sachet water.
- Reports individual counts far past the threshold, with numerous samples above 200 CFU per 100 ml on several parameters simultaneously, across sachet water, treatment kiosks and resale kiosks.
- Shows physico-chemical and bacteriological compliance moving independently: samples with very low conductivity, well inside the 1,400 µS/cm norm, return coliform counts above 200, while the three highest-conductivity samples (198, 269 and 600 µS/cm) return counts below 1 on all four parameters.
- Establishes that a clean physico-chemical reading is therefore no evidence of microbiological safety, which matters because conductivity and TDS are the parameters a vendor can measure cheaply.
- Identifies the mechanism in handling rather than in treatment: sachet water transported in open trucks, five-gallon containers stored outdoors in the sun at points of sale, and resale kiosks holding water in polyethylene tanks on sun-exposed roofs for 8 to 15 days or more.
- States that these conditions degrade the packaging and allow undesirable chemical compounds to migrate into the water, so storage duration is a contamination pathway in its own right.
- Describes the situation as alarming in both physico-chemical and bacteriological terms, and closes with recommendations to producers, sellers and consumers.
The consumer protection directorate's study of treated and packaged drinking water sold across the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area, sampled from August 2025 to January 2026. It covers the whole retail chain rather than one product: locally produced and imported bottled water, five-gallon containers, sachet water, on-site treatment kiosks and resale kiosks, tested for packaging information, organoleptic, physico-chemical and bacteriological parameters, and for transport and storage conditions.
The bacteriological result is the finding: 91 of the 109 samples tested positive, against a norm of 0 CFU per 100 ml for faecal coliforms, total coliforms, faecal streptococci and E. coli alike. Individual results run far past the threshold, with numerous samples reporting more than 200 CFU per 100 ml on several parameters at once, including sachet water and both treatment and resale kiosks. Five-gallon containers and treatment kiosks show 100 percent non-compliance on the categories reported.
The study also separates physico-chemical from bacteriological compliance and shows they do not move together: samples with very low conductivity, well inside the 1,400 µS/cm norm, still return coliform counts above 200, while the three samples with the highest conductivity (198, 269 and 600 µS/cm) return counts below 1 across all four bacteriological parameters. A clean physico-chemical reading is therefore no evidence of microbiological safety. The transport and storage findings supply the mechanism: sachet water travels in open trucks, five-gallon containers are stored outside supermarkets in the sun, and resale kiosks keep water in polyethylene tanks on sun-exposed roofs for 8 to 15 days or more, conditions the study says degrade packaging and let undesirable chemical compounds migrate into the water.
How to cite
Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MCI), 2026, Study on the Quality of Treated and Packaged Water Sold in the Port-au-Prince Metropolitan Area, https://mci.gouv.ht/download.php?id=54