Cost of bottled water consumption for Tunisian five-member households increased since 2022, says expert
Tunis - The cost of bottled water consumption for a five-member household in Tunisia has increased since 2022, reaching TND 130 to TND 140 per month, said water resources management expert Houcine Rehili in an interview with TAP.
This is the result of the sharp rise in temperatures caused by climate change, which has led Tunisian families to consume an average of six bottles of water per day, especially during the summer, the expert explained.
Tunisia is the fourth largest consumer of bottled water in the world, he recalled. The average annual per capita consumption of bottled water in Tunisia reached 241 litres in 2024 compared with 225 litres in 2020, according to the latest statistics from the National Office of Thermalism and Hydrotherapy.
Excessive bottled water consumption is a response to the deterioration of drinking water quality and the shortage of this resource, he said.
"The middle class and the poor, being the most affected by water shortage, resort to unknown water sources, which poses a major issue due to serious health repercussions," the expert warned.
He also cautioned against the widespread phenomenon of street vendors selling drinking water of unknown origin, particularly in working-class neighbourhoods. This water, often collected from natural sources with low salt content,
causes liver diseases and harms citizens' health, Rehil.
said.
He also noted that 3 million people in Tunisia are affected by drinking water issues due to high salinity, elevated carbonate concentrations, risks of water contamination, and the absence of sanitation networks.
Rehili recommended working to improve water quality in all areas suffering from such problems, particularly the mining basin where fluoride levels are high, stressing the need for the State to shoulder its responsibility in providing safe drinking water and protecting citizens' health, especially as approximately 4,000 children die every day worldwide from waterborne diseases such as diarrhea.
The expert also called for investing in improving the quality of water distributed by SONEDE and renewing pipelines of water transfer from dams, which are over 15 years old, noting that 70% of pollution originates from these channels.
Regarding water wastage, Rehili said the rate is estimated at 40% across the networks—around 750 million cubic metres—exceeding the amount of water consumed annually by citizens.
The absence of adaptation policies has led the State to resort to more expensive solutions such as water cuts and seawater desalination, despite rising costs. He pointed out that the cost of desalination plants is five times higher than the actual cost.
"If the State had addressed the issue of water wastage since 1995, water losses would have been reduced by around 70%, which would have helped preserve significant quantities of water, avert the need to invest in renewing water transfer channels, reduce frequent cuts and redirect efforts toward improving water quality," concluded the water resources management expert.
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