The Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) said in a statement on Friday that 2 bottled water brands from the Chinese mainland and Australia, were found to exceed bacterial standards.
According to the IAM statement, its inspectors recently conducted a food and beverage safety check targeting non-locally produced packaged drinking water, testing 240 samples for microbiological contamination, which identified a potable water container product and a bottled water product as substandard.
The bureau prompted the immediate enforcement of sales suspensions, recalls, and destruction of the affected batches by their local retailers and wholesalers to ensure consumer protection.
According to the statement, one of the problematic products is from Zhongshan City in Guangdong Province, branded “Long Life Water Village Natural Drinking Water” (長命水村飲用天然水), on sale in 18.9-litre potable water containers, was found to contain excessive coliform bacteria, while the other product is from Australia branded “PH8 Natural Alkaline Spring Water”, on sale in 1.5-litre water bottles, which was found to contain excessive Pseudomonas aeruginosa.*
The statement said that neither product was sold to hospitals and schools.
The products imported from the Chinese mainland were bottled on May 23, 2025 while those from Australia were bottled on May 9, 2024.
2 local water bottlers don’t pass re-inspection
Meanwhile, the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) announced in a separate statement on Friday that two local drinking water bottlers have not passed re-inspection.
The statement said that IAM officials cooperated with the Economic and Technological Development Bureau (DSEDT), the Health Bureau (SSM), the Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL) and the Fire Services Bureau (CB) in a taskforce, officially called “Industrial Premises Inspection Committee”, on July 7 when they inspected all eight local bottled water plants in Macau to ensure consumer safety.
The committee conducted a comprehensive safety evaluation of drinking water bottling facilities, assessing architectural layout compliance, food safety protocols, sanitation standards, and fire/occupational safety measures, with particular attention to critical risk control points including electromechanical production line equipment, water distribution systems, disinfection procedures and documentation, as well as facility maintenance records.
During inspections conducted between June 24 and July 4, the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) detected microbial contamination in 18.9-litre drinking water containers from three local drinking water bottlers – “Ou Seon”, “NK” and “Purity” – whose products exceeded safety standards and therefor have been removed from the market.
The statement did not identify the two bottlers that failed the re-inspection.
* Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a Gram-negative, rod-shaped bacterium that is commonly found in soil, water, and moist environments. It is an opportunistic pathogen, meaning it primarily infects individuals with weakened immune systems, such as those with burns, cystic fibrosis, or hospitalised patients. – DeepSeek
This undated handout photo provided by the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) shows the two problematic potable bottled water, bottled by “Long Life Water Village Natural Drinking Water” 18.9-litre potable water containers (left) and “PH8 Natural Alkaline Spring Water” 1.5-litre potable water bottle.
