I never really thought about this when I lived in Abu Dhabi, I just drank bottled water without question. The tap water is a combination of desalinated and recycled (from sewerage) water and tastes like it is full of chemicals!
The Emirates have several local bottled waters – Ras al Khaimah, Al Ain, Masafi, that come to mind. Mind I did think once or twice, I’ve never seen water or springs in these places
My local supermarket has been selling Ras Al-Khaimah (RAK) and Masafi bottled water for a long time now, every time I look at it I am baffled. For those of you that don’t know RAK is one of the seven United Arab Emirates, and Masafi is a village on the border of RAK and another Emirate, Fujairah.
For those of you that don’t look at the links, Wiki tells me Masafi is known for its natural springs??? I didn’t look hard enough obviously!
The UAE is vastly desert, there are al Ains (oases) but I haven’t seen enough water in these places to export bottled water!!!
Al Ain (the oasis) view from Jebel Hafeet
Okay, now I know RAK and Masafi are mountainous but where is the water??? Its obviously underground, and from the looks of the lack of vegetation its got to be miles underground… and the rainfall is so minimal the children run out in the street and stick their tongues out to catch the drops when it does rain!!!
Darn my disc is corrupted, so these photos will have to suffice! So I threw in an extra!
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
9 Responses to Bottled Water Mysteries
Leave a Reply
Grab My Button
<a href="http://missyboo.net" target="_blank"><img src="http://="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5253/5445519634_44cfa7c52c_m.jpg" width="125" height="125" alt="Blog Button copy" width="125" height="125" /></a>
Good Reads
WoogsWorld
Where's My Glow?: Who is Glowless?
Weird Thoughts Of An Insatiable Optimist
Tina Gray {dot} Me – Aussie Mummy Blogger
threelilprincesses.com
Three Ring Circus
The Truth About Mummy
The Super Whites
The Organised Housewife
The Camera Chronicles
Stuff With Thing
Semantically driven
Segovia
Rhubarb Whine
Parental Parody
On The Sunny Side
My Little Drummer Boys
My Life in Mono...
Mum in search
Max and Me
MagnetoBoldToo!
kate says stuff
Just Me
Jeanie in Paradise
Free Range in Suburbia
Fe ... a life
Double-Half or One Ten without ham
biglittlesister
beckyandjames.com
Because I said so!
Wow – what gorgeous shots – and frankly, with so little water, what are they doing exporting it?
I am confused, too. And now very thirsty.
Great pics.
Wow, you really live(d) in “cool” places!
Yes, it is weird to export water from such a place. Especially if it tastes like having heaps of chemicals?! Bet this water isn´t a cheap one either… Weird.
Great pics, esp. the last one!
Hi! Returning the lurk and I’m glad I did! Love your photos. And am amazed because Boo is my nickname for my second child!
Jeanie – I did say it was a mystery lol
Alison – Glad someone else is baffled! Go buy some of this water
Iris – Not cool it was actually extremely hot! The tap water tasted like that, the bottled water is quite good!
Fe – Thanks for lurking. Your Boo must be a pretty kewl kid, too
We’ll have to swap “living in the Middle East” stories. I remember seeing the “chunky water” (recycled) trucks driving around Saudi and the smell of the gardens after they had watered them (no need to put manure on the plants!) but I never noticed where the bottled water we drank came from.
Oh Guera, I had nearly forgotten about the ‘chunky trucks’ lol
I don’t think my ankles would have survived the imams in Saudi for long!
That is one thing I am worried about, when moving to AD. Cairns water is some of the best I have ever tasted and the thought of recycled water does nothing to excite me…
Melody there is an abundance of bottled water choices in Abu Dhabi and its very cheap in comparison to Australia so you will definately be able to avoid the recycled water!