Nearly half of the monthly minimum wage is spent on water, says Davir Toribio, president of the national water bottlers' and purifiers' association. Similar statements can be found in a report from consumer rights foundation Fondecom. An average consumption for a family of five of 17 bottles of water per month would bring the total spent on bottled water to some 700 pesos per month, according to the report. This comes in addition to the average payment of 2,000 pesos per month to receive supply provided by water trucks, and 350 pesos in monthly payments to capital Santo Domingo's aqueduct corporation CAASD, the Fondecom study reads.

Toribio adds that the situation has not been helped now that vendors have in most cases upped the price of a bottle to between 47 and 50 pesos, well above the 40-peso price that would provide them with a 23% profit margin.

Source: BNamericas.com, (subscription site), 9 Jul 2007

Tags: financing