Un Bottled Drinking Water (OS: 8/2012).

The Directorate General for Specifications and Measurements (DGSM) updated the Omani Standard No. 8/2006 on the basis of the International Guidelines for Drinking – Water Quality vol.1.Recommendations – World Health Organization 2011. This Omani standard is concerned with unbottled drinking water obtained from different water distribution systems and sources and makes specific quality regulations mandatory for all unbottled water fit for human consumption. The text details mandatory aesthetic, biological, microbiological, chemical, and radioactive characteristics, including specific required levels for residual chlorine to eliminate microbes alongside strict testing methodologies and sampling guidelines. Comprehensive reference tables are provided to establish the strict maximum allowable limits for organoleptic parameters, health-related inorganic and organic chemicals, pesticides, and various radionuclides. Articles 4 and 5 establish the administrative and technical procedures necessary to verify compliance with the prescribed drinking water safety standards. Point 4 requires that all water sampling be carried out in accordance with Omani Standard No. 189, which sets out the official methods for drinking water sampling. Point 5 further mandates that water quality testing be conducted using the specific Omani Standards governing the testing of physical characteristics, chemical constituents, total dissolved solids, residual chlorine, radioactive substances, and microbiological contamination, ensuring that all analyses are performed according to nationally recognized and standardized methodologies.