Nearly two decades after its launch, Dhaka WASA's bottled water brand "Shanti" remains largely invisible in the retail market despite mounting annual losses.
While private bottled water brands dominate shop shelves across the capital, WASA's own product is available at only a few sales points, raising questions about the utility's marketing and distribution strategy.
According to WASA officials, "Shanti" recorded losses of nearly Tk3.25 crore in fiscal year 2025-26. The total expenditure stood at around Tk5 crore.
The losses have persisted for decades.
In FY2024-25, "Shanti" recorded losses of nearly Tk4.80 crore. In the previous fiscal year, FY2023-24, production exceeded six million bottles, costing about Tk6 crore, while "Shanti" recorded losses of nearly Tk3.60 crore.
Md Abdul Kader, who worked before as a Plant Manager of "Shanti" and is now working as the deputy chief of Dhaka WASA’s Public Information Division, acknowledges that the project has never become commercially profitable since it was launched in 2006.
A WASA official involved with the project before, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the "Shanti" unit loses approximately Tk3-4 crore every year.
"If the goal is to provide people with the best quality drinking water, ""Shanti"" must also be managed as a commercially sustainable product. Otherwise, these losses will continue indefinitely," the official said.
Visits by Dhaka Tribune to at least 10 retail shops in Mirpur, Dhanmondi, Karwan Bazar and other parts of the capital found almost no availability of ""Shanti"" bottled water.
But many shopkeepers said they had never heard of the brand.
In Shewrapara, a grocery shop owner, Afsar Uddin, said he was unfamiliar with "Shanti" altogether.
Others said no WASA sales representative had ever approached them.
Mohammad Ashraful, a retailer in Karwan Bazar, said: "No salesman has ever come to us to sell 'Shanti' water."
Several retailers also cited lower profit margins compared with private brands as a major reason for not stocking the product.
While retailers can earn up to Tk9 by selling a 500ml bottle of private bottled water, they make only around Tk4 on a similar bottle of "Shanti", making private brands commercially more attractive.
At present, WASA directly operates only two retail sales centres, while five additional sales points operate under different WASA zones, leaving the entire capital with just seven official locations where consumers can reliably purchase "Shanti".
When Dhaka Tribune visited the sales centre outside WASA's headquarters, the outlet was found locked, with two customers waiting outside. The salesperson arrived 20 minutes later.
WASA officials say the Mirpur bottling plant currently has the capacity to bottle around 1,000 litres of water per hour, or roughly 16,000 bottles daily.
However, actual production remains far below that level.
According to WASA data, the utility produced only 893,490 litres of bottled water during FY2025-26 an average of just 2,448 litres per day.
When contacted at the Shanti plant, Plant Manager Md Joynal Abedin declined to comment on the issue. Asked about the total losses incurred by the project over the past two decades, he did not want to provide the information.
Consumer rights advocates and water sector experts argue that the losses are primarily the result of years of poor planning, weak investment and ineffective marketing rather than lack of demand.
A WASA official requesting anonymity alleged that the project has suffered from deliberate administrative neglect, allowing private bottled water companies to dominate the market.
An official at the Mirpur plant claimed that producing a 500ml bottle costs around Tk11, while it is sold to distributors for only Tk9. Another official estimated the production cost at nearly Tk16 per bottle, saying speaking publicly about the issue could jeopardize his job.
That means WASA loses between Tk2 and Tk7 on every bottle before it even reaches retailers.
The authority currently has 22 distributors across Dhaka, according to Dhaka WASA deputy chief public information officer Abdul Kader. However, another senior official said many of them are irregular and mainly focus on selling the more profitable 20-litre jars rather than smaller retail bottles.
Consumer Association of Bangladesh (CAB) Vice-President SM Nazer Hossain, while talking to Dhaka Tribune, questioned why a government agency tasked with supplying safe drinking water has failed where private companies have succeeded.
"WASA must examine whether it is truly ensuring safe drinking water reaches consumers. If distributors are inactive, they should be replaced immediately," he said.
"If private companies can supply bottled water nationwide while making profits, why can't WASA?"
Responding to questions from Dhaka Tribune, WASA Managing Director Aminul Islam said two committees, one technical and another for marketing, have recently been formed to reduce production costs, improve operational efficiency and strengthen marketing.
"The committees will look into all aspects of production and marketing. We have already started working to make the plant profitable," he said.
Although "Shanti" was launched to provide affordable, safe drinking water and help keep bottled water prices competitive, nearly two decades later, it remains a largely unknown government brand available at only a handful of outlets while continuing to generate losses for the public utility.
