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Oman News

New regulations for non-bottled water in Oman; APSR mandates compliance with strict microbiological standards

The Authority for Public Services Regulatory (APSR) has issued Resolution No. 90/2025, determining the specifications and quality standards for non-bottled drinking water.

TAS News Service

info@thearabianstories.com

Sunday, October 26, 2025

MUSCAT – The resolution, issued under the Water and Wastewater Sector Regulation Law (Royal Decree No. 40/2023) and approved by the APSR Board of Directors, specifies that entities subject to the provisions of this decision must regularise their status in accordance with the provisions within six months from the date of its entry into force.


On water quality requirements, it stipulates that the water must be free from visible impurities, algae, fungi, parasites, harmful microbes, and excessive radioactivity. The method used in water treatment must be sufficient to kill microbes.


Microbiological standards include zero tolerance for faecal microbes, Escherichia coli, enterococci, and total coliforms in network-supplied water.


Water treatment methods must ensure the elimination of harmful microbes, maintain free chlorine concentrations between 0.2–0.5 mg/litre, and comply with Gulf Standard Specification GSO111:1989 for sampling and testing.


Standards are detailed for network water, desalinated water, groundwater, and water delivered via independent tankers. Emergency water quality standards, network water standards, and desalinated water standards are also specified and published on the PSRA website.


Operators must adhere to permissible values for the Langelier Saturation Index to prevent scaling or corrosion in pipelines and equipment.
Penalties: Violations of the resolution may incur administrative fines ranging from RO 1,000 to RO 1,000,000 per violation, with additional fines of up to RO 5,000 per day for continued non-compliance.

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