PETALING JAYA: The Water and Energy Consumers Association of Malaysia (WECAM) today cautioned the people against being duped by companies selling water filters with dubious claims.

Its secretary-general S. Piarapakaran, said among the claims were improvement in the body's immune system, reduction in allergy and elimination of toxic materials from the water.

He told Bernama a recent survey by WECAM had even found a company which claimed that its filters could "break water molecules into smaller particles so that they can be easily absorbed by the body".

This, he explained, was a false claim because the water molecules which were held by hydrogen bonds could not be broken by any filtration process.

Piarapakaran said the survey found that the usage of water filters was increasing in Malaysia and that false claims by companies were rampant.

"This trend is very worrying and the authorities should intensify enforcement to ensure that consumers are safeguarded," he said.

He said the survey found that the level of awareness on the types and functions of water filers among consumers was very low.

Piarapakaran said for example, out of the 1,792 households surveyed throughout the country, only 66 had sufficient knowledge on the types and functions of filters.

He said this was a very serious state of affairs and needed immediate attention.

Piarapakaran said WECAM had submitted a memorandum to the National Water Services Commission, the Health Ministry and the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism, urging them to take immediate action against unethical water filter companies as well as to intensify educational programmes to make consumers aware of the various filters in the market.

He advised consumers to contact WECAM or the Federation of Consumers Associations of Malaysia (Fomca) for information before buying water filters.