Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) in its quarterly bottled water quality monitoring report issued on Saturday declared 26 brands unsafe for human consumption.
For the last quarter (April to June 2022), 174 samples of mineral/bottled water brands were collected from 21 cities.
A comparison of test results with the mineral water quality standards of the Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) revealed that 26 brands were unsafe for human consumption.
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Eighteen mineral brands (Oxford Pure Water, Pure Nest, Purifa, Aab-e-Hayat, Evian’s Safe Life, Natural Pure Life, Best Natural, Faris, Fiesta Pure, Aqua King, Jheel, Aqua Shrav, Jia, Douro, Premium Drinking Water, Urwell, More plus, Ice drop) were found to be unsafe due to presence of higher levels of sodium.
One brand (i.e. Nation Pure) was found unsafe due to the presence of a high level of Arsenic, and four mineral brands (Blue Life H2O, Indus, Douro and Urwell) were found unsafe due to the presence of high level of Nitrate than the permissible limit, while, six brands (New Buxton, Jel, Evian’s Safe Life, Nahla, Top up, Vey) were found microbiologically contaminated and thus were unsafe for drinking purpose.
The general public was encouraged to look at the detailed report to know about the status of water quality of mineral water brands they consume. The detailed report would be available on the PCRWR website (www.pcrwr.gov.pk).
The government had designated the task to PCRWR for quarterly monitoring of bottled/mineral water brands and publicising the results for awareness of public health.