ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Council for Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) on Tuesday declared seven brands of bottled water unsafe for human consumption.

The government through the Ministry of Science and Technology designated the task to PCRWR to monitor bottled and mineral water brands quarterly and make the results public in the best interest of consumers’ health.

From the last quarter, January to March 2020, 61 samples of bottled water brands were collected from Tando Jam, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Islamabad, Muzaffarabad, Multan and Karachi.

Comparison of test results with permissible limits of Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) showed that three of them including NFS, Super Natural and Hibba were unsafe due to excessive levels of sodium ranging from 66-86 mg per litre, higher than PSQCA bottled water quality standard for sodium which is 50 mg per litre.

Two other brands, Dropice and Aqualus, were found unsafe too, due to lower pH levels (6.09-6.16) whereas two brands, namely Aqua Royals and Aqua Natural were also found unsafe to drink due to bacterial contamination.

The caution came from PCRWR especially because people consume bottled water more than tap water.

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2020