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

The government, through the Ministry of Science and Technology, has tasked the PCRWR with quarterly monitoring bottled/mineral water brands and publicising the results in the best interest of public health.

For the last quarter, April to June, PCRWR collected 108 samples of mineral/bottled water brands from Islamabad, Peshawar, Lahore, Karachi, Tando Jam, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Muzaffarabad, Multan, Quetta and Gilgit-Baltistan. Comparison of test results with permissible limits set by Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) has revealed that 12 brands are unsafe for human consumption.

Nine brands such as Ziran, MM Pure, Blue Spring, Aqua Best, Blue Plus, Alpha 7 Star, YK Pure, Hibba and Leven Star were found to be unsafe due to presence of higher levels of sodium ranging from 62-114 mg/liter than PSQCA water quality standard for sodium, which is 50 mg/liter.

One brand called Chenab was found unsafe due to the presence of low levels of pH.

Two brands such as MM Pure and Blue Spring were found unsafe due to presence of high levels of total dissolved solids (TDS) ranging from 503-514 mg/L than PSQCA bottled water quality standard of 500 mg/L.

Another two brands called the Dista Water and DJOUR were found microbiologically contaminated and thus were unsafe, PCRWR said in its report.

Published in Dawn, July 8th, 2020