ISLAMABAD: The government on Sunday announced that 29 brands of bottled water were unsafe for human consumption due to microbiological or chemical contamination.

The government of Pakistan has directed the Pakistan Council for Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) to conduct quarterly monitoring of commercially available bottled and mineral water brands and publicise the results to create awareness about public health.

For the second quarter of 2026 (April to June), 230 samples of mineral and bottled water brands were collected from 20 major cities.

Comparison of the test results with the bottled water quality standards of the Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) revealed that 29 brands were unsafe for human consumption due to microbiological or chemical contamination.

As many as nine brands, including HR Water Healthy Life, A2Z Pure Bottled Drinking Water, Pure Drinking Water, Deep Blue Pure Drinking Water, Sip Nest Purified Drinking Water, Aab-e-Haram, Aqua Life Bottled Drinking Water, Drinkly and Alpha H2O Bottled Drinking Water, were found to be unsafe due to the presence of higher levels of sodium.

According to PCRWR, the safe permissible limit for sodium in water was 50 ppm.

Four brands, including A2Z Pure Bottled Drinking Water, Imperial Pure Drinking Water, Aab-e-Haram and Alpha H2O Bottled Drinking Water, were found to be unsafe due to high levels of total dissolved solids (TDS), exceeding the permissible limit of 500 ppm.

As many as 22 brands, including Mai Sial Bottled Drinking Water, JERS Safe Life Bottled Drinking Water, Natural Pure Life (not Nestle), Natural Sip, Al Meer Bottled Drinking Water, Al Saha Drinking Water, Al Shifa Pure Life, Royal Fina Bottled Drinking Water, Aqua Nice Pure Life and Noor Aqua were found to be contaminated.

Moreover, Aqua Pure, Drinkwell Pure Drinking Water, Imperial Pure Drinking Water, Zalmi, Deep Blue Pure Drinking Water, Aab-e-Haram, Vital Sip Bottled Drinking Water, Hunza Ulter Water, Rehydr8 Drink Pure Water, Moya Mineral Water, Tynant Aqua Bottled Drinking Water and Aqua Pura Smart were found to be contaminated with bacteria and thus unsafe for drinking.

PCRWR encouraged the general public to consult the detailed report to know the status of the bottled water brands they consumed.

The detailed report was available on the PCRWR website.

Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2026