PESHAWAR, July 13: By and large, ice sold in the provincial capital is unfit for human consumption as the local administration has found eight of the 10 ice factories using contaminated water, according to officials.

The officials blamed production of unhealthy ice on absence of water filtration plants at these factories, which, they said, used tap water often provided through damaged and rusty pipes.

On Friday, a news release issued by the Peshawar DCO office said notices had been issued to all ice factories to install quality water filters within a week.

“From July 21, a crackdown will be launched on the ice factories, which fail to make ice by clean water. Ice factories will be checked on a daily basis,” it said.

District coordination officer Javed Marwat later told Dawn that water used by several ice factories in the city had been found unfit for human consumption.

He said some people had complained to him that water got muddy and began smelling badly after ice brought from the market was added to it.

“As it is very serious issue, immediate action has been taken. We collected water samples from 10 ice factories and found during laboratory tests that water of eight of them is not fit for human consumption,” he said.

Asked about the number of ice factories operating in the capital city and adjacent rural areas, Mr Marwat expressed ignorance.

He said he had directed his subordinates to collect record and water samples from all ice factories to know if water used there is clean. This has been done for the people’s better health,” he said.

The DCO also confirmed that most ice factories had no water filtration plants on the premises.

“I have convened a meeting of the union of ice factory owners to ask it to ensure use of clean water for ice making as soon as possible,” he said.

He said installation of water filtration plants and repairing of water pipes could ensure clean water supply to these factories.

“We’ll also educate owners of ice factories about the diseases caused by polluted water. Thereafter, they’ll be responsible for any harm caused to human health by use of ice made by their factories,” he said.

The relevant officials said the standard set by the Environmental Protection Agency were not followed by ice factories, by and large.

They said owners of the ice factories whose water samples had been found unfit had been told to stop producing ice until they ensured cleanliness of water on the premises.

Officials said water samples had been collected from 30 to 35 ice factories for laboratory tests whose results would be submitted to the district administration soon. They added that water samples from the remaining ice factories would be collected.