ISLAMABAD: Bottled water of over five companies was found impure and unsafe to drink by Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) saying, the poor quality of drinking water has forced a large cross-section of citizens to purchase water.
Failure of the institutions to provide pure drinking water to people has forced people to go for bottled water to avoid different diseases and problems, the PCRWR maintained saying as a consequence of this expanding market a mushroom growth of bottled water industry in the country is witnessed during the last few years. However, many of the companies were found selling contaminated water.
To monitor and improve the quality of bottled water, the Government of Pakistan through Ministry of Science and Technology has designated the task to Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) for quarterly monitoring of bottled/mineral water brands and publicize the results.
According to the monitoring report for the quarter from July to September, 2019, 101 samples of Mineral/Bottled water brands have been collected from Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Karachi, Multan, Lahore, Peshawar, Bahawalpur, Tando Jam and Quetta. Comparison of analytical findings with permissible limits of Pakistan Standards & Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) has revealed that 5 brands (i.e. TAJ Pure Water, Livon, Sunlay, MM Pure Drinking Water and Jami Water) were found to be unsafe due to the presence of higher levels of Sodium ranging from 60-187 ppm than PSQCA water quality standard for sodium (50 ppm).
Out of those 5 brands, TAJ Pure Water was also found unsafe due to the presence of higher level of Potassium and MM Pure Drinking Water due to the presence of higher level of TDS and Chloride.
Input with INP
Read more:
