ISLAMABAD (APP): Pakistan Standard Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) declared 17 Mineral and Bottled water brands unsafe due to chemical or microbiological contamination.
The poor quality of drinking water has forced a large cross-section of citizens to buy bottled water. 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 mineral water 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 PCRWR for quarterly monitoring of bottled and mineral water brands and publicize the results.
According to the monitoring report for the quarter April-June, 2015, 107 samples of Mineral and Bottled water brands have been collected from Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Tando Jam, Lahore, Bahawalpur, Quetta, Peshawar, Sargodha, Sialkot, Faisalabad, Sahiwal and Karachi.
Comparison of analytical findings with permissible limits of Pakistan Standard Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) has revealed that 17 brands (i.e., Al -Khair, Pineo, Sky Star, Niamat, Aqua National, Zindagi Plus, Days Pure, Nation, NG Fresh Water, Mazan Pure Life, Al-Haider Pure, Blu, Super Natural, Isberg, Jumeirah, Paradise and Afra) were found to be unsafe due to chemical or microbiological contamination.
Out of those 17 unsafe brands, 07 brand (Al -Khair, Pineo, Days Pure, Sky Star, Niamat, Aqua National, Nation) have comparatively high level of Arsenic ranging from 16-69 ppb than PSQCA water quality standard for arsenic (10 ppb).
The excessive level of arsenic can cause various types of skin diseases, diabetes, kidney diseases, hypertension, heart diseases birth defects, black foot diseases and multiple types of cancers etc. whereas 06 brands (Blu, Super Natural, Isberg, Jumeirah, Paradise and Afra) were found to be unsafe due to microbiological contamination which may cause Cholera, Diarrhea, Dysentery, Hepatitis, Typhoid etc. The remaining brands were found unsafe due to the presence of higher levels of Sodium and Potassium. The national quality control and surveillance authorities should take legal actions against the companies, which are supplying contaminated bottled water to the public and playing havoc with the public health.
