Here’s what happened:
On January 17, twenty different brands of bottled water were deemed ‘unfit’ for human consumption by the federal government. The Pakistani government previously asked the Pakistan Council for Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) to evaluate bottled and mineral water brands. The council directed to report the findings & raise public health awareness.
How the research process worked:
Twenty-two cities provided 168 samples of mineral/bottled water brands for the quarter from October to December 2022. Twenty brands were found to be dangerous for human consumption due to microbiological, chemical, or both types of contamination. The test results were compared to the bottled water quality criteria of Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA).
The findings:
The brands were categorised in three parts: High-sodium level drinks, high-potassium level drinks & microbiologically contaminated drinks.
Water bottles with high-sodium level drinks included the following 12 brands: Best Natural, Excellent Natural, Klear, Pinar, Neno, Ice Drop, Premium Safa, Orwell, Indus, Minwa Kashaf, Barsay, and Nayab Pure Life.
Brands with high-potassium level drinks included: Excellent Natural and Aqua One.
Eight other brands, including Alfa Premium, Isberg, Aqua pack, Sip up, Ever pure, Noble, and Neno, Asha, were identified by PCRWR as being microbiologically contaminated.
While one brand, Nayab Pure Life, was deemed unsafe because it contained higher levels of TDS than allowed.
Why it matters:
The PCRWR issued a warning and urged the general public to look at the complete study to learn more about the water quality of the bottled water brands they were consuming.
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