In its quarterly monitoring report of bottled and mineral water brands, the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR), Ministry of Science and Technology, declared 20 brands unsafe for drinking.
Due to the poor quality of drinking water, a large number of citizens have been forced to purchase bottled water. However, many mineral water companies were discovered to be selling contaminated water.
The sodium content of these brands ranged from 58 to 85 mg/L, which was higher than the bottled water quality limit for sodium (50 mg/L) set by the Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA).
One brand (Pure Nature) was found to be dangerous due to a high level of arsenic (23 g/L), which was higher than the PSQCA water quality threshold for arsenic (10 g/L). Due to the presence of high levels of potassium (Zindagi Plus and Aqua Safe), two brands (Zindagi Plus and Aqua Safe) were judged to be dangerous.
Potassium levels were 13-15 mg/L higher than the PSQCA water quality regulation of 10 mg/L. Six brands were determined to be microbiologically polluted and consequently dangerous (Safi, Abe-Muskan, Ice Well, Natural Water, Top Up, Aqua Star).
Due to biological contamination from human waste, chemical pollutants from industry, and agricultural inputs, the quality of drinking water is constantly worsening.
