Chemical and microbiological contaminations

Nine brands of mineral water found unsafe for drinking

By Myra Imran

Islamabad: As per permissible limits of Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA), nine brands of bottled mineral water were found to be unsafe for drinking due to chemical and microbiological contaminations.

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/bottled 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 Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) for quarterly monitoring of bottled and mineral water brands and publicise the results.

According to the monitoring report for the quarter from July to September, 2018, 118 samples of mineral or bottled water brands were collected from Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Peshawar, Multan, Lahore, Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan, Tandojam, Quetta and Karachi. Comparison of analytical findings with permissible limits of PSQCA revealed that 9 brands including Pure Water, Plus Piyaas, 3 Star, Douro, Real Plus, Pure It, Elayn Plus, Crystal Maya and Aqua Saad)were found to be unsafe for drinking due to chemical and microbiological contaminations. Out of those unsafe brands, one brand (Plus Piyaas) has comparatively high levels of Arsenic i.e. 15 ppb exceeding than PSQCA bottled water standard for arsenic of 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.

Three brands including Elayn Plus, Crystal Maya and Aqua Saad were found to be unsafe due to microbiological contamination which may cause Cholera, Diarrhea, Dysentery, Hepatitis, Typhoid etc. Whereas four brands i.e. Pure Water, 3 Star, Douro and Real Plus were found unsafe due to the presence of higher levels of Sodium ranging from 60-115 ppm and one brand (Pure It) was found unsafe due to the presence of higher levels of Fluoride i.e. 1.8 ppm. The PSQCA bottled water quality standard for sodium is 50 ppm and for fluoride is 0.7 ppm.