ISLAMABAD – The Pakistan Council of Research for Water Resources (PCRWR)has found five brands of bottled mineral water unsafe for drinking due tomicrobiological contaminations which may cause cholera, diarrhoea,dysentery, hepatitis, typhoid etc.

According to a public awareness statement issued by PCRWR on Monday, thesebrands include Gourmet, Aqua Super Life, Shiraz, Aqua Splash and MarinaDrinking water quality is deteriorating continually due to biologicalcontamination from human waste, chemical pollutants from industries andagricultural inputs.

Piped water also gets contaminated because pipes are laid very close tosewerage lines or open drains and cause many serious water borne diseases.It was found that 45 per cent of infant deaths have been attributed todiarrhoea and about 60 per cent to overall infectious water borne diseasesin Pakistan.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) 25-30 per cent of thediseases are gastro-intestinal in nature. This poor quality of drinkingwater has forced a large cross-section of citizens to buy bottled water.

As a consequence of this expanding market, a mushroom growth of bottledwater industry in the country is witnessed during the last few years.However, many of the mineral water companies were found sellingcontaminated water.

To monitor and improve the quality of bottled water, the government ofPakistan through Ministry of Science and Technology designated the task toPCRWR for quarterly monitoring of bottled and mineral water brands andpublicize the results.