11 brands of mineral water declared as unsafe by PSQCA
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ISLAMABAD (APP): Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) has revealed through an analytical findings that 11 brands of mineral water were found to be unsafe due to chemical contamination.
The impending water crisis in Pakistan
These brands included. Premier Fresh, Well Care, National, Siiz Cool, Blue Plus,New ARBO, Cottage Foods Drink Water, Reliable, Pacific Pure, OAS Water and Aqua National.
According to the monitoring report for the quarter from July to September, 2016,109 samples of mineral water brands have been collected from Islamabad, Rawalpindi,Gilgit, Muzaffarabad, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Sargodha, Multan, Lahore, Bahawalpur,Karachi, Tando Jam and Peshawar.
Out of those unsafe brands, 04 brands (i.e. Well Care, Siiz Cool, Pacific Pure and Aqua National) have comparatively high levels of Arsenic ranging from 15-60 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.
Access to safe drinking water: A dilemma in Pakistan
The eight brands (i.e. Premier Fresh, Well Care, National, Blue Plus, New ARBO, Reliable, Pacific Pure and OAS Water) were found unsafe due to the presence of higher levels of Sodium ranging from 60-115 ppb than PSQCA water quality standard for sodium (50 ppb) and one brand (Cottage Foods Drink Water) was found unsafe due to the presence of higher level of Potassium.
To monitor and improve the quality of bottled water, the government through Ministry of Science and Technology designated the task to Pakistan Council of Research and Quality Control Authority (PCRWR) for quarterly monitoring of mineral water brands and publicize the results.
13 brands selling dangerous drinking water in Pakistan
It was observed that poor quality of drinking water has forced a large cross-section of citizens to buy bottled water resulting in mushroom growth of bottled water industry in the country during the last few years.
However, many of the mineral water companies were found selling contaminated water.
