Names of 28 bottled water brands unsafe for drinking

(Web Desk): The Pakistan Council for Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) has issued a fresh alert to the public about 28 bottled water brands, which have been declared unsafe for drinking owing to harmful chemical and microbiological contamination.

As many as 176 water samples were collected from 20 cities across Pakistan. The tested brands failed to meet the Pakistan Standards & Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) safety guidelines, making them unfit for human consumption.

The findings established that 10 brands, including Miran Drinking Water, Pak Aqua, Jel Bottled Water, Neo, Aab-e-Dubai, Eltsen, Pure Water, Aqua Health, Oslo, and More Plus, contained excessive sodium levels.

Five brands—One Pure Drinking Water, Indus, Premium Safa Purified Water, Orwell, and Natural Pure Life—contained arsenic beyond safe limits. Another brand, Hunza Utter Water, had potassium levels exceeding the permissible range.

Further testing also revealed bacterial contamination in 16 brands, including SS Water, Sip Sip Premium Drinking Water, Miran Drinking Water, D-Nova, Sky Rain, Neo, Pure Water, Dream Pure, Aqua Sharav Pure Drinking Water, Marvi, Ice Well, Akb Sky, Karakorum Spring Water, More Plus, Essentia, and Life Inn.

The public has been advised to be cautious when purchasing bottled water.