Sale of unhygienic bottled water goes on in Islamabad.
ISLAMABAD: It was shocking to note dozens of unhygienic bottled water brands being sold in the market openly while the department concerned failed to take action against the units producing unsafe water for drinking.
A number of factories were operating with an illegal brand name while many others were working with the fake titles of original companies.
Hospitals, bus stops, recreational places, kiosks etc are the main points where the fake or unregistered water bottled brands are being sold and causing diseases among the masses.
The PCRWR’s last three quarterly reports had declared 35 bottled brand as unsafe and unhygienic for human consumption during an analysis.
The monitoring report of Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) for the quarter from October to December, 2016 had declared 11 bottled water brands unsafe due to chemical and microbiological contaminations, which include Well Care, Lite Aqua, New Premier, Royal Blue, Aqua Safe, Aqua Drink Water, Rahat, Oslo, NG Fresh Water, Nurturmil Water and Aab e Khoob).
According to PCRWR, out of the unsafe brands, seven brands: Well Care, Lite Aqua, New Premier, Royal Blue, Aqua Safe, Aqua Drink Water and Rahat) had comparatively high levels of Arsenic ranging from 12-34 ppb than the PSQCA water quality standard for arsenic (10 ppb).
The report revealed that only two brands were legal while the other nine were unregistered and working illegally.
A previous quarterly report of PCRWR dated July to September 2016 had declared the brands: Premier Fresh, Well Care, National, Siiz Cool, New ARBO, Cottage Foods Drink Water, Reliable, Pacific Pure, OAS Water and Aqua National as unsafe.
The PSQCA had sealed about 128 units during the last eight months, said DG PSQCA Khalid Siddique.

11 bottled water brands found unsafe.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Council of Water Resources (PCRWR) collected 109 bottled water brands to analyse quality during the first quarter of the current year, out of which 11 brands were found unsafe due to chemical contaminations.
According to official sources on Monday, results of quarterly monitoring report of bottled/mineral water are regularly disseminated through the print/electronic media and the PCRWR website.
The report was also sent to the Capital Development Authority (CDA), the Commissioner Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), the Provincial Chief Secretaries and the Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) for taking appropriate legal action against sub-standard brands.
It is pertinent to mention here that the PCRWR, which is working under the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST), does not have any statutory authority to take action against those selling contaminated bottled water.
The PSQCA on the basis of the quarterly report of the PCRWR, takes actions against illegal/unlicenced bottled drinking water manufacturers and keeps a close monitoring of its licencees (manufacturers of bottled drinking water) from time to time.
The PSQCA has a complete mechanism to monitor the quality of bottled drinking water and mineral water through quarterly inspections of manufacturing units and market surveillance wherein the samples are also taken from the open market and sent for testing to laboratory’s analysis in accordance with Pakistan’s standards.
Highlighting the steps taken to control production/sale of sub-standard bottled drinking water in the country, the PSQCA has closed 87 bottled drinking water plants from August, 2015 to November, 2016 and filed cases against different manufacturers.
The hygienic condition of the plants is also being monitored along with the quality control process and production while the PSQCA also checks bottled drinking water at the import stage as per Pakistan Conformity Assessment Rules, 2011.
The PSQCA has planned to undertake an awareness raising scheme through the print and electronic media for an enhanced awareness to instill quality culture in country.