Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) has released a report which states that 22 brands of bottled water were tested by them, out of which 12 were found to be unsafe for human consumption and did do not meet the internationally recognized standards on chemical or microbiological quality. These results were also confirmed by National Institute of Health (NIH).

The samples were collected from shopping centers in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, which included Sparklet, Nestle, AVA, Natural, Everest, Bahrain, Pearl, OAS, Bisler, Askari, Classic, Aqua Safe, ICE Berg, BSW, Cool, Evian, Aab-e-Hayat, Perrier, ISIS, TWS, H20 Plus and KASHMIR.

The 12 brands which were found to be unsafe for human consumption are: Aqua Safe, Pearl, BSW, OAS, TWS (Can), Bahrain, Natural, Bisler, Askari, Ice Berg, Cool and Everest. Five of the samples had bacteriological contamination, while six had arsenic contamination.

The complete report on the quality of the bottled/mineral water is also available on the PCRWR's website, www.pcrwr.gov.pk and also at Helpline Trust web site: www.helplinetrust.org.pk

THT-CPC