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ISLAMABAD: A monitoring report by the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) inpected 19 samples of drinking water injurious, while 13 samples having arsenic - the poisonous chemical substance.
The report was prepared for the session of April-June, 2014 using 111 samples of drinking water brands taken from 14 cities, including Lahore, Faisalabad, Karachi and Islamabad.
A comparison of analytical results with Authority Pakistan Standard Quality Control (PSQCA) allowed limits, has identified that 19 marks to be injurious because of having chemical or microbiological contamination. One more critical results of the report is that 13 of these 19 brands have harmful levels of arsenic well above the standard set by PSQCA.
The other brands were found injurious because of high levels of sodium and total dissolved solids (TDS).
Pure Fresh Water, Fit, Alpha Blue, New Deep, Sehat, Butt, Active, National Aqua, Nation Splish, Aryana, Unique Water, Natur Aqua and Cool were found to have high levels of arsenic, a chemical that causes diseases skin, diabetes, kidney disease, hypertension, heart disease, birth defects, disease of the Blackfoot and various cancers.
Five other water purifier brands - Al Habib, Life, Pure 99, Lite Aqua and Spring Fresh - have been noted to be unhealthy because of microbiological contamination that may lead towards diarrhea, cholera, hepatitis, typhoid and dysentery.
PCRWR Library, Documentation and Information Center Director Lubna Naheed Bukhari said the report was forwarded to the Director General PSQCA for further proceedings against manufacturers of illegal brands.
She said that no corrective actions were taken by the higher authorities.
"Do not even bother to change their facilities and location and these practices continue unabated," she said.
Lubna recommended that manufacturers should professional opinion from PCRWR to help remove injurious contaminants as the council facilitates with such services.
