EDITORIAL: Presumed to be free from contamination by bacteria or chemicals, bottled water in this country can still be delusive and deadly.
According to a press report, tasked to monitor on a quarterly basis the quality of bottled water the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) collected 176 samples of various brands from 20 cities during the last quarter of 2024.
Its findings are very disturbing though not surprising considering that unscrupulous elements have no qualms even about manufacturing substandard and falsified medicines, including life-saving ones.
Tested for quality on criteria set by the Pakistan Standards & Quality Control Authority (PSQCA), as many as 27 water brands marketed all over the country were found to be unsafe for human consumptions.
Nine of these brands had sodium and one of them potassium much above the permissible levels, while five others contained high level of arsenic. And samples taken from 16 water bottling companies had bacterial contamination.
Among them, these purveyors of unsafe, even hazardous, drinking water exposed the consumers to serious health issues, such as hypertension, cardiovascular problems, skin disorders, cancer, typhoid, cholera, and dysentery.
It is unclear as to how long this has been going on. Director General of PCRWR, Dr Hifza Rashid, has been quoted as saying that quarterly (October-December 2024) water samples were collected on the government’s direction and that her organisation’s role was limited to conducting water tests every three month, which suggests it is a commendable new initiative.
The results have been forwarded to PSQCA and the four provincial chief secretaries for appropriate legal action. She also said that issuing licences for bottled water companies was the responsibility of other authorities, which handled legal action against those selling substandard water.
This means the companies that have now been blacklisted operated under licence from the relevant regulatory authority, namely Pakistan Standards & Quality Control Authority.
But its Director of Licencing takes no responsibility for so many companies selling water unfit for human consumption, insisting instead that a rigorous process is in place for issuing licences to water bottling plants.
They may have changed quality after pocketing duly granted licences. The said official reportedly explained that random checks are conducted three times; and should the water remain unsatisfactory, such a company’s licence is revoked and its production facility sealed.
The PCRWR’s report, nonetheless, shows that the checks are downright useless. Those responsible for this gross negligence must be held to account. Heads will have to roll.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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