The Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources ( PCRWR) has found 20 out of total 74 brands of bottled water being sold in the market as unsafe.
The PCRWR in a bottled water survey report (Oct- Dec 2011) issued on Monday, obersved that many of the mineral water companies were found selling tap or contaminated water.
The PSRWR found arsenic in eight brands, sodium in four brands and potassium was found in two brands.
Diseases caused by the contaminated water include cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery, hepatitis, typhoid, cancer (lungs, bladder, skin, prostrate, kidney, nose and liver), diabetes, kidney diseases, hypertension, heart diseases, birth defects and black foot diseases, it added.
Besides this, the presence of sodium in drinking water causes hypertension, while potassium causes hypercalimia, the report said.
The report revealed that the number of chemically safe brands of bottled water was 63 while that of chemically unsafe was 11.
Likewise, the number of microbiologically safe brands is 61 and that unsafe brands is 10, it added.
The PCRWR found the number of brands consistently present in the market 48 while 27 had disappeared and 26 were new.
PCRWR Chairman Dr Muhammad Aslam Tahir told APP that the quality of drinking water was continuously deteriorating due to biological contamination from human waste, chemical pollutants from
industries and agricultural inputs.
He said the piped water also got contaminated because of the close proximity of the pipes to the sewerage lines or open drains and its use caused many water borne diseases.
It was found that 45% of infant deaths have been attributed to diarrhoea and about 60% to overall infectious waterborne diseases in the country, the PCRWR Chairman said.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 25-30% of
the diseases are gastrointestinal in nature.
The poor quality of drinking water has forced a large number of people to buy bottled water, but it is an irony many of the branded names are selling tap water with materials which are injurious to health, the PCRWR Chairman observed.