PCRWR declares 27 bottled water brands unsafe

Twenty-seven bottled water brands have been declared unsafe for human consumption by the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources, ARY News reported.

Samples from 223 brands were collected in 20 cities and tested for chemical and microbiological contamination during the July to September 2026 quarter. The council's quarterly report found 195 brands met the required quality standards.

Of the 27 declared unsafe, the report says six failed chemical tests and 22 were found to have microbiological contamination.

The brands named include Aab-e-Haram, Imperial Pure Drinking Water, Aab-e-Makran, Water Verse Purified, Gel, Sip, AB Blue Water, HR Water Healthy Life, Pure Aqua Tech, Aquafine, Water Time, Al-Suha, Aab-e-Hayat, K&S Aqua Sea, Jairs Safe Life, Athar Premium, Aqua Dor, HHG Sweets and Bakers, Drinkly, One Flo, Premium Safa, Zalmi Pure Mineral Water, New A2Z, Fresh Smart Pure Water and Aqua Indus.

Sampling covered Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Multan, Karachi, Lahore, Quetta, Faisalabad, Sukkur and Gujranwala among the 20 cities, according to the report.

Profit by Pakistan Today carried the same finding in a headline, saying the council had declared 27 brands unsafe because of contamination, without the brand names or the city breakdown.

Bottled water sold across the country is tested by the council each quarter against chemical and microbiological standards, and brands that fail are named in its published report. The report does not state what enforcement action follows for the manufacturers concerned or where in the country each brand was on sale.

The July to September findings place 27 brands, just over one in eight of those sampled, outside the limits on contamination the council applies. Six of the failures relate to chemical content, a category that covers dissolved substances and mineral levels, and the remaining 22 to microbiological contamination, which covers bacteria and other organisms in the water.

Readers can check a brand against the 195 that passed. The council's report names the 27 it found unsafe, and the list runs from larger national labels to small local bottled water and bakery brands, including HHG Sweets and Bakers and Zalmi Pure Mineral Water.