Is Tap Water Safe in Gilgit-Baltistan?

Do not drink tap water in Gilgit-Baltistan untreated, even though it looks clear and starts in the glaciers. When Pakistan's own water research council tested drinking water across the region, only 22% of samples were safe, and its 2025 national survey still found 69% of Gilgit-Baltistan samples unsafe. The main problem is bacteria from sewage, not glacial silt. Bottled, boiled or properly filtered water solves it.

This guide sets out what the testing found, why clear mountain water can still make you ill, and exactly how to treat water at the altitudes you will be staying at, which changes the boiling time.

What has the testing found?

Two sets of results are worth knowing.

The regional study. The Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR), working with the Asia Foundation, tested 94 drinking water samples, roughly 10 to 15 from each of six districts. The results were reported in October 2021:

• Only 22% of samples were within safe limits.
• 68% had microbial contamination, the most serious finding.
• 24% had excess iron, 19% excess turbidity, 7% aluminium and 2% fluoride.
• Of the 94 samples, 56 came from springs, 28 from surface channels, 7 from groundwater and 3 from rivers or lakes. Groundwater was the cleanest, with 29% of samples contaminated.

The national survey. PCRWR's National Water Quality Monitoring Programme, presented to parliament in early 2026, tested 2,205 samples from 70 cities collected in 2025. In Gilgit-Baltistan 69% were unsafe, which is close to the national figure of 68% and better than Sindh (89%) or Azad Kashmir (85%).

The two studies used different sampling, so the move from 22% safe to 31% safe is not proof of improvement. Officials in Gilgit told reporters in 2021 that tank cleaning, filtration and pipe repairs had made urban supplies "much better than in the past", and criticised the sampling. PCRWR replied that it had sampled the water people were drinking. Either way, about two samples in three fail.

Why isn't glacier water clean by the time it reaches a tap?

The PCRWR researchers made a point that explains the whole problem: water tested at its source, at the glacier, stream or spring, had little contamination. It became unsafe on the way to the tap.

• Sewage. None of the main towns, Gilgit, Skardu, Gahkuch or Hunza, had a waste treatment plant or a proper sewerage system at the time of the study, so wastewater ran into the same channels and rivers that supply drinking water downstream.
• No disinfection. Chlorine, the cheapest disinfectant in common use, had never been applied at most sources.
• Pipes and channels. Open channels pick up run-off from fields, livestock and houses, and old pipes and taps add iron.
• Silt. The grey or milky colour of glacial water is rock flour, ground from the bedrock by the ice. It explains the turbidity results but is not the health risk. Clear water can be contaminated and cloudy water can be harmless.

Doctors quoted in the same report linked unsafe water in the region to typhoid, hepatitis A, cholera and routine diarrhoea. One of them also noted that Gilgit-Baltistan is still better off than Sindh or Punjab, which the 2025 figures bear out.

Some villages are ahead of the towns. From 2010 the Aga Khan Development Network installed piped clean water schemes in parts of Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral, with more than 12,000 household taps and 500 communal taps serving over 200,000 people by 2015, and a resident of Yasin told reporters that waterborne illness fell sharply afterwards. You cannot tell from the tap which kind of village you are in, so treat the water anyway.

How to treat water properly

Boiling

Boiling kills everything that matters, but the time depends on altitude because water boils at a lower temperature higher up. The standard public health advice is a rolling boil for one minute, or three minutes above about 2,000 metres (6,500 feet).

Most of the places visitors stay in Gilgit-Baltistan are in the second row. A hotel kettle that clicks off the moment it boils does not hold a rolling boil for three minutes; switch it on a second and third time, or ask the kitchen to boil water in a pan.

Filters

A portable filter is the practical choice for trekkers. Check the pore size: it needs to be 1 micron or smaller to remove parasites such as giardia. Filters of this kind also remove bacteria but not viruses, which are a real concern wherever sewage is the source, so for water taken near villages follow filtering with a chemical disinfectant.

Tablets and drops

Chlorine, iodine or chlorine dioxide tablets are light and cheap. Follow the contact time on the packet exactly; cold water needs longer. Chlorine dioxide is the one that also deals with cryptosporidium. If the water is cloudy with silt, let it settle or strain it through cloth first, because disinfectants work poorly in turbid water.

Bottled water

Bottled water is sold in Gilgit, Skardu, Karimabad and the shops along the Karakoram Highway. Check that the cap seal is unbroken and buy recognised brands; PCRWR tests bottled brands across Pakistan and publishes the ones that fail on its website. In remote valleys the supply is unreliable, so carry enough from the last town or carry the means to treat your own.

Everyday habits that matter as much as the glass of water

• Ice. Refuse it unless you know it was made from treated water.
• Tea. Tea made with water that has properly boiled is safe, which is one reason it is the default drink on the road.
• Brushing teeth. Use bottled or boiled water, at least for the first week.
• Salad and cut fruit. Washed in tap water, they carry the same risk as drinking it. Fruit you peel yourself is fine. Our guide to whether street food is safe goes further.
• Children. They dehydrate faster. Give them bottled water only, and watch the bath: small children swallow it.

On a trek

Streams above the last village and pasture are the cleanest water you will find, but in summer most valleys have herders and livestock high up, so assume there is something upstream. Take water from fast-flowing side streams, not from the silty main river, and filter or boil it. Above 2,000 metres that means the three-minute boil, which uses a noticeable amount of fuel; plan gas accordingly or rely on a filter.

If you do get an upset stomach

Mild traveller's diarrhoea usually passes in a day or two with rest, plain food and oral rehydration salts; pack a few sachets, since pharmacies are found only in the main towns. See a doctor if it lasts more than a few days, or sooner for high fever, blood in the stool, or a child or elderly person who cannot keep fluids down. Dehydration at altitude is also easily confused with mountain sickness; see our guide to altitude sickness in Gilgit-Baltistan. Our list of medical facilities in Gilgit-Baltistan shows where the hospitals are.

Is this being overcautious?

Local people drink the water daily and most are fine most of the time. A visitor on a ten-day trip has no such tolerance, and one bad glass can cost three days of a holiday that took months to plan. The precautions cost little. Take them.

For Azad Kashmir and the rest of the north, see our wider guide to whether water is safe to drink in the Northern Areas.

Frequently asked questions