An assessment of the health and social economc implications of satchet water in Ibadan, Nigeria: A public health challenge

Abstract

The inadequacy of pipe borne water in Ibadan Metropolis is almost endemic. This inadequacy is both in quantity and quality of the public water supply. As an alternative to the water supply, small scale industrial concerns came up with 'PURE WATER': 0.5Litre water in nylon sachets, which are electrically heated, sealed at both ends and widely patronized by both low and middle class Nigerians. The objective of the study was to find out the quality of such pure water. Stratified, simple random sampling procedures were used to select 78 samples from 20 brands of sachet water from important hawkers/vendors. The samples were subjected to physical, chemical and bacteriological analysis. For chemical analysis, Hanna's 100 spectrophotometer plus chemical reagents were used. The water samples were assessed for coliform and other intestinal bacteria using MKC cowkery broth (MM) and Brilliant Green Bile Broth (BGBB). Multiple tube method was employed. The result showed that the physical parameters were within W.H.O limits for drinking water quality guidelines except for pH which ranged from 6.6-9.7. Some chemical parameters were also within the W.H.O guideline values. However; aluminum which concentration ranged from 0.00-0.34 mg/l, fluoride concentration ranged from 0.01-1.87 mg/I and cyanide concentration ranged from 0.000-0175 were not. Bacteriological analysis, showed that five (5) or 6.4% of the samples tested fielded bacterial growth. Bacteria produced included: Klebsiella sp., Streptococcus faecalis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The enforcement of the regulation guiding water quality before the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration Control (NAFDAC) to comply with the drinking water qualities guideline values as recommended by W.H.O, becomes urgent.

Enumeration of microbial contaminants in sachet water: a public health challenge

“…The pH of water sachets has an upper range of 9.26 (Table 1), a value higher than the upper limit of pH 8.5, as recommended by W.H.O. Even though pH has no direct effect on health, its indirect action on physiological processes cannot be over emphasized [6] got the upper pH unit of 9.7 among the 78 samples from 20 brands of sachet water tested. Bacteriological analyses results (Table 2) showed that all the seven different brands of sachet water produced growth after 24 hours of incubation.…”

“…Public health determines the parasitological and microbiological status of some brands and found occurrence of Cryptosporidial oocysts and Guardia cyst in bottled mineral water [5]. An assessment of the health and social economic implantations of sachet water in Ibadam Nigeria [6] selected 78 samples from 20 brands of sachet water from hawkers/vendors. Bacteria obtained include: Klebsiella sp., Streptococcus faecalis and Pseudomonas aeruginosae.…”

Physico-Chemical Properties and Microbiological Quality of Borehole Water in Four Crowded Areas of Benin City, Nigeria, During Rainfalls

“…Rainfalls are usually acidic because rain drops react with atmospheric CO 2 , generating acidic rainwater that percolates through organic decaying material to underground water. The pH characterization is important because biological activities can only thrive and survive within narrow pH ranges (20)(21)(22)(23). If the soil is not rich in limestone or dolomite, the ground water will remain acidic with pH values between six and seven (23), and this might provide an explanation for the observations in this study.…”

Bacteriological quality of bottled water sold on the Ghanaian market

“…Plastic bagged water popularly known as pure water has become a more attractive source of drinking water for most Ghanaians due to its lower price compared to bottled water. Despite its popularity, studies done on bacteriological quality of sachet water in some African cities have catalogued various levels of contamination [13,14,15]. Bottled water thus remains the safety net as far as most consumers are concerned.…”