Quality Assessment of Bottled and Unbottled Drinking Water in Bangladesh

Abstract

The demand for bottled drinking water in Bangladesh is becoming popular due to the lack of safe drinking water sources. The present study was carried out to assess the water quality and public health impacts of local brands of bottled drinking water and tube-well water, compared to the imported ones. Several state-of-the-art techniques were employed to determine the contents of pH, EC, salinity, chloride, nitrates, nitrites, fluoride, sulfates, phosphates, bicarbonate, turbidity, color, total hardness, and total dissolved solids in the studied water samples. The measured data show that the level of dissolved minerals in the local branded bottled water is very low (with an exception for sample codes D1 and D8), while imported brands, Zamzam water, and tube-well water contain satisfactory level of minerals and fulfill Dietary Reference Intake requirements. Total coliform, fecal coliform, and E. coli were found to be absent in local brands of bottled water and tube-well water. On the other hand, concentrations of some radionuclides 40K, 238U, 226Ra, 210Pb, 210Po, 222Rn, 137Cs, and 232Th in local bottled water and tube-well water were found to be less than the permissible level given by WHO (2011). The results reveal that local bottled drinking water manufacturing companies may not be following standard guidelines and quality control steps properly. Thus, improvement in their standard operating process is urgently needed to ensure strict compliance with guidelines set by Bangladesh standards and testing institutions.

Evaluation of Refillable Drinking Water Quality Based on MPN Coliform and Escherichia Coli Insesetan Village, South Denpasar, Bali

“…The high value of the MPN of Coliform in the four samples tested, namely Samples X1, X7, X8, and X10, is because the water used as refilled drinking water is sourced from groundwater and or water sources distributed using less hygienic tanks, resulting in contamination during the distribution process. The cleanliness and quality of the water used as the primary raw material determine the quality of replenished drinking water (Kato et al, 2022;Uddin et al, 2021). The primary raw material for refilled drinking water comes at least from water sources that have been guaranteed and tested for quality to produce drinking water that is suitable for consumption, safe for health, free of pathogens and other contaminants, and that is checked physically, chemically, and biologically regularly (Akhter et al, 2020;Winandar et al, 2020).…”

“…The purification procedure for refillable drinking water is sought to have been passed by Ultra Violet (U.V.) irradiation, ozonation, or a combination of the two techniques (Uddin et al, 2021). Refilled drinking water must pass bacteriological, organoleptic quality, and consumption safety tests before being consumed by the general population (Wen et al, 2020).…”

Assessment of coastal river water quality in Bangladesh: Implications for drinking and irrigation purposes

“…For metal analysis, the digestion process involved taking a 100 mL water sample, adding 2 mL of concentrated HNO 3 (67-70%), and then evaporating the mixture to reduce the volume to 40 mL. The sample was subsequently filtered using filter paper (Whatman 42 μm) after being diluted to the appropriate volume with distilled water [44][45][46][47].…”

Harvested Rainwater Quality of Dhaka and Its Importance as the Alternative to Surface and Groundwater

“…However, the amount of lead present in these rainwater samples was measured in parts per billion (ppb) level and found to be 0.50 ppb. Compared to the WHO limit, the amount of lead in the harvested rainwater is very insignificant and it should be considered safe to drink [10]. Although this rainwater of Dhaka city is almost feasible with the WHO standards, it is suggestive to drink it after small charcoal filtration and if necessary ultra-violate light exposure to remove any microbiological contamination.…”

“…Also, the anions of the samples were investigated by Ion Chromatography (IC), and Ca, Mg, Fe was conducted by performing Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS). The results of the heavy metals are presented in Table 1, and other parameters reveal that the rainwater quality of Dhaka city is quite excellent according to the WHO standard guideline for safe drinking water [10].…”