Potability of water is the degree to which water is safe and clean. This study focuses on the potability of some selected sachet water sold in Bwari area council of FCT Nigeria. Samples of sachet water of 4 different brands were collected at random, and then subjected to bacterial assessment and antibiotics susceptibility. Most probable number technique were employed for the detection of coliforms and spread plate technique for bacteria loads. A total of 138 isolates were obtained from this study. Seventy-three (73) isolates were obtained from the source of water while 10 isolates were obtained from the sachet water collected from the factories just after production process. Hand swab of the factory workers showed a total of 24 isolates while 15 and 16 isolates were obtained from the distributors. This shows microbial recontamination after treatment processes along the distribution chain. The highest number of bacteria isolated was 44 isolates and this was obtained from brand D. Brand A and B both had 33 isolates while brand C had 28 isolates which represented the least number of bacteria isolated. The microorganism isolated from the four brands analyzed were not significantly difference (p≥ 0.05). Klebsiella pneumoniae and Staphylococcus spp was the most frequently isolated bacteria. All the brands of sachet water analyzed were below the drinking water standards set by WHO and are of doubtful quality. Care must be taken as these product moves from production sites to consumers. There is also need for regular monitoring of the production process by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control.
Monitoring of the physicochemical water quality parameters plays a vital role in assessing the water environment, and restoring water quality. This study was conducted to assess the physicochemical parameters of four brand of sachet water, and their source points using standard methods of American Public Health Association (APHA). The values for physical parameters which include temperature, colour, turbidity, total dissolved solid, and conductivity were all within the World Health Organization (WHO) permissible limit for both the source of water and sachet water. Chemical parameters include pH, chloride ion, electrical conductivity and alkalinity were also all within the WHO limit except total hardness which had a value of 222 mg/L for source of water (brand A) which was above the 200 mg/L limit of the WHO. The analysis of the heavy metals showed that iron and cadmium were not detected in all the samples analyzed, chromium was only found in brand A, with 0.10mg/mL for the source of water and 0.12 mg/L for the sachet water and this was above the WHO maximum contamination level of 0.05 mg/ml. Copper was found in all the samples ranging from 0.19 - 0.27 mg/ml for the source of water while a range of 0.15 - 0.24 mg/ml was recorded for the sachet water. There was no significant difference (p≥0.05) in the values of heavy metals obtained. The values recorded for the source of water in this study was higher than the values for sachet water for most of the physicochemical parameters analyzed which could indicate that there is an effect of the treatment process on the sachet water.
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