Assessment of the quality of bottled and sachet water sold in Nsukka town

Abstract

The physical, chemical and microbiological qualities of 17 brands of bottled and sachet water sold in Nsukka town were evaluated to ascertain compliance with recommended standards by World Health Organization (WHO) and National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control(NAFDAC). Physical parameters like Total suspended and dissolved solids, turbidity and conductivity were determined by instrumental methods. Cationic and anionic constituents were determined by standard titrimetric and spectrophotometric methods. The study revealed that all the brands of wateranalyzed were physically and chemically wholesome and met the WHO standards (also adopted by NAFDAC). Four brands (24%) of the water had total viable count above the recommended count of 1000cfu/ml while 88% of the brands had coliform count above the recommended count of zero cfu/ml.