COMPARISON OF DRINKING WATER BOTTLES OF DIFFERENT COUNTRIES ALONG WITH ZAMZAM WATER

Abstract

Bottled water is perceived by many people of Pakistan and other countries as well a safer alternative to other sources of water such as tap water. This may be attributed to consumers disliking the taste of tap water or it’s organoleptic. Bottled water usage has increased even in countries where clean tap water is present such as in Germany, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia etc. The objective of present study was to compare the drinkable bottled water quality between different countries along with ZamZam water. Eleven different brands of bottled water including one un- bottled water (zamzam) collected from Pakistan, U.A.E, Kuwait, Germany and Saudi Arabia. They were analyzed for physiochemical and microbiological parameters for estimation of quality of water. For physio-chemical analysis, the pH meter, EC meter, Flame photometer and UV-Spectrophotometer were used respectively. For bacteriological parameters like Total Coliforms, Fecal Coliform and E. coli, filtration technique is adopted. In this study, comparison of mineral contents with labeled values mentioned on different brands of the countries like Rawdatain(Kuwait), Al- Ain(UAE), and Masafi (UAE) which have difference in actual measured values and labelled but all within WHO and IBWA standards. Bottle water companies claim, the water from different sources such as spring, deep ground and natural water but no doubt it may be taken from different natural sources and they are saying it a mineral water when it was not pass through any treatment processes. These bottles water are actually processed/treated water which does not contain sufficient amount of minerals necessary for the health.