ASSESSMENT OF THE PHYSICOCHEMICAL PARAMETERS OF BOTTLED/SACHET WATER COMMONLY MARKETED IN KEFFI METROPOLIS

The production of sachet and bottled water for drinking is on the increase in Nigeria due to the scarcity of natural portable drinking water sources especially in a metropolitan settlement like Keffi. Ten different brands of sachet water and ten different brands of bottled water were bought in Keffi metropolis and conveyed to the laboratory for determination of pH, electrical conductivity (EC), turbidity, alkalinity, total hardness, total dissolved solids (TDS), sulphates, nitrates, phosphates, chlorides, sodium, calcium, magnesium and iron to ascertain the safety of the drinking water in accordance with the World Health Organization (WHO) and Nigerian Standard for Drinking Water Quality (NSDWQ) standards. The results obtained for the mean values of the physicochemical parameters for sachet and bottled water were, pH values ranged between 7.13±0.41 and 7.76±0.12, EC values ranged between 152.50±44.11 and 54.30±6.13 pS/cm, turbidity ranged between 3.20±1.14 and 0.23±0.22 NTU, alkalinity values ranged between 38.70±6.29 and 27.60±7.66 mg/dm3, hardness values ranged between 71.00±17.15 and 20.40±3.84 mg/dm3, TDS values ranged between 102.20±29.50 and 36.50±4.17 mg/dm3, sulphates values ranged between 0.05±0.16 and 0.00 mg/dm3, nitrates values ranged between 1.23±0.76 and 0.68±0.38 mg/dm3, phosphates values ranged between 0.75±0.20 and 0.36±0.23 mg/dm3, chloride values ranged between 5.50±3.02 and 0.99±0.29 mg/dm3, sodium values ranged between 0.03±0.01 and 0.02±0.01 mg/dm3, calcium values ranged between 2.80±1.17 and 0.90±0.40 mg/dm3, magnesium values ranged between 1.80±1.11 and 1.25±0.54 mg/dm3, iron values ranged between 0.17±0.06 and 0.14±0.03 mg/dm3 respectively. These results reveal that for all the parameters considered the values obtained are within the recommended limits of the WHO and Nigerian Standards therefore indicating quality assurance to the consuming public. ANOVA between the sachet and bottled water samples indicates significant variation especially in the metal contents which is higher in the sachet water samples suggesting that special attention is given to the treatment of bottled drinking water.