Quality Assessment of Sachet and Bottled Water in Ogbomoso Metropolis, Nigeria

Background: Access to potable water has become a difficult task in many countries of the world including Nigeria. In Nigeria, the government is trying her best to make water supply available to the masses but till now this vision has never been accomplished. If those living in urban areas could not have access to portable water supply by the government, what is the fate of the people living in rural areas? This has led to increased usage of sachet and bottled water as portable drinking water.

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the quality of sachet and bottled water produced and/or sold in Ogbomoso metropolis, Nigeria.

Place and Duration of Study: This research was carried out in Ogbomoso and Ibadan both in Oyo State Nigeria between November 2018 and February, 2019.

Methodology: Twenty sachet and five bottled drinking water brands; making a total of 25 brands from different manufacturers were used for this study. They were purchased randomly from local markets, shops and street vendors within Ogbomoso metropolis. They were clearly marked for easy identification, and transported to the Quality Assurance Laboratory of Water Corporation, Eleyele, Ibadan for immediate analysis. The samples were examined physically and information on the packages were recorded. Each product was carefully opened to avoid contamination. The physical, chemical and bacteriological qualities as well as the mineral composition of all samples were analyzed using standard methods and results were compared with the recommended WHO/NIS guidelines for quality water.

Results: Physical examination indicated that all the sampled water were registered with NAFDAC but 50% of the sachet water had no manufacturing and expiry dates. The results of physical, chemical and bacteriological qualities as well as the mineral composition of sachet and bottled drinking water analyzed showed that 90% of the values were within the guideline of WHO/NIS for quality water.

Conclusion: Though, the average temperature values of both the sachet and bottled drinking water samples were significantly above the WHO/NIS standard, it did not have any effect on their microbiological quality properties. Total coliforms, faecal coliforms and enterococci bacteria that principally characterize drinking water quality were not present in any of the water samples. Generally, the results obtained in this study indicated that sachet and bottled drinking water produced and/or sold in Ogbomoso metropolis were of good quality and hygienic for consumption.