Safety evaluation of some packaged potable water in Ondo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Twenty samples of potable water, known as ‘pure water’ in Nigeria, were collected fresh from the production sites in Ondo State, Nigeria. They were analysed for their physical, chemical and microbiological qualities.. Observations on the physical analysis showed that the colour, odour, taste, turbidity, conductivity and pH, except in one sample, agreed with WHO standards for drinking water. The turbidity ranged between 0.010 and 0.090, conductivity ranged between 120 and 780 while the pH ranged between 6.68 and 8.86. No detection of cadmium, cobalt, arsenic and carbonate ions in all the water samples tested. However, nickel, calcium, bicarbonate were within acceptable range, as recommended by WHO, although two of the samples had lead content higher than the acceptable level.
The bacterial loads of the water samples ranged between 0.40 x 105 and 0.04 x 105 which were higher than the acceptable range (30 – 300 cfu/ml). Some pathogenic bacteria (Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, proteus sp. and Enterobacter) were detected in some of the water samples. Ten of the tested water samples were not safe for drinking and strict quality control by Food and Drug Administration is recommended.
Key Words: Potable water; ‘Pure water’; Safety evaluation; Water microbiological quality..