Quality Characteristics of Commonly Consumed Drinking Water in Riyadh and Effect of Domestic Treatments on Its Chemical Constituents

Abstract

Quality analysis of drinking water quality provides important information about the sources of water pollution and guidelines for health protection. This study gives information of major quality constituents of twenty bottled water brands, household water from different zones in Riyadh and zamzam water commercially available in Riyadh and the effect of domestic treatments commonly used in Saudi Arabia on its chemical constituents. Samples were allowed to warm up at ambient temperature after acidifying in 0.5% nitric acid and then aspirated directly into the inductively coupled plasma spectrometry. Concentration of major cations (calcium, magnesium, potassium and sodium) and trace elements (lead, arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, selenium and zinc) in all samples were far below the maximum guidelines set by World Health Organization (2011) and Saudi Arabian Standards Organization (1984). This study led to the conclusion that zamzam water has a rich essential mineral profile. Except for sodium the concentration of other major cations (calcium, magnesium, and potassium) reported on the labels of most of the bottled water were higher than values observed in the laboratory. Home treatments such as rolling boiling and reverse osmosis didn’t show any significant (p ≥ 0.05) effect on the chemical constituents of water. Regular and proper monitoring programs should be established to assure that the quality of drinking water remains within acceptable national standards.