Evaluation of Drinking Water Quality From Water Coolers in Makkah, Saudi Arabia

The quality of drinking water is an important health issue in crowded cities, so that an adequate drinking water with good quality must be provided, hence over hundreds of water coolers are distributed in Makkah city to cope with the increasing demand for drinking water. The present study aimed to determine the chemical and microbial quality of drinking water from coolers in Makkah city. Sixty-three samples from randomly selected water coolers were tested for chemical and bacteriological quality. For all samples, the mean value of physiochemical tests of pH (7.12), TDS (152.7 ppm), turbidity (2.56 NTU), free chlorine (0.312 ppm), fluoride (0.112 ppm), chloride (25.7 ppm), bromide (0.123 ppm), nitrate (0.616 ppm), sulfate (8.36 ppm), lithium (0.134 ppm), sodium (17.6 ppm), potassium (1.42 ppm), magnesium (1.95 ppm), calcium (19.2 ppm), chromium (0.025 ppm), cadmium (0.0026 ppm), and lead (0.0244 ppm) did not exceed the reference values of the drinking water regulations. The total coliform count was detected in 3.2% of the water samples. For total coliform count, the MPN in the majority of water samples (96.8%) was excellent while for E. coli count, the MPN in all water samples (100%) was excellent. Bacteriological quality has shown that no Pseudomonas, Salmonellae, or Legionellae species contamination detected. It was concluded that, the drinking waters in coolers in Makkah city were complied with international standards and within the acceptable limit. It is worth to continue periodic inspection and maintenance for the drinking water coolers during mass gatherings.