An investigation of water quality of commercially available bottled drinking water in Dhaka city

Abstract The past few years have seen an increasing demand for drinking water in modern society with a focus on safety, taste and Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI). Mineral water is now marketed as a popular commercial product due to health concerns. The question of the quality of tap water helped to raise the popularity of commercial drinking water. Besides that, commercial water brands promoted their water as “Mineral water” which encourages modern people to consume bottled water to maintain their daily dietary requirements. The research investigated the status of the physicochemical quality of bottled water in Dhaka city. A total of eleven locally available and popular mineral drinking water brands were investigated. The study also analyzed the “Taste Index” and “Health Index” which were calculated by the measured parametric values. These indexes were leveraged to create a classification database of the commercially marketed bottled drinking water brands. The study showed that the majority of the physicochemical parameters of the water quality of the samples meet the Bangladesh standard. However, the mineral content (e.g., Calcium and Magnesium) of all the sample waters was found to be very low and below Bangladesh standard—posing the risk of mineral deficiency from long-term consumption. The outcome of the study unraveled the real status of bottled water drinking water quality and would guide the stakeholders to avoid any potential health risks.