Quality of Iranian, foreign packaged drinking waters and municipal drinking water in Golestan Province, north of Iran

The use of packaged drinking water is on the rise nowadays in most countries, including Iran. Currently, more than 100 different brands of packaged drinking water are produced and distributed in Iran. This study was done to evaluate the quality of Iranian, foreign packaged drinking waters and municipal drinking water in Golestan Province, north of Iran.

This descriptive-analytical study was done on 56 packaged drinking waters of different Iranian and foreign brands, eight brands produced in Golestan province and a number of municipal drinking water samples were collected from Gorgan and Gonbad Kavous cities in northern Iran. To assess the quality of packaged drinking water and drinking water, their physicochemical parameters were compared with National Iranian Standards 1053 and WHO. Stiff and Piper diagrams were plotted to determine the type and hydrochemical facies of water samples. Gibbs and Schoeller diagrams were used to determine the water chemistry controlling factors of water samples and their water quality for drinking, respectively.

The concentrations of physicochemical parameters (except bicarbonate) were within the range of national drinking water standards 1053 and WHO. The average nitrate concentration in all packaged drinking and drinking water was within the standard range. The fluoride concentration of all packaged drinking waters and drinking water was within the range of WHO standard. However, only 14 samples of all packaged drinking and drinking water samples are within the range of 1053 National Iranian Water Standard. The total concentration of soluble solids and the total hardness of packaged drinking water were within the range of 1053 NW. There was also a significant difference (P<0.05) between the chemical parameters of magnesium, sodium, chloride and nitrate in packaged drinking water produced in Golestan province with the municipal drinking water samples.

The amount of fluoride in drinking water in this study was less than desirable and required fluorination. The quality of packaged drinking water in Golestan province is better than the municipal drinking water.