Abstract
Bottled water brands, consisting of both local and imported types, collected from Doha city, Qatar, were evaluated for their suitability for human consumption. Water quality constituents that were analyzed include trihalomethanes (THM) by GC-ECD, turbidity, TDS, total hardness, total alkalinity, pH, EC, major anions by IC, and major cations and trace metals by ICP-MS. The data obtained were compared with the WHO and the USEPA drinking water standards. As, Se, Ba, and Cu were undetected in all water samples. The levels of potential toxic metals in the studied brands were generally low, except for three brands that had Cd and Pb which exceeded the WHO limits. Fluoride was generally present in all bottled water brands at levels less than the lower optimum level. The reported data for pH, turbidity, TDS, EC, alkalinity, hardness, major anions, and major cations were generally in compliance with the WHO and the USEPA standards, with exception of five brands, where the levels of TDS, EC, F, and NO
3
exceeded the WHO recommended limits. Also, it was found that the concentrations of NO
3
F, Fe, Cr, Zn, and Pb were higher in the local brands. The levels of Cd, Mn, Ca, Mg, EC, alkalinity, SO
4
, TDS, THM, and hardness were higher in the domestic brands, when compared to the imported ones. The levels of Cl, pH, turbidity, and Na in the domestic brands were comparable to imported ones. Three THM were found in 29% of water samples with three brands having CHCl
2
Br and CHCl
3
levels exceeding the WHO standards.
Comparison of the results of this study with the reported label values of both domestic and imported bottled water showed good agreement with pH and K values, but significant variation for Ca, Mg, F, NO
3
, and SO
4
in the imported brands and relatively low variation in the domestic brands. The results of chemical analysis of SRM 1460, trace elements in water, were generally in good agreement with NIST certified values.