Open AccessAssessment of Bottled Water Quality in Kermanshah City Based on Calcium and Magnesium Hardness: Consumer Awareness and Laboratory Studies
Author(s) -
Hooshyar Hossini,
Sepideh Naseri,
Anvar Asadi
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
international journal of health and life sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2383-4382
pISSN - 2383-4390
DOI - 10.5812/ijhls.100132
Subject(s) - bottled water , tap water , hard water , water quality , quality (philosophy) , magnesium , environmental science , chemistry , environmental engineering , metallurgy , materials science , ecology , philosophy , organic chemistry , epistemology , biology
: Today, the use of bottled water has increased significantly for various reasons, such as the low quality of tap water, presence of hazardous chemicals in piped water, ease of transport, and accessibility. Therefore, considering the quality features of bottled water is of utmost importance. The present study was conducted in the two stages of questionnaire and laboratory with the aim of determining the correlation between the quality of hardness when bottled water is purchased and evaluate the calcium and magnesium contents in the laboratory. The applied questionnaire was designed based on water hardness in four sections of knowledge and attitude, and its validity and reliability were confirmed. The calcium and magnesium contents were determined using standard methods and the inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry apparatus. The obtained results indicated that the most important indicators of purchasing bottled water were softness availability, brand, and coldness. Contrary to consumer claims, the most commonly used bottled water (60% of the brands) were observed to be those with high hardness. Therefore, it could be concluded that factors such as availability, marketing, and percentage of the consumption market are the most important influential factors in the consumption rate of bottled water.