Assessment of the Chemical Quality of Sachet Water Sources in Accra Metropolitan Assembly.
Date
2018-07
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Ghana
Abstract
Background: The inhabitants of Accra rely largely on sachet water since most consumers
perceive packaged drinking water as a safer alternative to other water sources. Despite this
however, the chemical qualities of these sachet water sources remain largely unstudied.
Objectives: Assessment of the packaging characteristics of sachet water across different
vending points, the contamination hazards in production sites, reasons for selecting different
water sources and the chemical quality of sachet water sources in producing facilities in
Accra Metropolitan Assembly.
Methodology: A cross-sectional study design of some enumeration areas in the AMA were
selected and studied based on the national deprivation index generated from the 2010
Population Census data. These selected areas have been designated as deprived and non
deprived areas. Sachet water producers were identified from product labels on sachet brands
and phoned for appointment and were traced for their consents to participate in the study and
thereafter, structured questionnaires were administered to the managers to answer the
objectives of the study. Afterwards, contamination hazards around the production sites were
observed and chemical quality of sachet water sources were analysed for Pb, As, Cr, Cd, Mn,
Cu and Fe in the laboratory after samples were collected from production sites.
Results: Above 60% of the brands had GSA kite or FDA registration printed on them, 14%
had quality parameters printed on them, 30% and 12.2% respectively had available sell-by
date and treatment methods printed on them. With regards to potential contamination hazards
in the production sites, 1.7% had cracks in their floors, 4.4% were without water proof floors,
3.3% had signs of scattered waste noticed in and around their packaging area whiles 5% were
not wearing their head covers. Only 3.3% had external hazards around them. Producers cited
the following reasons for influencing their choice of water sources; 44% for uninterrupted water supply, 31% for affordability, and 25% for availability. Again, a majority above (70%)
of the sachet water producing companies used standardized treatment techniques.
Importantly, significant associations were observed between facilities having hand-washing
station as compared with the chemical quality of water sources (X2=9 p˂0.05) and facilities
having waste scattered in their packaging area compared with the chemical quality of sachet
water sources were also seen to be significant (X2=6.4 p˂0.05). In addition, other selected
factors showed no significant association with chemical quality of water sources using a
logistic regression.
Conclusion: The facilities with hand-washing facilities had a positive impact on the
chemical quality of sachet water and those with scattered waste in and around their
production sites, had a negative impact on the chemical quality of the water sources. The
study showed that most producers used standardized treatment techniques in their water
treatment.
Description
MPH.
Keywords
Chemical, Sachet Water, Accra Metropolitan Assembly