Abstract

ARELLANO, Alfonso  and  LINDAO, Verónica. Effects of water quality and management on bottled water consumption. Novasinergia [online]. 2019, vol.2, n.1, pp.15-23.  Epub June 06, 2019. ISSN 2631-2654.  https://doi.org/10.37135/unach.ns.001.03.02.

Some authors have reported the effects of demographic, socio-economic and water quality factors on drinking water consumption. Some studies report bottled water consumption from a public health and ecological perspective. This research shows the correlations between drinking water quality and management, and its effect on bottled water consumption, in 11 cities. The Ingecap Index quantifies the water quality and water management referring to standards of colour, turbidity, pH, residual chloride, total coliforms and total dissolved solids (TDS). The public water quality is also assessed by organoleptic characteristics such as: smell, colour, taste and soil presence. We evaluated the results through descriptive statistical methodology by using variance assessment, Tukey comparison test, linear tendency and determination coefficient (R²). This research confirms the incidence of water quality on public drinking water consumption rates, with differences between economic and social levels. The consumption of bottled water is another effect of distrust in public drinking water quality. The users consume different amounts of bottled water according to their budget limitations. A significant statistical correlation was found between user’s sensory perceptions and the Ingecap Index of management and drinking water quality. Ingecap suggests to be an easy, cheap and fast tool to assess water management as well as drinking water quality that contributes to make immediate improvements.

Keywords : Bottled; drinking; quality; management; water.

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