Physico-chemical and microbiological quality assessment of commercially available bottled waters in the United Arab Emirates

Bottled water quality studies in the UAE are scarce, despite high consumption rates. The aim of this study is to analyze the quality of selected local (25 brands) as well as imported (27 brands) bottled waters commercially available in the UAE in terms of both physico-chemical and microbiological parameters. Outcomes help validate compliance of the tested parameters with existing regional and international standards and explore variations between laboratory findings and reported label values. All investigated samples in current study met most regional and international standards, except nine samples were below the acceptable total dissolved solids (TDS) range, and one was below the pH range. Given that TDS and pH have minimal health impacts, the bottled waters were deemed satisfactory overall. Comparisons between test results and label values showed good agreement for pH and bicarbonate alkalinity but significant variance in TDS, total hardness, and various minerals, including hardness, magnesium, and nitrates.