Author(s)

LUCY SEMERJIAN, HANAN OBAID, HUDA ZAROUNI

Abstract

Water quality control is crucial throughout its supply, distribution, and storage to safeguard consumers and mitigate the spread of water associated diseases. The aim of the current study is to comprehensively assess water quality in private villa household water storage tanks in random areas of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. The study explores the variation in physico-chemical, as well as microbiological, water quality parameters, the factors contributing to the quality of stored water, as well as the most common water tank cleaning practices by the owners. Forty-four water samples were collected from water storage tanks, and analyzed for a variety of water quality parameters. Results demonstrate that overall physico-chemical quality of stored water is acceptable except for operational parameters such as electrical conductivity and chlorides in 50% of investigated samples; yet, such parameters do not pose major health hazards. However, residual chlorine levels were below minimum requirements set by water quality authorities in 93% of the samples, which may pose a risk of water re-contamination. The microbiological quality was satisfactory in terms of total coliforms yet total bacterial counts and occasional presence of fungi and molds suggest poor hygienic conditions and highlight the need for tank cleaning. Household water tank owners rarely clean their tanks thus it is highly recommended to promote such measures and educate tank owners about the importance of regular tank cleaning and maintenance.

Keywords

water quality assessment, water storage tanks, water guidelines, United Arab Emirates.