Application of Nemerow's Pollution Index (NPI) to assess the quality of bottled water available in Sulaymaniyah city.

Abstract

      A pollution index is a valuable tool used to assess the feature of water in a freshwater ecosystem. For this study, samples of bottled water from 10 different brands were collected, both local and imported, from various shops in Sulaymanyiah City between January and February 2023. The physical, chemical and bacteriological variables of the samples were studied. The main objective was to appraise the fittingness of these bottled water brands for drinking purposes using Nemerow's pollution index. To calculate the NPI, 15 parameters were measured, including turbidity, color, pH, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, total hardness, sodium, potassium, chloride, bicarbonate, sulfate, nitrate, phosphorus, and nitrite. The results were then compared to the drinking water guidelines set by the World Health Organization. The Nemerow's pollution index, derived from the measured parameters, indicated that the average NPI values ranged from 0.122 to 0.265 for all water samples. These values originated to be under the NPI limit set by the standards, suggesting a non-polluted status. Furthermore, all observed values were within the permissible limit, indicating that the bottled water brands investigated were of good quality.

Keywords

• brands
• values
• physiochemical parameters
• standards