Microbiolocal Quality of Water in Automatic Drinking Water Dispensers in Bangkok Metropolitan Area

Abstract

This study investigated the microbiological quality of drinking water in the automatic drinking water dispenser located in the district of Dusit, Bangkok-Yai, and Bangkok-Noi of Bangkok metropolitan area. Samples were collected from automatic drinking water dispensers in the specified areas between August and December 2016. The date were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The total number of dispensers was 270 in which 10.3% of those were surrounded by the non-hygienic environment (i,e.,garbage/junk and water logged around the dispenser). There were only 13 dispensers that fully labeled according to the announcement of the label committee No. 31 B.E. 2553 (2010). 94.6% of dispensers have used Reverse Osmosis (RO) as a filtration process. According to the analysis of microbiological drinking water quality, 121 out of 270 samples or 44.8% were not obeyed by the standard. This finding is significantly related to the physical characteristics of the automatic drinking water dispensers (P <0.05), such as no door, door closed, and the door of the water outlet. Appropriate recommendation for applying the automatic drinking water dispenser is needed to provide the suitable information for the consumers.