Arab Universities Journal of Agricultural Sciences

Abstract

Water pollution is a fundamental problem that must be addressed. The consequences of drinking water quality on human health have prompted research efforts to focus on its physical, chemical, and biological safety. Therefore, the basis of this study was the implementation to evaluate the chemical and biological characteristics of drinking water at the level of filtered and unfiltered water. The comparison revealed that there were no significant differences in the pH readings and electrical conductivity of household filtered water with tap water, where taps had an average pH of 6.81, but samples from filters had an average pH of 6.7 and mean of conductivity for tab samples was 350.7 EC and it was in filtered sample 365.7 EC. In addition, there was a slight increase in the percentage of nitrates between the filtered and unfiltered samples. As a result of the microbiological count, significant differences appeared between the tab and filtered samples, whereas the mean of the microbial count at 22°C, 37°C and fungi were 49.03, 58.3, and 2.23, respectively, for the tab sample while for filtered samples the median of the microbial count was 207.7, 177.53, and 18.9, respectively. For tap water, the mean concentrations of Al and Mn, were 61.95 mg/kg and 50.43 mg/kg, respectively, which are within the permissible limits set by both Egyptian and European standards for drinking water. For filtered water, the mean concentrations of Al and Zn were 112.46 mg/kg and 51.94 mg/kg, respectively, both of which are within the safe limits as per Egyptian and European standards for drinking water.