TITLE:
Spectrochemical Analysis of Bottled and Tap Water from Selected Counties of Middle Tennessee, USA
AUTHORS:
Aminul Islam Chowdhury, Ravneet Kaur, Anonya Akuley-Amenyenu, Abua Ikem, Sam O. Dennis
KEYWORDS:
Heavy Metals, Fluoride, ICP-OES, Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL), Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Cluster Analysis
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Water Resource and Protection,
Vol.13 No.1,
January
21,
2021
ABSTRACT: A total of 37 elements were determined in tap and bottled water samples from six counties of Middle Tennessee (USA) by Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES). The overarching goal of the study is to dispel the myth that bottled water is better than tap water or vice versa. Other parameters analyzed were pH, conductivity, and Total Dissolved Solids (TDS). The results were compared with the Maximum Contaminant Limit (MCL) reported by the US Environmental Protection Agency (US-EPA). The concentrations of phosphorus, silicon, fluoride, and chloride conformed to the established values by US-EPA maximum contaminant level corresponding value. The level of Aluminum (Al), Boron (B), Chromium (Cr), Cobalt (Co), Copper (Cu), Iron (Fe), Lithium (Li), Manganese (Mn), Nickel (Ni), Titanium (Ti), Vanadium (V), and Zinc (Zn) conformed to the established values by governmental agencies (USEPA). Heavy metals such as Arsenic (As), Cadmium (Cd), Cobalt (Co), Lead (Pb), Mercury (Hg), and Silver (Ag) were detected in the tap water of the urban (Davidson) and urbanizing (Rutherford and Williamson) counties; suggesting that rural counties had a less heavy metal concentration in their drinking water sources than urban counties (P