Quality Analysis of Drinking Water Provided for the Readymade Garment Workers in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Readymade garment industries are the prominent economic sector for Bangladesh as well as scoping the huge working area for workers. But health condition of workers, drinking water quality, and proper maintenance of the environmental parameters are not well monitored. This study aims to assess the physio-chemical and bacteriological quality of drinking water provided for the garment workers in Dhaka. Ten garment industries were pre-selected for the water quality analysis and three drinking water samples from each industry were taken for further analysis. Physio-chemical parameters viz pH, TDS were measured by probe method and Total harness and Chloride of the water samples were measured by titrimetric method, respectively. Biological parameters viz Total coliforms, Fecal coliforms, Total aerobic bacteria count, Fecal streptococci, Pseudomonas spp., and Vibrio Cholerae were determined through standard procedure. Results show that pH (6.7±0.05 to 7.4±0.20), TDS (126.2±8.42 to 217.9±3.60 mg/L), Total Hardness (92±7.07 to 275±21.22 mg/L), and Chloride (8.5±0.95 to 46.5±3.27 mg/L) are within the acceptable limit. Bacteriological results show that Total coliform (1.05×103±0.071×103 to 2.16×103±0.084×103 CFU/100 ml), Fecal coliforms (145±2.828 to 249±21.213 CFU/100 ml), and Total aerobic bacteria count (2152.5±399.51 to 5540.5±185.97 CFU/100 ml) are higher than the standard limits. Pseudomonas spp. was also present in all drinking water samples but Fecal streptococci and Vibrio Cholerae were absent in all water samples. Bacteriological analysis shows that sources of drinking water are contaminated and proper maintenance and screening facilities should be improved.