Chemical Characteristics of Natural Mineral Water from a Wellspring in the Ban Haubueng Community Forest, Nampong District, Khon Kaen Province, Thailand

Abstract

This research aimed to analyze the chemical characteristics of natural mineral water from a wellspring in the Ban Haubueng Community Forest, Nampong District, Khon Kaen Province, Thailand. Physico-chemical properties and minerals status are important deciding factors in the assessment of water quality for water resource utilization. Therefore, the contamination of heavy metal and essential minerals from different locations within the Ban Haubueng community forest were evaluated. Water samples were collected in 2021 and then analyzed according to standard methods for heavy metal and the essential minerals; As, Pb, Cd, Zn, Cu, Hg, Ni, Mn, Zn, Fe, Se, Na, Si, and Ca through the use of Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy. In-house methods were also employed, based on EPA 3015 and microbial contamination; such as Escherichia coli via AFNOR Certificate Number 3 M 01/8-06/01 compared with ISO16649-2, and for Salmonella spp. by ISO 6579:2017. The results found that As, Pb, Cd, Zn, Cu, Hg and Ni as well as E. coli and salmonella were not detected in all water samples. Essential minerals including Si and Ca were detected in the mineral water samples at 7.61 ppm -7.64 ppm and 3.0 ppm-8.86 ppm, respectively. Therefore, we concluded that the mineral water has no heavy metal contamination and is safe from pathogenic microorganisms; E. coli and Salmonella spp. Moreover, other mineral elements present, like silicon may warrant further investigation for other purposes, such as agricultural production.