Evaluation of drinking water parameters of primary and secondary schools in gaziantep city center

This cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate the drinking water parameters of primary and secondary schools in Gaziantep city center. A questionnaire form including general information about the schools and information about drinking water was applied face-to-face with school administrators. Drinking water samples were taken from 60 schools to evaluate drinking water parameters. Chi-Square, Ttest, Mann-Whitney U, Kruskall Wallis tests and SPSS 22.0 program were used to analyze the data. In 16.7% of the schools, drinking water analysis results were found to be non-compliant with national legislation. Microbiological parameters were found above the limit values in 90% of the schools whose drinking water analysis results were considered inappropriate. In 1 school, the pH parameter was determined as inappropriate (10%). No significant difference was found in terms of analysis results according to school district, school type and school region. In 91.7% of the schools, the main source of drinking water was identified as mains water. This rate was lower in rural schools than in urban schools (85%-95%). In 41.7% of the schools, there is no canteen and packaged water sales. As a result, access to mains water in schools is not at the desired level. The causes of microbiological contamination in school drinking water should be investigated and short-mediumlong term plans should be made to improve drinking water.