Browsing by Author "Kabali Moses"

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    Assessment of Water Purification Systems on Quality of Water Used in Pharmaceutical Production by Selected Companies in Uganda
    (Kampala International University, 2023-10) Kabali Moses
    Quality of water used in pharmaceutical production is a key determinant of the quality of medicines. The use of substandard water in pharmaceutical production will yield poor quality medicines. The Objective of this study was to assess water purification systems, and quality of water used in pharmaceutical production by selected companies in Uganda. This study considered both conventional and herbal companies. This study was across-sectional, lab-based study. For assessment of water purification systems, BP/USP prescribe selected microbial and physicochemical tests on water samples obtained from the following critical points; point after deionization, point after UV-treatment and at the end-use point. In this study, selected physicochemical and microbial parameters, prescribed by the BP/USP to assess water purification systems were considered. Physio-chemical parameters assessed included; pH, electrical conductivity and temperature. Microbial parameters assessed included; total microbial load and detection for presence of coliforms. For conventional pharmaceutical companies, all the microbial and physicochemical parameters were found to be within the BP/USP prescribed limits. Both, microbial and physicochemical parameters were measured across the three different critical points of the water purification systems; at the deionization point, UV-treatment point and end-use point. With the exception of electrical conductivity (p<0.05), all the microbial and physicochemical parameters were not statistically different across the three water purification points, with P-values > 0.05. No coliforms were detected across the three critical water treatment points. Significant difference in conductivity implied relative contamination of water by ionized substances during transportation to the end use point. However, electrical conductivity was within the acceptable BP/USP prescribed limit of less than 1µS/cm. For herbal companies, with exception of pH, all the physicochemical and microbial parameters were found to be within the prescribed BP/USP limits. No coliforms were detected in the water used by herbal companies. In conclusion, in this study, water used by conventional pharmaceutical companies meets the required BP/USP standards. Water systems used by conventional companies work as required to produce water of required quality. With exception of pH, water used by herbal companies in production meets the required specifications. Some of the herbal and conventional companies have not carried out annual validation of their water purification systems.