The need to ensure safe drinking water especially for a vulnerable subpopulation such as school children and the students is anchored on the millennium development goal on environmental sustainability. Water vending is usually associated to private vending of drinking water which (Organization, 2011) highly recommends that there is a need to constantly monitor the chemical and microbial parameters as part of the requirement for the suitability of water for human consumptions. Furthermore, it will also serve as a basis for the control measure such as water treatment requirements. Water that is supplied to the schools for consumption should meet the guidelines set by the regulatory agencies standards because the quality and adequacy of water supplies vary.

In the Philippines, commercially sold vended water usually is supplied from private and registered water companies in which water is treated prior to delivery and mode of access is through conventionally supplied tankers, others in coin-operated standpipes and/or water kiosks. Hence, good hygiene in handling vended water and its machine is required in order to avoid water-borne diseases caused by disease-causing bacteria and other microorganisms. Ideally, drinking water should not contain pathogenic organism such as E.coli which is considered to be a fecal indicator for water quality test. The presence of this thermotolerant coliform has been conventionally employed to monitor drinking-water quality up to the present time. As reported by (Hutin et al., 2003) that vended water has been associated with gastrointestinal diseases such as diarrhea. Such diseases can adversely affect the performance of the students especially on their attendance (Jasper et al., 2012).

The issue of clean and potable water is a pressing global concern. Issues on water security, water sanitation, and adequacy of water supply are considered a barometer of economic development of a nation in general and local districts in particular. In the local scenario, the Metropolitan Cebu Water District [MCWD] facilitates the equitable distribution of clean water for all domestic purposes. MCWD operates under a strict compliance to standard water sanitation practices, thereby rendering its water safe for human consumption. However, the course to which clean and potable MCWD’s water reaches the household is affected by the following factors, namely: (a) stability and well-maintained pipes; (b) presence of septic tanks to which these pipes flow; (c) “pipe-tapping devices”, an illegal form of drawing water from the main water lines; and (d) hygiene and sanitation practices in the end-user’s household.

Ideally, MCWDs water is clean, purified, underwent standard chlorination, filtration and ozonation processes and are essentially ready for consumption. These protocols increase consumers’ trust and confidence that such an affordable water supply is free from pathogenic organisms and has tolerable limits of dissolved metals. Despite MCWD’s provided assurance to their consumers as to the safety of the water for drinking, a majority of local people prefer to buy purified water from water refilling stations. Local anecdotal reports from consumers argue on the increased safety once community water provided by MCWD passed through the second filtration process performed by refilling stations.

All over the Philippines, modes of delivery are observed either through the use of water dispensers in households and offices or water vending machines (WVM) in public places. The latter is commonly accessed in public ele- mentary and secondary schools (i.e. where there is an absence of sterile water fountains as in the case of private schools), and these WVMs are operated by private franchisees which do not usually undergo strict sanitary mon- itoring due to the inherent trust of the schools to these WVMs operators. Drinking water from bottle-less coolers such that of the water vending machines may pose some public health risks to consumers due to either chemical or microbiological contamination (Hussein et al., 2009). The lack of sanitary monitoring paved the way for increased complacency on ensuring regular cleaning of WVMs, replacement of old gallons, removal of accumulated residues from biological and non-biological matter.

This alarming condition is a perennial concern especially in public schools where the population is large and children whose ages are vulnerable to gastrointestinal diseases. WHO statistics shows that there are approximately 94,000 deaths occurred in NCR due to diarrhea in 2014 caused by lack of safe water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services (WPRO, 2017). As to the report of the Department of Health that in 2018, within a month, 1,051 acute bloody diarrhea cases were reported and this is caused by exposure to various pathogens in food and water.

Such precedence is the standpoint of this initial assessment in order to investigate the quality of drinking water distributed through water vending machines located in different public schools in Cebu City.

It is an inherent right for every citizen to have access to safe drinking water (WHO, 2011). Due to the increase in demand for potable water by the growing population, water service providers respond to the need through the placement of Water Vending Machines in populated areas such as in schools. The Philippine government must strengthen the regulation of these water supplies by ensuring them to be compliant to the national standard (i.e., PNSDW) for drinking water and that of the international institutions (i.e., WHO and US-EPA) (EJ et al., 2012).Water dispensed by the WVM comes in the form of bottled water hence; the agency responsible for the regulating and monitoring of water is the Department of Health (DOH) Food and Drug Administration. This agency utilizes The Philippine National Standards for Drinking Water (PNSDW) 2007 in determining the water quality (EJ et al., 2012). To ensure implementation of the task at the local level, the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) was created through Presidential Decree 198 (1973) to monitor the local water standards and assess its compliance with the national standard. Administrative Order 0012 s. 2017 stipulates the guidelines for monitoring water vending machines such that the minimum frequency of sampling should be conducted once a month for a microbiological test and twice a year for physico-chemical analysis. Despite the tasked force and legal mandate, access to safe drinking water still remains an issue which prompted researchers to conduct an independent and third-party assessment of the water quality in their locality.

In the published reports conducted in the Philippines, (Tonog & Poblete, 2015) looked into the quality of drinking water obtained from various sources such as deep well, pump well and communal faucets in some barangays in Northern Samar and found out that all water samples were positive for fecal coliforms. Meanwhile, Alambatin, Germano, Pagaspas, Pen˜as, Pun-an, & Galarpe (2017) evaluated the physicochemical parameters of drinking water samples in Cagayan de Oro and found out that water is fit for human consumption, however; findings lack analysis on the presence of heavy metals, pathogens, and organic components. Meanwhile, (Austero et al., 2013)evaluated the water samples collected from water vending machines within the radius of the hospital, and found out that all of the samples were positive for total coliform, total bacterial and fecal coliform count which rendered the water unfit for drinking.

In the global scenario, this water quality monitoring has been practiced. Decades ago, (Chaidez et al., 1999)have already initially assessed the water vending machine in terms of microbiological and physico- chemical parameters. They concluded that there is a high bacterial concentration of total coliforms and Escherichia coli detected in the drain samples. No significant correlations were found between the physicochemical and bacte- riological parameters. Similarly, (Al Moosa et al., 2015) investigated the water dispenser machines installed in schools and universities in UAE in terms of a microbial parameter. They concluded that the water samples were found unsatisfactory as total coliform and E.coli were detected. They attributed it to the low maintenance and improper hygiene and unsanitary conditions of the water dispenser machines. The aforemen- tioned condition of water implies the need for ensuring water quality locally. From the prevailing scenarios both at the local and global scene, similar conclusions have been presented on the water samples collected — that it is not fit for human consumption due to the presence of pathogenic organisms. US-EPA (2018) strongly emphasized that there should be zero tolerance for the presence of fecal coliform in drinking water. Hence, this present study would like to verify if the water vending machines located in schools in Cebu are compliant with that national and global standard.

Water quality is assessed in terms of the following parameters: biological, chemical and physical properties and these parameters are presented in separate tables below. Briefly, chemical properties include dissolved heavy metals alone while physical properties include pH and water hardness in terms of concentration of CaCl. For microbiological attributes, the presence of fecal coliform and total coliform counts were determined.

Based on the results of the study, chemical and physical test were within the acceptable levels as heavy metals (which are known to be toxic in large amounts) were at the negligible to a normal level, pH was relatively ac- ceptable, and hardness level is acceptable. However, the water samples obtained from the WVM were relatively unclear of coliform bacteria such as E.coli and total coliform count as evidenced by a relatively higher CFU/mL compared to the acceptable values in drinking water. Hence, the study concluded that the water sample is unfit for human consumption. As the results may suggest, these water vending machines need routine cleaning and maintenance to avoid accumulation of coliforms and contamination of E.coli.

In order to ensure the quality of drinking water accessed by the public through vending machines installed in schools, it should be regularly cleaned, monitored and tested by the company owner to comply with the guidelines and also by the designated government agency for public safety and welfare. Furthermore, hygienic conditions in handling, delivery, and storage of water should be given utmost priority. A school administrator also must create and implement guidelines and protocols in regulating the bottles of water supplied, machines installed in schools, as well as the usage and maintenance of the overall facility to ensure utmost compliance to the standard for safe drinking water. Local Government Units must conduct regular monitoring as mandated in the Administrative Order 0012 s. 2007 that all the water vending machines installed in public places be analyzed for microbiological con- stituent monthly and physicochemical analysis twice a week not just in schools but also in eateries and convenient stores where most of the water vending machines are placed.