Bacteriological safety of plastic-bagged sachet drinking water sold in Amassoma, Nigeria

摘要

Objective:To evaluate the bacteriological safety of sachet water sold in Amassoma, a rural community in Bayelsa State, Nigeria. Methods:Six samples of each of the different sachet drinking water brands were bought at random from shop shelves, markets and street vendors and were studies for microbial indicators of safety and quality. Bacterial counts were analyzed by one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and significance of differences was tested at 5%probability. Results:Minimum and maximum counts with regard to the sachet water samples investigated were (4.3±1.1)í106 CFU mL-1 and (8.2±1.0)í106 CFU mL-1 for heterotrophic plate counts;(0.9±0.3)í106 CFU mL-1 and (1.2±0.4)í106 CFU mL-1 for aerobic spore-former counts;(1.3±0.5)í103 CFU mL-1 and (2.5±0.8)í103 CFU mL-1 for total coliforms;(1.6±0.9)í103 CFU mL-1 and (9.5±11.2)í103 CFU mL-1 for thermotolerant coliforms. Klebsiella spp but not Escherichia coli was present in all samples of the brands;non-coliform bacteria detected in some samples were Staphylococcus, Pseudomonas and Bacillus species. Conclusions:The brands of sachet water sold (at the time of this study) in Amassoma did not meet the minimum acceptable standard for microbiologically safe drinking water as recommended by the World Health Organization.