Mycological and Bacteriological Quality and Safety of Bottled Water in Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Safe water supply is vital and can result in significant benefits to health. However, contaminated bottled water poses a great health risk due to the poor microbiological quality of water. METHODS AND MATERIALS: A retrospective study was conducted on 222 Bottled water samples collected from various regions of Ethiopia from January 2008 to December 2015, tested and recorded in Ethiopian Public Health Institute to determine heterotrophic plate count and Staphylococcus aureus by pour plate method; for coliforms using multiple tubes fermentation techniques; for mould and yeast count using spread method, and for Salmonellae and Shigella spp. using ES ISO 6579 and ES ISO 21567. The data was analyzed using SPSS 20 statistical package. RESULTS: Among the total samples examined from 44 brands, detections of heterotrophic plate count, mould, yeast, total and thermotolerant coliforms, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus were observed in 114 (51.4%), 33 (14.9%), 5 (2.3%), 2 (0.9%), 1 (0.5%), 1 (0.5%) and 1 (0.5%) samples respectively, but there were no detections of Salmonellae nor Shigellae species. CONCLUSION: About 40% of bottled water samples were mycologically and bacteriologically unsafe for human consumption. To prevent public health hazards, regular monitoring of bottled water using quality indicators should be a priority agenda.