Microbial evaluation of bottled water marketed in North India

Drinking unsafe and unhygienic water can cause waterborne diseases such as diarrhea and typhoid. The present study describes the microbial evaluation of bottled water sold in North India. The samples were analyzed for total viable count and coliforms and susceptibility to different antibiotics. Though free of coliforms, the samples had a total viable count ranging from 0.01 × 10 (1) cfu/mL to 2.40 × 10 (3) cfu/mL and in 17% of the samples, total viable count was much higher than specified by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), Government of India. Among the samples, 6.5% also showed fungal growth. On checking the sensitivity of bacteria isolates to different antibiotics, most of the strains were found to be resistant to a number of antibiotics. It can thus be concluded that the consumption of bottled water with a high viable count and that was bacteria-resistant to different antibiotics may have an effect on the health of the consumers, especially immune-compromised individuals.