Quantitative and qualitative assessments of microbial contamination in some bottled and tap water with their drug resistant pattern

• The present work focussed on the concerns of the existence of coliform, faecal coliform, and other pathogens in both tap water and commercially available bottled water, along with the drug resistant pattern of the isolates. The physico-chemical features of the bottled water samples were satisfactory, but most of the tap water exceeded the marginal limit. A total of 21 samples (10 of tap water and 11 of bottled water) were collected and processed for microbiological analysis. All the samples were found to be contaminated with total viable bacteria up to 10(8) CFU/mL. Among the 21 samples, seven samples were found to be contaminated with E. coli up to 10(6) CFU/mL, and six samples had Klebsiella spp. up to 10(2) CFU/mL. Faecal contamination was totally absent in all bottled water, but present in four tap water samples. Fungi was found in six samples within the range of 10(2) to 10(3) CFU/mL. Surprisingly, Staphylococcus spp. were observed in all bottled water. Vibrio spp. were detected in three samples. An elevated number of faecal coliforms, Klebsiella spp., Salmonella spp., Shigella spp., Vibrio spp., and Pseudomonas spp. were estimated among the tap water samples up to 10(5) CFU/mL. The water samples, especially tap water, collected from the different areas were microbiologically unsafe, as few pathogenic microorganisms were found in several samples. This indicated as public health threat. Most of the isolates from both tap and bottled water samples were found to be resistant against more than one antibiotic tested, which is extremely alarming for the consumers. Very few antibiotics were found to be effective against the bacterial isolates. (C) All Rights Reserved.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi -- Mikrobiologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences -- Microbiology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

coliform and faecal coliform

drug resistance

waterborne diseases

water microbiology

escherichia-coli

drinking-water

antibiotic-resistance

outbreak

infections

coliforms

disease

genes

risk

Food Science & Technology

Publikations- och innehållstyp

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art (ämneskategori)