ABSTRACT

Continuous increase in the sale and indiscriminate consumption of packaged drinking waters in Nigeria is of public health significance. Physical, chemical bacterial load and biochemical test was used to determine the microbial quality of water sealed in polyethylene sacliets in UmuahialO sachet water brands were collected and analyzed. The study revealed that about 4 brands sampled did not meet the recommended WHO standard for taste while the chemical analysis showed that not most of the brands met the recommended standards. The bacteria load showed that some had high colony forming unit and some were low. Sample A was found to harbor more bacteria than the other samples. The morphological and biochemical characterization revealed the presence of Eschericliia co/i, Kiebsiella species, Salmonella species, Siigella species, Streptococcus species and Enlerobacter species. Other surveys revealed that 7 brands of sachet water have expiry date on them. It was discovered that most of the producers packaged the water from their water source without any form of treatment or analysis on them