Microbiological quality of water from dispensers situated at CSIR-Food Research Institute

Abstract

Safe drinking water is essential to humans and other life forms even though it provides no calories or organic nutrients. This work aimed at determining the microbial quality of water supplied to CSIR-Food Research Institute. Water samples were collected from different dispensers situated at different locations of the Institute. Swabs from the inlet and outlet taps as well as the entire dispensers were also taken. The samples were analyzed for aerobic mesophilic organisms, coliforms, Escherichia coli, Enterococcus, and Staphylococcus aureus. The pH levels of the water samples were also determined. The water samples analyzed were microbiologically safe but the microbial populations recorded on the dispensers were quite substantial. The mean pH of all the water samples were in the range of 5.4 - 5.8 which were acidic and did not meet the WHO standard