Sachet water is one of the primary sources of drinking water in rapidly growing countries. A study to assess the microbiological quality of sachet water in 21 different brands was conducted in Ghana. Culturable total coliform was positive in 87% of the samples collected, where Escherichia coli colonies were absent. The analysis of quantitative polymerase chain reaction results indicated the presence of E. coli genes in 44.6% of the samples, with the highest concentration up to 3,166 CCE/100 ml. Microbial source tracking analyses showed that the source of E. coli genes did not originate from sewage contamination because the human-associated HF183 marker was not detected. Of the 175 samples tested, 71% did not mention any water treatment before filling the packages. These results suggest non-human sources of contamination, such as biofilm formation in the pipelines used to fill these packages due to poor disinfection. Our study shows an urgent need for increased regulation and standardized manufacturing of sachet water to ensure safe drinking water.

袋装水是快速增长的国家中饮用水的主要来源之一。在加纳进行了一项研究，以评估21种不同品牌的香囊水的微生物质量。收集的样本中有87％可培养的总大肠菌群呈阳性，而大肠杆菌菌落不存在。定量聚合酶链反应结果的分析表明，在44.6％的样品中存在大肠杆菌基因，最高浓度可达3,166 CCE / 100 ml。微生物来源跟踪分析表明，大肠杆菌的来源这些基因不是源自污水污染，因为未检测到人类相关的HF183标记。在测试的175个样品中，有71％的样品在填充包装之前未进行任何水处理。这些结果表明非人为污染源，例如由于消毒效果差而在用于填充这些包装的管道中形成了生物膜。我们的研究表明，迫切需要加强对袋装水的监管和标准化生产，以确保安全的饮用水。