Impact Factor (2025): 6.9
DOI Prefix: 10.47001/IRJIET
Access to
safe drinking water remains a persistent public health challenge across
Nigeria. For many, especially in urban and academic communities, sachet water
has become the primary source of drinking water. Yet, questions about its
quality and adherence to safety standards linger. This study assessed the
bacteriological quality and safety of sachet water sold at Adamawa State
University, Mubi Commercial. We specifically looked for faecal contamination,
identified the bacteria present, and determined their resistance to common
antibiotics. Twelve sachet water samples from two brands were collected. The
Most Probable Number (MPN) technique was used to estimate faecal coliform
levels. Bacteria were isolated using standard culture methods on Nutrient Agar
and identified through a combination of cultural, morphological, and
biochemical characteristics. Antimicrobial susceptibility of the isolates
against 14 antibiotics was then tested using the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion
method. The results were striking. Physically, all samples (100%) failed to
meet essential NAFDAC labeling requirements. Bacteriologically, 10 out of 12
samples (83.33%) were contaminated with faecal coliforms specifically
Escherichia coli with MPN values ranging from 7 to 20 per 100ml. From these, we
isolated 28 bacterial isolates: E. coli
was most common (71.43%), followed by Staphylococcus aureus (21.43%) and
Pseudomonas aeruginosa (7.14%). Perhaps more worrying was the antimicrobial
resistance profile. The E. coli
isolates, for instance, were uniformly resistant to Augmentin, while all S. aureus isolates showed resistance to
Erythromycin. These findings suggest that much of the sachet water sold here is
contaminated with faecal matter and other bacteria, making it unfit for
drinking. The added dimension of multidrug-resistant bacteria only compounds
the public health risk.
Country : Nigeria
IRJIET, Volume 10, Issue 3, March 2026 pp. 118-123