Quality of Plastic Bottled Drinking Water Distributed in Krabi, Phang Nga and Phuket Province, January 2013-December 2015

Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine microbiological contamination in plastic bottled drink-ing water distributed in Krabi, Phang Nga and Phuket Provinces, Thailand. The microorganisms in this study were coliform bacteria, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella spp. A total of 382 water samples were collected from Krabi, Phang Nga and Phuket Provinces during the period from January 2013 to December 2015. The results showed that one hundred and sixteen samples (30.37%) did not pass the standard guidelines for drinking water in sealed container according to the standard set in the announcement No. 61 (A.D.1981) of the Ministry of Public Health of Thailand. The water samples were found to be contaminated with coliform bacteria (>2.2 MPN/100 mL, 61.21%), E. coli (21.55%), S. aureus (1.72%) and Salmonella spp. (0.86%). The results highlight the importance of periodic disinfec-tion procedure and monitoring system for plastic bottled drinking water in order to control the mocrobial contamination.