Abstract

Safe drinking water which is reliable and reasonably priced is a human right and is necessary to maintain human health.
Constant raise in the sale and indiscriminate use of packaged drinking water is of public health significance. The present study
used analytical procedures and compared with Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) drinking water specification to evaluate the
physicochemical and microbiological characteristics of locally available 25 packaged water brands from different batches.
Overall, 25 different brands (17 bottles and 8 sachets) were analyzed for presence of bacterial indicators of water quality. Total
heterotrophic plate counts range from 0 to 140 CFU for water brands. Total three brands of water samples were deviating from
the BIS standards. Total coli forms and Escherichia coli were noticed in only two brands of water samples. Attempts need to be
strengthened in the examining of activities in this rapidly expanding industry with a view to raising standards.