• Aisha Naseer
• Vivek Vikram Singh
• Arun Salick Moses

Due to the drift towards modern life style and poor quality of available supply water there has been a tremendous increase in the use of packaged drinking water in the recent decades. Packaged drinking water comes in various shapes and form which include plastic bottles, glass water, large gallons, jars and sachets. Before these are packed, the water pass through a series of purification processes as per the standards set by the national and international bodies. But recent studies have shown that the microbiological quality of even the packaged water cannot be trusted blindly. Hazardous microbial contamination has been found during earlier studies. This study was conducted to assess the microbiological quality of the different packaged water available throughout the markets of Allahabad city which included a total of 20 samples belonging to 5 national and international brands. The study showed that heavy number of coliform (E. coli), Staphylococcus aureus and faecal contamination (Streptococci) was found in the packaged drinking water and hence this water is not completely fit for human consumption. Consumption of such water may lead to several health hazards and serious diseases. This calls for an urgent need of quality assessment and monitoring of these packaged water by the local and national government bodies during their manufacturing and distribution.

Packaged drinking water, coliforms, faecal contamination, E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococci.

"Microbial Analysis of Packaged Drinking Water sold in Allahabad city", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.5, Issue 12, page no.759-771, December-2018, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1812199.pdf

"Microbial Analysis of Packaged Drinking Water sold in Allahabad city", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.5, Issue 12, page no. pp759-771, December-2018, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1812199.pdf