Abstract:
Background: The recent introduction of sachet
water to consumers was to provide safe, hygienic
and affordable instant drinking water to the public.
Although this is a laudable idea current trends
seem to suggest that sachet drinking water could
be a route of transmission of enteric pathogens.
Objective: To assess the safety of sachet drinking
water.
Materials and Methods: Twenty seven different
brands of 500ml sachet water samples randomly
selected and purchased from various vendors in
Accra were subjected to microscopic examinations
to determine the presence of parasitic protozoa.
The study was carried out between January and
May 2005.
Results: Seventy-seven percent of the samples
contained infective stages of pathogenic parasitic
organisms. Common pathogens identified include,
Microsporidia sp 14/27 (51.2%), Cryptosporidium
parvum 17/27 (63.0%), Cyclospora cayetenensis
16/27 (59.3%), Sarcocystis sp. 18/27 (66.7%).
Rotifers 5/27 (18.5%), and Charcoat Leyden crys-
tals 12/27 (44.4%). Ninety-three percent of the
samples contained unidentified impurities/artifacts.
29.6% of the samples contained at least one type
of parasite, 14.8% contained at least 2 types of
parasites, 25.9% contained at least three types of
parasites, while 29.6% contained four types of
parasites.
Conclusion: The study indicated the presence of
contaminants of feacal and zoonotic origin in some
of the sachet water examined. This has grim public
health implications as the organisms identified can
cause water related diseases which have serious
complications in children and adults particularly
immunocompromised individuals. Sachet water
should be constantly monitored for its microbial
quality.
