Background: There is currently an increased demand and consumption of bottled water in
Tanzania especially among the middle and high income earners as it is generally perceived to be
pure, clean and of good quality. This has led to the sale of different brands of bottled water on the
Tanzanian market. Due to increased demand and consumption of bottled water in Tanzania, there
has been a growing concern about the microbiological quality of this product. The objective of this
study was to assess the physico-chemical quality parameters and microbial contamination level
with thermotolerant fecal coliform bacteria commercial bottled water Dar es Salaam city in
Tanzania. Materials and Methods: This cross sectional study was done in randomly selected ten different
commercial brand of bottled water available in commercial market of Dar es Salaam city in
Tanzania. Tap water from Dar es Salaam Water Supply Company (DAWASCO) was also sampled
for comparison. Fecal coliform were enumerated by the membrane filtration and commercial field
testing DelAgua®kit. The physicochemical examination of the water samples was done to
determine pH, turbidity and Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) of the water samples using a Hach
spectrophotometer (Hach Company, Loveland, Colorado, USA).
Results and Discussion: All samples of bottled water (100%) analyzed did not show the presence
of thermotolerant faecal coliform bacteria and thus meet the World Health Organization (WHO)
acceptable value of zero cfu/ml. All the surveyed brands of bottled water were safe for drinking as
they were devoid of any thermotolerant fecal coliforms bacteria. Tap water from DAWASCO
revealed thermotolerant fecal coliforms contamination with mean CFU counts of 4.0/100ml.
Coliform organisms found in tap water in this study were above the recommended levels by
regulatory agencies such as Tanzania Bureau Standard (TBS), International Bottled Water
Association (IBWA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), United States Environmental Protection
Agency for (USEPA), World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Community (EC).
The overall mean results of the physicochemical parameters of bottled water brands and tap water
studied were within the recommended limits by TBS and WHO.
Conclusions: The absence of thermotolerant fecal coliform bacteria in the bottled water is
indicative of safety for public consumption. Tap water from DAWASCO is unfit for human
consumption and it needs to be treated to render it safe for human drinking. Physicochemical
parameters revealed that the pH, TDS and turbidity were within the required levels by TBS and
WHO. This indicates that, the manufacturers of bottled water brands and DAWASCO are
conforming to the TBS and WHO standards on physicochemical requirements for drinking water.