Monitoring the bacteriological quality of Italian bottled spring water from dispensers

The bacteriological quality of unprocessed bottled spring water was evaluated, through enumeration of heterotrophic plate count at 22 °C and 37 °C, total coliforms, Escherichia coli, intestinal enterococci and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The aims of the research were to monitor the hygiene of bottled spring water and to evaluate the effectiveness of the dispenser sanitation procedure, reproducing field conditions. In total, 120 water samples were analyzed. The results indicated a high contamination frequency with P. aeruginosa (57.5%) and therefore the need to refine hygiene in the bottling plant and in the dispenser sanitation procedures.