BACTEEIA IIST COMMEKCIAL BOTTLED WATEES. 3 



houses. It is reasonable also to assume that when people pay 

 from 2 cents to $30 per gallon for bottled water they expect to ob- 

 tain a pure, or at least a safe water. Whipple ^ has defined a " pure" 

 water as one which is "free from bacteria or other organisms which 

 are liable to cause disease, and also free from B. coli." 



INSPECTION OF SPRINGS. 



The ultimate test of the fitness of a particular water for sale lies in 

 its condition at the spring. When contaminations are found in the 

 bottled article, the determination of responsibility for the condition 

 found calls for inspection at every stage of its handling. Such 

 inspections of springs have been made from time to time, usually 

 resulting in locating the source of trouble. The results of the 

 inspection of three springs are included in Tables I, II, and III. 

 These illustrate certain typical sources of pollution. In spring No. 

 1, insufficient coverings over the spring evidently permitted the 

 entrance of a rotten lemon or orange, containing the mold PeniciUium 

 italicum, a short time previous to the collection of these samples. 

 This mold can not exist long in water, and is practically never found 

 except on decaying citrus fruits. The actual inspection of this 

 spring and statements by the people of the vicinity disclosed the 

 fact that freshets would cause the water in the creek flowing past 

 to back through a swimming pool and into the spring. Inadequate 

 care was also apparent in the method of cleaning and rinsing the 

 bottles before they were filled. These bottles, as were those used 

 at spring No. 3, were rinsed with polluted water just before fiUmg. 

 (See Table III.) The water in spring No. 2 was undoubtedly grossly 

 polluted at times from the creek which flowed past. A culture of 

 B. paratyphosus B was obtained from a shipment of bottled water 

 from this spring four months prior to the inspection. 



It is not always possible, however, to locate the source of contami- 

 nation at the spring even by several inspections. One such spring 

 is still under observation. This spring is on high land well removed 

 from farm buildings and large streams of surface water. Its water 

 is highly mineralized and at its source contains B. coli in 1 cc or 

 8.1 cc quantities. It is said that the water is boiled and the bottles 

 sterihzed before the bottling; yet 88 out of 96 bottles purchased at 

 retail stores have been found to contain B. coli in 10 cc quantities, 

 and 64 out of 96 in 1 cc quantities. The B. coli found were identified 

 in all instances as belonging to the communis and communior groups. 

 Evidently the survey has been incomplete in some essential point. 



Naturally carbonated waters occasionally contain large numbers 

 of organisms. In general, however, artificially carbonated waters 



1 "V^'liipple, Geo. C, Value of pure and wholesome water, Biol, studies of the pupils of W. T. Sedgwick, 

 June, 1906. 



