The importance of hygienic practices during the collection and bottling of mineral water.

Natural water suitable for direct bottling must be clear, colourless, and free from objectionable taste and odour. The mineral content must be limited in amount, otherwise the water would come within the medicinal water category. There should be no detectable organic matter present and the water must be of the highest bacteriological quality -- virtually sterile - and should remain in this condition during the collection and bottling processes. In order to achieve and maintain this high quality, the gathering grounds of the source must be protected from pollution; the construction of the well or spring must be such as to prevent external contamination, as also should be the collecting and bottling apparatus. Personnel employed in the factory should wear protective clothing and be regularly checked as to their freedom from waterborne infectious diseases. Control of the water as to its hygienic quality should be by regular and frequent analysis of samples of the water and the air at various points in the process and in the factory. A new problem that has arisen and has to be faced in this situation is the risk of contamination by certain materials in contact with the water that may contain substances that encourage the growth of saprophytic bacteria which would contaminate by the production of taste, odour, discolouration, cloudiness and definite evidence of microbial growth. It is emphasized that the extent of this new problem is not yet delineated and that methods of laboratory control and safeguards against such happenings are still evolving.