[La signification du nombre et de la nature des microorganismes telluriques présents dans l'eau minérale a l'émergence].

Water of the best protected mineral sources always contains a small number (often less than 10/ml) of "authochtonous" bacteria which multiply and subsist infinitely in the underground sheets. These bacteria are psychrotrophic, able to multiply in the absence of detectable traces of organic matter, but grow better in the presence of organic matter. They are very sensitive to the antiseptic agents currently used to purify drinking water. For reasons that are still unknown, these bacteria rapidly multiply in bottled water. However, this multiplication never leads to appearance of a sufficiently great number of populations to affect the limpidity of the water. It has been demonstrated that these autochtonous bacteria are not able to become established., i.e. to multiply and subsist in a great number in the digestive tract of axenic mice receiving mineral water. The conclusion of this is that there are no risks for multiplication of this bacteria in the organism of the consumer. The absolute number of these bacteria in bottled water has therefore no sanitary significance for the consumer and it seems not to be justified to establish strandard recommendations with respect to this. In the water sheet, only an abrupt rise in the number of autochtonous bacteria beyond the usual level, which varies much according to sheets, represents an unfavourable indication. Indeed, this might correspond to an accidental infiltration of organic matter and consequently of pathogenic bacteria into the water sheet. Search for bacteria as indicators of fecal pollutions therefore remains the most reliable method for estimating the hygienic quality of mineral water or of any other food products.