WATER TEST KIT

It has been reported that human faecal contamination is one of the main causes of water-borne diseases. In 1993, WHO therefore recommended regular testing of drinking water for thermotolerant coliforms and Salmonella species to ensure its complete absence. The frequent testing of drinking water in remote areas, as well as in developing countries, is rather difficult to achieve. Townsend, 1992 has demonstrated the lack of correlation between coliform bacteria and the presence of Salmonella species in water, particularly in the tropics and subtropics. In Western Australia, 30% of Salmonella all isolations from water have occurred in the absence of indicator bacteria. Iveson and Fleay 1991, found that 3% of tropical waters tested were contaminated with Salmonella in the absence of Escherichia coli. They suggested that the origin of Salmonella may be from faeces of birds and reptiles which did not contain coliform bacteria. The absence of Escherichia coli in Salmonella contaminated water is more often in the tropics. However, analysis of Salmonella using the culture methods is a four stage process involving pre-enrichment, selective enrichment, biochemical identification and confirmation by serological method. Thus, it is a very lengthy process which requires four days for completion. Therefore Manja’s method was found most suitable for the detection of Salmonella species which uses H2S Strip. Water Testing Kit is based on similar lines for detection of hydrogen sulphide producers.

(1 pack contains: 10 bottles) for primary detection of Salmonella, Citrobacter and E. coli based on H2S production in glass bottles.