Molecular Analysis of Mineral and Tap Water to Detect Microbial Contaminants in Jeddah Province

Since ancient times, drinking water quality has played a significant role in human diseases and infections. In Jeddah, the drinking water choices are mostly bottled water or water available in plastic containers after processing at private water treatment stations. A total of 30 drinking water samples were obtained from many sources in Jeddah, KSA: mineral water (13 samples) and tap water (17 samples). Microbiological tests were used, including a negative and positive Gram stain test for these colonies and determining the type of bacteria. To identify bacterially, Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques were used in this study. Following that, the susceptibility of bacterial isolates to commonly used antibiotics is tested. The results showed that the microbial cultures were of different isolates. We confirmed that these results by microbiological examination and molecular identification found a difference between the study samples. Fifty-three bacteria were isolated from 30 samples, 34 (64.15%) tap water samples, and 19(35.85%) mineral water samples were found to be contaminated with bacteria. The highest bacterial contamination, 86.6% of all samples, was found in the tap water in 50% of samples, while 36.6% was found in mineral water. Microbiological tests and molecular diagnostic methods make it simpler and faster to shorten the detection time of drinking water contamination. The results of the current study suggest that mineral water is a better source of potable water in Jeddah than tap water. However, there may be pollution in the water at the reservoirs rather than at the water sources