Sachet water is now an important source of drinking water security in West Africa, and the sachet industry
continues to mature as market share increasingly shifts from cottage industry players to highvolume
corporate producers. Modern sachet production lines are prone to the development of biofilms,
and traditional microbiological indicators of fecal water contamination may not capture all the
potential risks to human health in such a widely-consumed product. This study tested a sample of 80
sachets purchased along two commercial transects in low-income neighborhoods of Accra, Ghana, for
total coliforms (TC), fecal coliforms (FC), Escherichia coli (EC), total heterotrophic bacteria (THB), and
Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA), and examined the relationships between these indicators and brand
reputation. Just 5% of samples tested positive for TC, and none tested positive for FC and EC, yet 41% of
samples tested positive for PA. After controlling for one popular brand, a negative brand reputation was
associated with both THB presence (P ¼ 0.015) and the number of samples with THB > 500 CFU/mL
(P ¼ 0.038), but PA was found in brands of both positive and negative reputations, and was only
correlated with THB counts. The emergence of PA presents an opportunity for the re-evaluation of
packaged water quality standards in a rapidly-globalizing, urban environment.