U.S. FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION’S TOTAL COLIFORM REGULATION

The January 2021 IBWA Bottled Water Code of Practice references FDA’s 2009 rule on Coliforms and E. coli in Appendix C recommending mitigation by following 21 CFR 129.35(a)(3). The rule applies to source waters only and requires that, once a source has tested positive for total coliform and/or E. coli, the source owner must mitigate the cause of the contamination. Before bringing the source back online, the source owner must collect 5 samples from the affected source over a 24 hour period and test them. All samples must be free of any total coliform and E. coli.