Abstract: Freshwater and ground water are continuously affected by human faecal contamination. Numerous studies have documented the presence of enteric viruses in water from different sources. Due to the high incidence of hepatitis A and other viral diseases attributed to enterovirus, the sanitation authorities requested an assessment of the virological quality of the water in four departaments of Tucum?n, Argentina. The aim of this study was to recover and characterize the viruses present in freshwater and ground water in the aforementioned districts. Ten water samples of 20 l each were taken from the areas with the highest number of cases of hepatitis registered. Each sample was concentrated by adsorption-elution with glass wool. Isolation of the viruses was carried out using Vero, Hep2 and Rd cell lines and the immune electron -microscopy technique (IEM) was used. four samples were positive for cytopathic effect viruses in cell cultures, confirming: Echoviruses 18, Poliovirus 1 and 2 non-typified Enteroviruses. Immune electron microscopy in 2 samples revealed aggregations of viral particles morphologically compatible with Hepatitis A. Recovery of cytopathic viruses demonstrates the presence of infective viruses or virus particles, which create a potential source of infection.