Water machines at the side of the road

[oxysong]

I keep tropical fish,some extremely delicate,they would most certainty die quite quickly if any contaminates. All fit and healthy from water machine,kill the fish far more rapidly than a human

[PerkinsCuthbert]

I love reading tales that include first world neuroses.

[yogi100]

18 minutes ago, HHTel said:

Then you might as well use tap water!

I just said I do use tap water. "For tea, coffee and cooking."

 

I said that I'd be "inclined" boil the machine water first just to be on the safe side. In the event my hotel provides guests with adequate bottled drinking water so I have no need nor inclination use tap water for drinking.

Edited June 15, 2019 by yogi100

[Pilotman]

5 minutes ago, oxysong said:

I keep tropical fish,some extremely delicate,they would most certainty die quite quickly if any contaminates. All fit and healthy from water machine,kill the fish far more rapidly than a human

so, carry a fish around with you to test each one? Do you use a public road side water machine to replenish your fish tank?  Sounds a bit odd.  Tropical sea fish live in sea water, but you can't drink it. Are your fresh water? They often live in rivers that have undrinkable water.   

 

 

[Pilotman]

3 minutes ago, PerkinsCuthbert said:

I love reading tales that include first world neuroses.

there is a big difference between having a neurosis and following sensible precautions in a tropical climate. 

[PerkinsCuthbert]

2 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

there is a big difference between having a neurosis and following sensible precautions in a tropical climate. 

Did anyone say there wasn't?

[yogi100]

15 minutes ago, HHTel said:

These machines are fine as long as they are maintained.  They are usually maintained by an individual living in the closest house.

My wife will travel past many to a particular one as she knows the guy who maintains it and he checks it daily.  If you're going to use one on a regular basis, then check  and speak to whoever's maintaining it.  

 

If you're a visitor or holiday maker how do you find out who maintains it and how do you converse with him if you don't speak Thai and he does not speak English or whatever your language might be?

[yogi100]

13 minutes ago, yogi100 said:

I just said I do use tap water. "For tea, coffee and cooking."

 

I said that I'd be "inclined" boil the machine water first just to be on the safe side. In the event my hotel provides guests with adequate bottled drinking water so I have no need nor inclination use tap water for drinking.

To make things clearer for Thaiwrath who appears confused by my post.

 

My hotel supplies its guests with a limited amount of bottled drinking water but not enough for someone who drinks a lot of tea or coffee like I do. It's insufficient.

 

Personally when I make tea or coffee or need boiling water for cooking I boil the crystal clear tap water. I could use it as drinking water when it's cooled but thanks to the generosity of my hotel I don't need to.

[Pilotman]

19 minutes ago, PerkinsCuthbert said:

Did anyone say there wasn't?

yes, your post in answer to this subject. 

[itsallmine68]

Any water around the world including countries such as USA Canada etc is susceptible to poor quality 

The next wars will be over Potable Water 

 

 

[lopburi3]

19 hours ago, RickG16 said:

But I would expect a water machine on a tropical island would be cleaner than one in BKK... I think?

Why?  The water in Bangkok is drinkable from the tap and replacement filters are easy to obtain for RO systems.  What you need is a known good water source (public water in Bangkok) and an RO station that is serviced (that you will need local information on but believe they often have a service record attached - but then is it believable).  Home RO systems are not that expensive if you want to have more control.

[Yinn]

16 hours ago, Pilotman said:

It's not condescending at all, just stating a common sense view. If you do know about Thailand, as you say you do, then the question is answered from your own presumed knowledge of the country, making your post unnecessary. You say that you don't know a lot about the subject, which rather files in the face of that presumed knowledge, hence my 'advice'. Just trying to stop you making a mistake for the sake of a very few Bhat.   

 

16 hours ago, Mavideol said:

every 500 yards there is a 7 eleven or family mart, (on the road gas stations) not worth the risk

  Have you ever been to the water factory? My friend do it. With husband.

 

They use the machine same as that one. How you think they get the clean water to put in the bottle? From the pure mountain or the tap? From the tap.

Use the osmosis machine. Big one. 

 

So it the same really. Do the big one in photo, and make the small plastic bottle style in the twelve pack. Sell it to the shop and resort. Can deliver send it or pick up at the factory.

Edited June 15, 2019 by Yinn

[Old Croc]

19 minutes ago, itsallmine68 said:

The next wars will be over Potable Water 

 

My money's on oil and sanctions

[flbkk]

I use machine water, tap for cooking and coffee, sometimes drink it. Nothing has ever happened (Bangkok). I keep bottled water for my guests.

[sawadeeken]

18 hours ago, CharlieH said:

You honestly believe they will invest/pay out money for a  fresh clean filter when it would make absolutely no difference to the user and the customer would have no way of knowing anyway.

 

I would say ..."beware" the potential hazards and following medical costs far out way the pennies you might save. 

My long time wife in Pattaya has a number of lady friends that she has known for years.... One lady works for the district offices in Banglamung and was given a truck/driver/test equip to go aroung testing those water machines..... Results:  Rarely was a machine anyway near to 'Passable Quality'...... Seems once a new machine was installed... NEVER were new filters installed......

I asked the Mrs. why the friend didn't write-up or have the machines taken out of service....... SHE SAID " that wasn't part of the friends job to do that"    You go figure is my thought...... THIS IS THAILAND (TIT)

[Pilotman]

34 minutes ago, Yinn said:

 

  Have you ever been to the water factory? My friend do it. With husband.

 

They use the machine same as that one. How you think they get the clean water to put in the bottle? From the pure mountain or the tap? From the tap.

Use the osmosis machine. Big one. 

 

So it the same really. Do the big one in photo, and make the small plastic bottle style in the twelve pack. Sell it to the shop and resort. Can deliver send it or pick up at the factory.

I'm sorry but that is not true.  The machines used in the factories  are many times larger, much more filtration and with a much larger capacity to deliver the clean water.  In addition, one can assume a level of continuous repair and maintenance, plus quality control, that may well not be present in road side machines. 

Edited June 15, 2019 by Pilotman

[Kerryd]

Like many other things in Thailand, "safety standards" and "quality control" are more "suggestions" than anything else. Those roadside machines use water from a pipe that is the same water as going into the (house/building/wherever). Basically it is ordinary tap water that then gets the R/O treatment to "purify" it.

 

But of course, are any of them ever checked (by qualified personnel) to determine if there are contaminates and/or bacteria growing inside the machine ? Sure, someone may change a skanky old filter out once in a while, maybe give it a quick rinse (with normal tap water of course) before putting it back in again. I highly doubt the internal tanks/piping ever gets a clean though.

(In the army, our Pre-Med techs used to test the water in our "buffaloes" (trailer mounted water tanks) on a regular basis and every year (at least once a year) we had to empty them and give them a scrub (with bleach) and a rinse before we could use them.) If we'd been using them more often we'd have been cleaning them every 3 months (or more).

 

We had a very good water system in our camp in Kabul back between 2003-05 where we bottled our own water. Very high hygiene standards enforced and the water was actually more "pure" than what was sold in stores back in Canada.

When we were leaving it was decided to hand the plant over to the Afghans. They brought a crew in to learn how to run the thing. After 10 days they were all sent home. Another crew was brought in. Again, they barely lasted 10 days before the plant supervisors recommended turfing them.

Why ?

The very first thing they decided was that filters cost money so they figured they'd  just throw the dirty filters away and not replace them.

Then they decided that buying the bottle "preforms" (preforms go into a mould where they are heated and expanded into shape before going on to the filling stage) and caps also cost money so instead their plan was to just go around the city and pick up empty bottles, maybe give them a rinse, then refill them and sell them as "new".

Hygiene ? Bah - costs money.

Safety ? Bah - costs money.

Quality ? Bah - costs money.

 

(In the end the plant was disassembled and shipped back to Canada. We didn't want them to start selling scummy contaminated water and then blaming Canada for it.)

I buy the 18 litre bottles here from one of the local suppliers. I have no idea how they process the water but I've never seen any contaminates in it and when I've boiled some (i.e. when making spaghetti or cooking shrimp) there's no frothy scum on the surface (indicating possible contaminates). The jugs (I've got more than one) will sit for 2-3 weeks before going onto the water cooler/heater and I never see any residue on the bottom of the jugs.

However, that doesn't mean the water is "pure". It could simply just be "filtered". I doubt anyone from the city ever does a health inspection of those companies to see if they are maintaining any kind of health standards (if there even are such things here).

(Just go to a local market and see the heaps of "fresh" meat sitting open on counters all day long - sometimes with streams of ants going to/from it. Not too mention all the little food carts and shop-restaurants and everything else that you use on a daily basis that also never get inspected. Health inspections and hygiene standards don't seem to apply here at all.)

I thought about getting a filtration system for the house so I can use the tap water. However, seeing how often the water ends up coming out dirt brown (from a broken water line somewhere) I'd probably spend more time and effort changing filters and cleaning the system than it'd be worth. Nothing like throwing a load of "whites" into the washer, turning on the water, coming back a few minutes later and wondering who threw a shovelful of mud into the machine when your back was turned ! (And then realizing you just showered in the same water and brushed your teeth.)

However, if you've been here long enough and eat/live like the locals (more or less) then the water from those machines probably won't have any serious effects on you. No one knows how long they will live to begin with so if you were hoping to make it to 85 and croak at 83, the water probably had nothing to do with it. If the water was (seriously) contaminated then there'd probably be a whole lot of sick/dead locals in the area already.

It was determined years ago (according to some article in a medical journal I think it was) that the reason a lot of people get the "runs" when in a foreign country isn't because of contaminated food/water.

It's because those people live such "purified" lives "back home" that their systems don't know how to handle strange (but normal) bacteria that is often found in foreign food/water.

Back home our water is so purified that it's a wonder fish can live in it. If you don't eat things like yoghurt and cheese, your body isn't being exposed to a lot of bacteria, some of which aid in breaking down food in the digestive tract.

People then go on holiday somewhere, experience some local cuisine and ingest some local bacteria and their bodies react to it resulting in them getting the "Delhi belly" or "Montezuma's revenge" or the "squirts".

These days the only time I have a problem is when I put far too many red chilies into whatever I'm eating. It's not a bacteria thing, though it does often end with a "burning ring of fire" !

There is such a thing as "good bacteria" and "bad bacteria" as well. If your system has enough "good bacteria" then you probably won't have smelly farts but if you have too much "bad" bacteria then you will probably stink out the place in a hurry.

(Apparently the byproduct of the "bad bacteria" is sulphurous which is what creates the bad "rotten egg" smell. 2 of the companies I worked for in Afghanistan managed the waste treatment facilities and you could tell by the smell if they were doing things right. If the ponds weren't being properly aerated then the "bad bacteria" would blossom and the stink would soon be all over the camp. If the ponds were being aerated properly, you'd hardly notice the smell at all even on the hottest of days.)  

Personally, I'd buy a filtration system for the house before I'd consider using one of those roadside water machines, even if it meant I'd have to put a little more effort into cleaning/maintaining the system. At least then you'd be reasonably certain that the water you're drinking is clean.

[Harveyg]

I wonder.....   do you all trust the water in makro?  7?   I don’t. 

First.  Do you trust the water they put in the plastic bottles?

2nd. Have you ever seen or been served such bottles that have sat in the sun?

[Saltire]

We have 3 of these machines in the village, some 300 metres from my house. I see them being serviced monthly and are extremely popular, many times having to queue. The newest machine seems to be more trusted than the other 2 and it is a few Baht dearer for water so I am assuming it may be a newer process.

 

I drink at least 3 litres a day, drink tea all day, and my gf drinks more than me, and also coffee. 

 

I also fill a bottle for the bathroom and use it to brush my teeth.

 

We go through a 20 litre fill every 2 days or so.

 

I have never had tummy problems, in fact after 5 years of daily diarrhoea in Cambodia (I kid you not), I now have perfect stools! I'd post a photo of tomorrow's but maybe not such a great idea ????

 

 

[Benmart]

Corruption and negligence finds its way into many areas that one would not expect. If something requires maintenance and inspection, it is likely to lack both. Buyer beware.

[HHTel]

Quote

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has announced a review into the potential risks of plastic in drinking water after a new analysis of some of the world's most popular bottled water brands found that more than 90% contained tiny pieces of plastic. A previous study also found high levels of microplastics in tap water.

Bottled water?  Not as safe as you think!

[HHTel]

2 hours ago, yogi100 said:

 

If you're a visitor or holiday maker how do you find out who maintains it and how do you converse with him if you don't speak Thai and he does not speak English or whatever your language might be?

I take your point.  My comment was aimed at those living here.

[reargunnerph3]

Get the 10 litre bottles delivered for Bt40 a bottle

[tutsiwarrior]

the water machines appeared in my wife's village (about 5km from where we live) about 4 years ago and the product is always clean and sweet tasting as one would expect...no machines where we live in town that has it's own municipal heavily chlorinated supply...

 

the margin of profit from the machines is so tiny that clogged filters and the like would have the RO process operate at considerably less than the maximum efficiency point with a significantly greater energy requirement making the machines prohibitively expensive to run...there must be a rigorously attended routine maintenance schedule in place by the operators to prevent this from happening...wouldn't make no sense to keep an under performing machine in operation if the operating cost is greater than what ye can sell the water for, just unplug the mother...

 

 

Edited June 15, 2019 by tutsiwarrior

[Lacessit]

I get my water from the roadside machines because they are reverse osmosis. That means they should have a very low level of salts. Whereas tap water supply could have anything from excess salt to calcium to aluminium sulphate if the treatment process goes awry. No better place than Thailand for that to happen, except perhaps Somalia.

5 litres of water costs me 3 baht. The water I get is boiled to destroy any nasties. I don't know what the electricity costs; however, I think it's less than a a Makro or 7/11 5 litre container.

[Andrew Dwyer]

I get my water from the roadside machines because they are reverse osmosis. That means they should have a very low level of salts. Whereas tap water supply could have anything from excess salt to calcium to aluminium sulphate if the treatment process goes awry. No better place than Thailand for that to happen, except perhaps Somalia.
5 litres of water costs me 3 baht. The water I get is boiled to destroy any nasties. I don't know what the electricity costs; however, I think it's less than a a Makro or 7/11 5 litre container.

Makro cheapest is usually 40 baht for 9 litres or 29 for 6 litres, so around 4.50 baht a litre.

The machines are definitely cheaper and that is the appeal.

But, I feel that the profit margins on them must be really low and there’s so many of them ( 5 in walking distance from me ) that the temptation to forget to change the filters must be high !!

[Pdavies99]

5 hours ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

I did use these filters for about a year, one right outside the apartment i was renting , no ill effects.
Then moved to a house and started to use the ones in the Moobahn and noticed a different taste in the water between the machines.
About a year ago had “ an episode “ with kidney stones ( coincidence ?? ) and made a decision to never use these machines again.

Now make a trek to Makro and buy 90 litres at a time.
There are cheaper options, the 18 litre jugs for example but who knows about the quality ?? Or the 9 litres packs for 35 baht at roadside or the local market but again could be “ homemade “ and usually sits in the sun all day, can’t be good.

Will probably get one of those 3 stage filters in house, sometime.

One of my Thai family near Pattaya owns a water bottling factory, the water is pumped up from underground, topped up when needed with municipality tap water, this goes into giant tanks and "settled" this then is bottled (not really filtered at all, they do though have a slow operating filtration system, which is turned on for an "arranged" inspection) and sold at Big C etc!!  So the only true safe water is getting your own home filter system!!

Edited June 15, 2019 by Pdavies99

[atyclb]

have drank the street filter machine water for years at local som dom shop with no problem.

[Pdavies99]

3 hours ago, Pilotman said:

I'm sorry but that is not true.  The machines used in the factories  are many times larger, much more filtration and with a much larger capacity to deliver the clean water.  In addition, one can assume a level of continuous repair and maintenance, plus quality control, that may well not be present in road side machines. 

Have you been in a bottling facility, not very clean, except when they get a call that someone is making an inspection, then the filters and UV are actually turned on!

[Pilotman]

1 minute ago, Pdavies99 said:

Have you been in a bottling facility, not very clean, except when they get a call that someone is making an inspection, then the filters and UV are actually turned on!

for quality brands sold here?  I don't believe that for one moment. I buy my water in one of the main supermarkets.  It's more than their reputation is worth to sell water that has a chance of being contaminated.