tap water

[bluejets]

Never ceases to amaze me how many think that boiling water is the be-all-end-all to sparkling clean water.

There are many contaminates which will remain after boiling. 

I don't drink the tap water there and even use bottle water to clean my teeth.

There is a "water treatment" cabinet on the footpath outside our house but I don't use that either.

Just another case of cheap charlie popping their head up again.

[TTSIssues]

We have a three stage water filtration system under the kitchen sink, it has a UV filter as well. I bought a water testing kit in the UK and tried both tap water and the filtered water. 
 

the filtered water had much lower levels of lead and other chemicals.

 

been drinking it for two years now without any issues - changed the filters after a year.

 

hope that helps ?

[rwill]

I've been drinking tap water here for 10 years with no problem.  I have a whole house filter system and then an under counter filter for drinking water.

 

[TheFishman1]

I’ve been boiling tapwater for years for my coffee or tea, and I’ve never had a problem, TIT

[jacko45k]

17 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Are the filters definitely good quality? i know they're meant to be but you know

No I have the big bottles delivered... they might claim it is 'Spring Water' on the bottle but I suspect it is simply filtered.... no issues over many years. 

[jacko45k]

16 hours ago, KhunBENQ said:

Don't know about Pattaya for sure.

Can't say I ever got a smell of chlorine from the utility water.... haven't tested it for a good while. I do actually put a very small amount of my pool chlorine into the tank once a week. 

[AustinRacing]

Ask the locals. Have you seen a Thai drinking tap water, boiled or not?

[HappyExpat57]

I have been making coffee, sun tea, and cooking with tap water in Bangbon, Jomtien, Pattaya, Chanthaburi, etc. etc. since 2006.  It's fine. For plain drinking water, I do use one of those "reverse osmosis" dispensers.

[Tropposurfer]

No absolutely not!

 

Boiling water will not kill all germs, bacteria, viruses, and heavy metals, that lurk inn Thai dirty tap water.

 

If the very real possibility of ingesting e-coli, raw faeces don't deter you then there's the star studded array, nay the delicious spectrum  of intestinal parasites of Strongyloides stercoralis & , hook-worm, Ascaris, Schistosoma, Giardia, Chriptosporidium all are parasites common in the water here.

 

Then there's the lovely diarrhoea, typhoid, and dysentery ...

 

All these are commonly found in water across LOS. Some rise to percentage of 30% during rain and flood periods.

 

Edited September 21, 2023 by Tropposurfer

[fredwiggy]

5 minutes ago, Tropposurfer said:

No absolutely not!

 

Boiling water will not kill all germs, bacteria, viruses, and heavy metals, that lurk inn Thai dirty tap water.

 

If the very real possibility of ingesting e-coli, raw faeces don't deter you then there's the star studded array, nay the delicious spectrum  of intestinal parasites of Strongyloides stercoralis & , hook-worm, Ascaris, Schistosoma, Giardia, Chriptosporidium all are parasites common in the water here.

 

Then there's the lovely diarrhoea, typhoid, and dysentery ...

 

All these are commonly found in water across LOS. Some rise to percentage of 30% during rain and flood periods.

 

Some just need to learn the hard way.

[scubascuba3]

2 hours ago, jacko45k said:

No I have the big bottles delivered... they might claim it is 'Spring Water' on the bottle but I suspect it is simply filtered.... no issues over many years. 

Yes no way it's spring water, just filtered same 1 baht machines, no guarantee it's filtered any better, cost cutting and all that

[jacko45k]

1 minute ago, scubascuba3 said:

Yes no way it's spring water, just filtered same 1 baht machines, no guarantee it's filtered any better, cost cutting and all that

The bottles I get are clear, so I get to see that the water is too.... no swimming additives. (Although they have a blue tinge, which I suspect makes it appear better)

[scubascuba3]

5 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

The bottles I get are clear, so I get to see that the water is too.... no swimming additives. (Although they have a blue tinge, which I suspect makes it appear better)

1 baht machine water is clear also, who would buy discoloured water

[CecilM]

Sorry, it’s impossible to answer that question. It totally depends on the pipes leading from the treatment plant to your building.

The water leaving the plant exceeds int’l drinking water quality standards (MWA was a client of ours and we toured their facilities) but the pipes can be quite old and deteriorated.

I use tap water for boiling pasta, but not for making tea/coffee. 

[brianthainess]

23 hours ago, VocalNeal said:

Or reverse osmosis or carbon filters or...????

All of the above, my 'Town' water comes from the 'Mountain' river and Bores, through black pipe down to the village water treatment, is then treated with reverse osmosis then comes back up to my house via blue pvc, the 20lt bottles are filled at the same plant, what could go wrong, the shower filter only needs cleaning Every week, or more after heavy rain. , all other tap filters I've removed. 

[Seppius]

Clean my teeth, use for boiling potatoes with tap, but not greens. Won't use it or coffee due to taste

 

Buy the Lotus 1.5lt for B8, for drinking, its said "mineral water" like Mount Fleur are better

 

"The 8 main minerals are calcium, magnesium, bicarbonate, potassium, sodium, fluoride, sulfate and zinc, which are light minerals that the body can absorb and use immediately. and does not contain heavy metals. Dangerous to the body, contaminants"

 

Another good thread here

 

https://aseannow.com/topic/188380-good-bottled-water-are-any-without-fluoride-available/

[khunPer]

On 9/20/2023 at 4:20 AM, blackshadow said:

is it okay to boil water, to make tea coffee etc        FROM THE TAP

Depending on the quality of the tap water, it can be different quality in different parts of the country.

 

I use tap water for coffee, tea, soup and other dishes where the water is boiled. My tap water however comes by truck from a bore in the hills, it's furthermore filtered through both 5 micron and 0.5 micron ceramic, and circulated through an UV-lamp; so probably also safe enough to drink. I use it when brushing my teeth, and I'm so far still alive...

[xtrnuno41]

Chlorination is not nice, but they use(d) it longtime. Can also cause health problems.

"My"country replaced the Cl and use now UV light. Also we replaced lead pipes, first house(8 ties) i lived in, still had lead pipes. So what did it do to me? Im still alive.

For that matter, at that time we still used lead in petrol. It changed and now other additives are in petrol. Lead could lead to negative effects on brain.

 

Plastics can have chemicals (additives), which solve in water and you drink it. See for PVC wikipedia.

Some additives are forbidden in EU, what about Thailand and PVC additives?

Thailand still has pesticides, which are forbidden in western world for long time.

Was it 2 years ago Thailand wanted to forbid several as wel? Never heard about it again.

Micro plastic found even in beer, you drink it and then it is in your body.

All cans have a plastic coating, so ...?

That plastic is also in shampoos and many other cosmetic products, to make your hair shiny.

Then you flush it away and it is in open water system, coming back to you some time, somehow.

Also the PE, PET bottles have the same issue of solving additives.

Then you have PFAS, used in pans and pots for non sticking, but also in water system, also not good, but still there.

In "my" country they have court cases now against 3M and Dupont.

 

Coffee is made on 96 degrees, the best temperature

 

Ok this was water, so what about food? You know what they put in there?

[thecyclist]

I often drink tap water straight from the tap in Bangkok. Never got sick from it .in regard to microplastics, if you are like a Thai, and buy boiling hot soups "sai thung" in a plastic bag to take home, or eat a lot of microwaved ,in cheap plastic, food from 7/11 ,you will be ingesting a lot more microplastics than you will ever get through tap water. That's only my guess. Some experts might confirm my suspicions.

[Peterphuket]

On 9/20/2023 at 9:28 AM, jacko45k said:

Personally  only use water from the large 19L bottles, which is filtered. My tap water comes from an above ground tank and always consider critters can get in there and drown then rot.. 

Even the big 19 ltr bottles, I put that water in small bottles and place it in the sun for about 5 days. (osmose).

It gives a clear improvement in taste.

[bunnydrops]

Most of the chlorine evaporates out of sitting water in 24 hrs or 20 minutes of boiling. I lived across the street from one of those filtered water machines for 6 months, never saw them come and clean the filter.

Once in Mexico I saw a bunch of kids filling empty water bottles from a tap behind a store and then putting a little super glue on the cap.

[scubascuba3]

8 hours ago, Peterphuket said:

Even the big 19 ltr bottles, I put that water in small bottles and place it in the sun for about 5 days. (osmose).

It gives a clear improvement in taste.

Probably the microscopic algae starting to grow in the water in the sun. My outside water bottle has loads in it

[jacko45k]

22 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

1 baht machine water is clear also, who would buy discoloured water

I am certainly not traipsing to and from the machines with those big heavy bottles.. although my delivery guy is a bit 'do as I please, come when I please!' My Mrs tried to get me to install a filter system so that we could make our own at home, but it hardly seemed worth the messing about. 

Edited September 21, 2023 by jacko45k

[jacko45k]

11 hours ago, Peterphuket said:

Even the big 19 ltr bottles, I put that water in small bottles and place it in the sun for about 5 days. (osmose).

It gives a clear improvement in taste.

My big bottles get stored outside and probably get a good suntan....

[Skipalongcassidy]

Besides being  more expensive bottled water only contributes to the single use plastic issue that is currently plaguing environments around the planet... yet the majority of "evironmentalists" still drink it.  They will argue forever about climate change and evs and the other harmful things going on as they go out and buy bottled water... 55555

[Peterphuket]

9 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Probably the microscopic algae starting to grow in the water in the sun. My outside water bottle has loads in it

That's correct but from time to time I change the bottles for new one.

[scubascuba3]

16 minutes ago, Peterphuket said:

That's correct but from time to time I change the bottles for new one.

Doesn't sound a good idea leaving bottled water in the sun

 

https://www.foodrepublic.com/1329464/trouble-with-plastic-water-bottles-summertime/#:~:text=Depending on the type and,the Journal of Water %26 Health.

[Sigmund]

Medical world has arguments that over filtered water with Reverse Osmosis technology is not the best thing healthwise.

 

Best alternative remains the XXXL water bottles that are not the best thing but rather the best alternative for daily use.

[Iamloki]

On 9/20/2023 at 12:46 PM, Mintyy said:

Water can contain other contaminants such as microplastics, pesticides, fertilisers, industrial chemicals, hormones, medications, heavy metals and neurotoxic microorganisms which are not removed through boiling water.

That's true... nor are they removed in bottled water. Imho if you want to be sure, you need to use your own multi-staged filtration system that includes reverse osmosis.

[Peterphuket]

2 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Doesn't sound a good idea leaving bottled water in the sun

 

https://www.foodrepublic.com/1329464/trouble-with-plastic-water-bottles-summertime/#:~:text=Depending on the type and,the Journal of Water %26 Health.

Funny, today I ask 'chat-gpt' online, and I've got the same answer.

Maybe I have to finish this habit.