Drinking Water

[Rasseru]

How do you get your drinking water in Chiangmai?

I know of three ways that people do. One way is to buy it in those small plastic containers, which I think of as containing a liter of water, but maybe it is less than that. Another is to buy it in those large containers, which look to be made of heavy duty plastic of some kind, and which probably hold 25 liters or more of water. The third way is to treat tap water through some kind of reverse osmosis or other filtration system. (Some people may have wells that produce clean drinking water, but I don't know any.)

Are there any other ways to get drinking water here?

I have always bought my drinking water here in the small containers, but want to switch to one of the other two ways, both for convenience and because it seems so wasteful to buy it in containers that get thrown out (I'd dearly love to find out that they get recycled -- do they?).

If you get your water in the large containers or through filtering at home, do you like the taste of the water? If anyone has tried all three kinds of water here, do they taste the same or are there differences? If they are different, how so?

Any other points, apart from taste, that you think I should consider in deciding which way to go?

[Chef]

We have a well that goes through five different filtration systems before we drink it. We fill the 20 liter plastic bottles with water and set them on coolers that provide both hot and cold water. It tastes good and costs about 50 Satang per liter.

[Steve2UK]

I now buy water @ 10 baht per 20 litre bottle - two at a time. If I remember right, I paid all of 50 baht deposit for the two bottles and just swap the empties for full ones when I go to the water place in San Phi Sua. They'd deliver for 12 baht per bottle.

Before I discovered this route, I used to buy 5-litre bottles @ 28-30 baht a time from, say, Lotus - that's at least ten times the price . Hate to think what you're paying per litre for smaller bottles than that - not to mention all the extra plastic it generates. At least people did want to take the empties - I assume for recycling in some way. I now have just one of those 5-litre bottles to use in the kitchen and top it up from the 20-litre bottles.

Taste is clean and neutral. If I weren't renting, I'd probably look at installing a filter-system - but I'm happy enough for now.

[rrose070]

At Flora House, there was a truck that came once a week and delivered water. We'd buy 2 big racks of liter bottles for like 50 baht, or you could also get the huge bottles like you'd use on a cooler. and they'd pick up the empties. But I don't have any info for contact or anything - we just learned by word of mouth.

[noise]

How do you get your drinking water in Chiangmai?

We put in the reverse osmosis filtering system 2.5 years ago and ran a line off to the ice maker and chilled water dispenser in the refrigerator. Great tasting drinking water and clean ice, what more can you want? I can not recommend it highly enough compared to any other method.

It may not be as cheap as some other method when you replace all the filters, but it is sure worth the convenience.

Now it is probably pertinent to say that we are using city tap water 3 km south of Mae Jo and not well water. I can not comment on the effectiveness of such a system on well water, specially with the different quality of water you get from wells in different parts of the area.

Edited July 7, 2008 by noise

[Dustoff]

We live in Ban Wang Tan, a couple of Km South of Lotus on Hang Dong Rd and I have water delivered by Polestar. The one-liter bottles are the reusable kind and come with a quality screw cap which I like better than the pop-off caps on bottles with a smaller neck. Polestar uses reverse osmosis and ozone and the water has always been very clean looking and tasting. A case of 20 liters delivered is 40 Baht.

[INDI12]

I am in maejo by golf course. I chose to install the carbon ceramic uv light filter system under sink. I have good water already and have drank from the hose didn't seem to have any ill effects..... water is clear and clean no staining in toilets sinks etc. convienent i like it......

someday will take a sample before and after filter and take it to cmu and have analysis....

[mild7even]

Interesting article in the latest Chiang Mai Citylife about the quality of the tap water here in Chiang Mai... mixed views, according to the "experts". One says it is perfectly good to drink, another says not. For whatever reason, I can brush my teeth in it, shower in it, prepare food with it, but just can't bring myself to chug it.

[cloudhopper]

RO is the only way to go IMO regardless of the source.

[catmac]

We live in Ban Wang Tan, a couple of Km South of Lotus on Hang Dong Rd and I have water delivered by Polestar. The one-liter bottles are the reusable kind and come with a quality screw cap which I like better than the pop-off caps on bottles with a smaller neck. Polestar uses reverse osmosis and ozone and the water has always been very clean looking and tasting. A case of 20 liters delivered is 40 Baht.

We're just south of San Patong, on the same road Dustoff, but we only pay 25 Baht for a crate (15 for the big bottles) still with the good screw cap. For neat drinking, I do prefer Tesco's own brand natural mineral water (65 Baht for 12x600ml bottles).

[Flatouthruthefog]

Interesting article in the latest Chiang Mai Citylife about the quality of the tap water here in Chiang Mai... mixed views, according to the "experts". One says it is perfectly good to drink, another says not. For whatever reason, I can brush my teeth in it, shower in it, prepare food with it, but just can't bring myself to chug it.

I say you are wise. Filtration may have improved but I was warned off drinking even the most 'professionally' filtered tap water here some years back.

Why pay for such a system when, like me, you get the large (semi rigid) plastic bottles delivered to the door for 15b each by the friendly local policeman when he's out of uniform. Humping the bottles (up your path and to your door) helps keep him fit, he says.

Two easy consumer tests of drinkable water is that it should have NO flavour whatever. Not a trace of anything! Also, it should have no particles a-floating. We changed our supplier here, north of the city, when 'grittiness' was observed - then proved via a cheap plastic fine-mesh funnel-cum-filter.

Boiling all water kills the hazards of course, but it really MUST be brought to boiling point otherwise you actually multiply the bad bacteria. And water which has been boiled, cooled and then frozen is the only way to ensure CLEAR ice cubes, of course.

[cloudhopper]

Boiling all water kills the hazards of course, but it really MUST be brought to boiling point otherwise you actually multiply the bad bacteria. And water which has been boiled, cooled and then frozen is the only way to ensure CLEAR ice cubes, of course.

Actually boiling or UV only kills any microorganisms but does not remove insecti/herbicides, solvents, PCBs, metals and other industrial by-products; nor any of the hormones, drugs and their metabolites increasingly found in groundwater.

I wouldn't trust ANY commercial water supplier here, bottled or otherwise, to properly treat their water. Only reverse osmosis (or distillation) can provide pure drinking water.

[Dustoff]

Actually boiling or UV only kills any microorganisms but does not remove insecti/herbicides, solvents, PCBs, metals and other industrial by-products; nor any of the hormones, drugs and their metabolites increasingly found in groundwater.

I wouldn't trust ANY commercial water supplier here, bottled or otherwise, to properly treat their water. Only reverse osmosis (or distillation) can provide pure drinking water.

An excellent post, grasshopper!

Tough choices, eh? In spite of all the noise about wars, fuel prices, food shortages, et al., it is all going to come down to water.

When I was a kid, I used to stick my face in the brook and get my fair share of clean water plus all the dirt my system needed to survive.

Ya know, all those minerals and such that are removed by reverse assmosis - water that we feel we must drink to avoid all the poisons and chemicals we have dumped into our planet's water?

While I take a vitamin/mineral suppliment daily, I often have the urge to go get a few spoonfuls of dirt, cook them in our oven, then stir them into our 'pure' bottled water. We are by nature meant to injest a certain amount of soil, just as plants need those minerals, and these bottled waters just ain't doing it for us.

I decided to switch our dog's water over to 'pure' water some time back. He would sniff it, take a taste, look at me like I had betrayed him, and go outside and drink from plant water or puddy muddles.. um.. muddy puddles.

He knows what he needs instinctively, even if we don't.

As with vegetarians who must suppliment things like many of the B-vitamins and Folic Acid that do not exist in vegetables, drinking distilled water presents it's own hazards in not giving us the mineralization that we need to survive..

Edited July 7, 2008 by Dustoff

[Rasseru]

Thanks to all for the helpful posts so far.

While I take a vitamin/mineral suppliment daily, I often have the urge to go get a few spoonfuls of dirt, cook them in our oven, then stir them into our 'pure' bottled water. We are by nature meant to injest a certain amount of soil, just as plants need those minerals, and these bottled waters just ain't doing it for us.

An interesting observation from a man named 'Dustoff'. Put in those terms, isn't it a comfort to know that in Chiangmai, at some times of the year at least, one has only to take a deep breath to ingest all the dirt and minerals one needs?

[cloudhopper]

As with vegetarians who must suppliment things like many of the B-vitamins and Folic Acid that do not exist in vegetables, drinking distilled water presents it's own hazards in not giving us the mineralization that we need to survive..

I used to hear this myth quite a bit from fellow yachties who derived all of their water from onboard RO. In fact, however, it is not necessary to get essential minerals (some of which, like calcium, are required in rather substantial quantities) from drinking water. They are all in fact adequately present (just like the vitamins that are unnecessarily over-consumed) in the foods we eat. The real problem for some people (and their dogs) with pure water is lack of taste, and this is easily remedied using the "Waters" or other simple re-mineralizing systems if desired - but NOT necessary for health reasons, assuming one eats a wide variety of foods...SALUD!

[nokia]

Folks,

i normally buy 5/6-litre bottles from, say, Lotus but the price has gone up to @45-50 instead of@ 28-30 baht.

HIgher cost of making plastic bottles from cruide oil? Now i have so many plastic bottles, and dont know whether to throw them or to keep them?

An alternative is to fill them at the ubiquitious 1 litre 1 baht water machines. There's one at Lotus, but again, i dont think they use reverse osmosis and it's troublesome too.

And then, every week, there are quite a few water vendors, on pickups, motor bike(three wheeler) that comes to my moo baan near Hang Dong. They use the screw cap with a plastic wrap on top. So many different brands, no Polestar, how to choose? How do i know where they use RO or not? Or they just filter in their own backyard? SHould i try everyone of them, and if their quality is not good, 1) by telling them, OR 2)avoiding them by switching to another??

Any advice is appreciated as we all need to drink quality water daily.

CHeers to good drinking water!

[Bill97]

Use a filter mounted under the sink. Little tap on the sink for drinking water is convenient. No worries about whether or not someone else is filtering it properly. You control it. No plastic bottles to transport and/or recycle. Filter is moveable or can be sold if you move.

Note: Repeated refilling of clear water bottles you buy water in is not recommended as stated on many of the labels.

[Steve2UK]

Folks,

i normally buy 5/6-litre bottles from, say, Lotus but the price has gone up to @45-50 instead of@ 28-30 baht.

HIgher cost of making plastic bottles from cruide oil? Now i have so many plastic bottles, and dont know whether to throw them or to keep them?

When I was buying the 5/6-litre bottles, I was living in a house on a public road (i.e. as opposed to closed moobaan). I used to tie about 5 together and leave them next to the garbage sacks - they were always gone within a few hours. A couple of times, we also had general junk collectors come to the house wanting paper, card, metal - and the bottles. Depending on your location, they will go quickly or slowly - but they will go.

I didn't realise that the price per 5/6-litre bottle had gone so high - makes even less sense to continue that route. Surely some people in your moobaan are already using the much cheaper/more convenient 20-litre bottles? Ask them where they get theirs - and whether they collect themselves or get it delivered?

BTW, you can get metal stands for these 20-litre bottles that tip to fill smaller (e.g. 5-litre) bottles - helps to use a funnel, of course.

[Steve2UK]

Note: Repeated refilling of clear water bottles you buy water in is not recommended as stated on many of the labels.

And, of course, doesn't help Nestle's profits when you don't buy another. Given that it's just conceivable that contamination could build up in some way, a periodic rinse with dilute baby-bottle steriliser should deal with it.

[Tyke]

Boiling all water kills the hazards of course, but it really MUST be brought to boiling point otherwise you actually multiply the bad bacteria. And water which has been boiled, cooled and then frozen is the only way to ensure CLEAR ice cubes, of course.

Actually boiling or UV only kills any microorganisms but does not remove insecti/herbicides, solvents, PCBs, metals and other industrial by-products; nor any of the hormones, drugs and their metabolites increasingly found in groundwater.

I wouldn't trust ANY commercial water supplier here, bottled or otherwise, to properly treat their water. Only reverse osmosis (or distillation) can provide pure drinking water.

I agee. After many years of drinking bottled water, I got a RO system and it's great = convenient and the water is tasteless (after the first few days when the water does taste a bit plasticy from the filtration beads). When they say the water attains international standards it doesn't mean much as those standards don't eliminate a lot of potent chemicals like oestrogens from pee and these make men have big tits! Bacteria are the least problem u need to think about in drinking water in Thailand. Also bottled water contains a certain level of cancer=causing plasticisers from the plastic. An RO means I keep the filtered water in glass jars in the fridge - delicious!

[nokia]

Use a filter mounted under the sink. Little tap on the sink for drinking water is convenient. No worries about whether or not someone else is filtering it properly. You control it. No plastic bottles to transport and/or recycle. Filter is moveable or can be sold if you move.

Note: Repeated refilling of clear water bottles you buy water in is not recommended as stated on many of the labels.

I have a simple 3 stage filter mounted above the sink and the water is used for washing. My concern about using the water for drinking is that our moo baan's water source is from a well in the moo baan, and all the houses have our little sewage tanks under the garden. Is it probable that the sewage water might seep into the water source?

I heard that repeated refilling of clear water bottles is not safe only if you leave it in the heat/hot sun which will change the chemical composition of the plastic. I know the garbage collector will be happy to take away all the clear bottles, but i thought i might as keep them until i find a gd replacement for them. Where can i buy a water jerry can?

Steve2UK, most of my Thai neighbours order the 1litre/20 litre white opaque bottles, and i think there are at least 3 different brands delivering to my moo baan weekly. Which one to choose? Can i say let me follow you back to your factory/shack/well for a look first to see if they use RO or are they using a simple filters with water source & sewage tank nearby?

I guess if i order the 20litre, a metal stand & a funnel will be necessary. btw, what's the deposit for the bottle, and the water price? I heard that it was 27 baht for 20 litre and maybe 50 baht for the container?

CHeers for good drinking water! Drink more folks!

[tigerbeer]

what is the cost of RO system?? a good one. Anyone with a suggested brand name and a place to buy it?

we get our water through a well. Pumped up to a water tower in a huge Blue Plastic thing tank. we do however get drinking water from Glacier in those white 1 litre bottles.

[Bill97]

Clarte WP18RO, about 8,000 Baht at HomePro has been fine for over a year now. Before all the plastic filters I got one with 3 stainless tanks (resin, carbon and RO) which is still working fine after 10+ years in the old house. Price range now is 6-12,000 but I could not find a need for all the bells and whistles on the 12k units. HomePro has a large selection.

[binnsy]

26 baht 6 litre BIG C Buriram

[Steve2UK]

I have a simple 3 stage filter mounted above the sink and the water is used for washing. My concern about using the water for drinking is that our moo baan's water source is from a well in the moo baan, and all the houses have our little sewage tanks under the garden. Is it probable that the sewage water might seep into the water source?

I heard that repeated refilling of clear water bottles is not safe only if you leave it in the heat/hot sun which will change the chemical composition of the plastic. I know the garbage collector will be happy to take away all the clear bottles, but i thought i might as keep them until i find a gd replacement for them. Where can i buy a water jerry can?

Steve2UK, most of my Thai neighbours order the 1litre/20 litre white opaque bottles, and i think there are at least 3 different brands delivering to my moo baan weekly. Which one to choose? Can i say let me follow you back to your factory/shack/well for a look first to see if they use RO or are they using a simple filters with water source & sewage tank nearby?

I guess if i order the 20litre, a metal stand & a funnel will be necessary. btw, what's the deposit for the bottle, and the water price? I heard that it was 27 baht for 20 litre and maybe 50 baht for the container?

CHeers for good drinking water! Drink more folks!

Sewage tanks and wells on the same plot would have me wondering, too........... Leaks maybe not probable, but I'd have thought possible.

Water jerry can - probably camping equipment store e.g. Sports World at the rear of Centra Kad Suan Kaew. Otherwise various hardware stores around town - but I'd wonder if they're water-safe. BTW, it wasn't the garbage collector truck taking my empties before - more the freelance collectors who also collect drinks cans etc.

As mentioned, I pay 10 baht per 20 litre bottle and I believe it's 12 baht if they deliver i.e. + 2 baht. Maybe the 27 baht you're hearing is a farang "special" that has to do with the type/population of moobaan you're in? It's over a year since I started using this supplier, so I can't remember if the deposit was 50 baht per bottle or for the two I requested. Which supplier to choose? Compare prices and size up the the tidy-looking houses for who's using which. The address will be on the bottle so, if you've a mind to, go and take a look at the bottling place. I'm no expert on filtration/sterilising systems, but I feel pretty confident when I see that all the workers wear clean overalls, rubber aprons/boots and the place itself is kept spotlessly clean. Frankly, I doubt that any of the water suppliers is pumping just any old water out of the ground to fill the bottles - word would get round. Come to that, wasn't it Perrier that had to recall gazillions of bottles a few years back when the supply got contaminated? You can get too paranoid about these things.......... Drink and enjoy - a bad shrimp is likely to get you before the bottled water does.

[ProThaiExpat]

The water district for Mae Rim, which probably extends halfway to Chiang Mai proper delivers excellent water through my tap and I am happy with it. Yes, I do have large bottles of chilled water for drinking as an alternative, but can't tell the difference except for what I pay.

I have a fridge with a filter and "water in the door". The cartridge clearly states it is a prticulant filter and does not filter out bacteria.

There is a lot of publicity now in the U.S. about the cost in oil to produce all the plastic bottles that hold the water that is drunk by most people out of fear of the local water supply. Los Angeles has some of the best water in the world, but you can't convince people to drink it. The advertising for bottled water works, even getting people to rave over their water which is tap water, bottled and sold as "spring water". Perhaps with all the concern over global warming and the cost of oil, governments might start requiring bottled water companies to identify the source of their water.

[Bill97]

and all the houses have our little sewage tanks under the garden. Is it probable that the sewage water might seep into the water source?

CHeers for good drinking water! Drink more folks!

Sewage tanks and wells on the same plot would have me wondering, too........... Leaks maybe not probable, but I'd have thought possible.

Most of them are designed to "leak".

Most "sewage tanks" in Thailand are stacks of porous concrete rings from which the waste water soaks into the surrounding dirt and into any nearby ground water. It is only recently that some plastic or fiber glass tanks have been used and they are not yet always used. They have to drain or be pumped out so if you do not see a pump truck coming around to pump them out, they also are draining into the dirt. Yes, sometimes helpful bacteria is put into the tanks to help treat the water, if somebody thinks it is significant and remembers to put it in.

[nokia]

Sewage tanks and wells on the same plot would have me wondering, too........... Leaks maybe not probable, but I'd have thought possible.

Water jerry can - probably camping equipment store e.g. Sports World at the rear of Centra Kad Suan Kaew. Otherwise various hardware stores around town - but I'd wonder if they're water-safe. BTW, it wasn't the garbage collector truck taking my empties before - more the freelance collectors who also collect drinks cans etc.

As mentioned, I pay 10 baht per 20 litre bottle and I believe it's 12 baht if they deliver i.e. + 2 baht. Maybe the 27 baht you're hearing is a farang "special" that has to do with the type/population of moobaan you're in? It's over a year since I started using this supplier, so I can't remember if the deposit was 50 baht per bottle or for the two I requested. Which supplier to choose? Compare prices and size up the the tidy-looking houses for who's using which. The address will be on the bottle so, if you've a mind to, go and take a look at the bottling place. I'm no expert on filtration/sterilising systems, but I feel pretty confident when I see that all the workers wear clean overalls, rubber aprons/boots and the place itself is kept spotlessly clean. Frankly, I doubt that any of the water suppliers is pumping just any old water out of the ground to fill the bottles - word would get round. Come to that, wasn't it Perrier that had to recall gazillions of bottles a few years back when the supply got contaminated? You can get too paranoid about these things.......... Drink and enjoy - a bad shrimp is likely to get you before the bottled water does.

Sewage tanks, i think, are designed to retain the solids & to expel the liquids, otherwise it will be full in no time.

Yup, it's probably the gardener or some freelance workers who collect the cupboard papers/bottles.

I guess i will do some detective work and see which brand is more popular & the pricing. And check out the delivery pickups when it comes the next time. I think Glacier is one of the brand that comes to my mooban. Most of the farang neighbours purchase the 5/6 litre bottles from Lotus while the Thai neighbours generally order from the delivery pickups.

An enterprising Thai neighbour tried selling me a "Diamond water filter", but it's too expensive at 20K baht.

Cheers for good drinking water, drink & enjoy!

[mcgriffith]

I was buying Nam Petch (6L with a returned empty trade-in bottle) for 15 B for the last year or so from my local mom n' pop store.

Recently, a neighbor in my apt bldg hipped me to the water dispensing machine in front of the Tesco Lotus Express on the same soi.

I started using it recently. It is filtered and UV treated (but no RO).

You can bring your 1L, 5L, 6L, 19L whatever. Put your coins in the machine, push a button.....

Costs a whopping 2 baht for 4 liters, and I trust it over the water delivery services. I have no idea where THEY get the water they're filling their bottles with. My machine obviously gets it from the city water supply, filters it and treats it with UV to kill bacteria. Tastes good, makes great ice cubes....and doesn't have any off duty policemen driving a diesel-belching pickup truck despoiling the planet. Nothing against policemen, or diesel pickups....I just hate the idea of all that wasted energy to bring me water. And I reuse the same Tesco Lotus 5L bottle, personally wash it after every use, and make sure it is a clean receptacle.

My 200 satang's worth

[nokia]

I was buying Nam Petch (6L with a returned empty trade-in bottle) for 15 B for the last year or so from my local mom n' pop store.

Recently, a neighbor in my apt bldg hipped me to the water dispensing machine in front of the Tesco Lotus Express on the same soi.

I started using it recently. It is filtered and UV treated (but no RO).

You can bring your 1L, 5L, 6L, 19L whatever. Put your coins in the machine, push a button.....

Costs a whopping 2 baht for 4 liters, and I trust it over the water delivery services. I have no idea where THEY get the water they're filling their bottles with. My machine obviously gets it from the city water supply, filters it and treats it with UV to kill bacteria. Tastes good, makes great ice cubes....and doesn't have any off duty policemen driving a diesel-belching pickup truck despoiling the planet. Nothing against policemen, or diesel pickups....I just hate the idea of all that wasted energy to bring me water. And I reuse the same Tesco Lotus 5L bottle, personally wash it after every use, and make sure it is a clean receptacle.

My 200 satang's worth

mcgriffith, I also bring my dozen empty Tesco 5L bottle to the water dispensing machine in front of Tesco Hang Dong. I think the machine gets it from the city water supply, i'm not sure, but i have seen a handful of locals using it. Costs 1baht for 1 litre. It's a bit troublesome, as i have to balance the dozen filled bottles on the back of my truck. That's why i havent thrown away the bottles yet.

Anyone else using the ubiquitious water dispensing machines?

Folks, do you know that an estimated 1.1 billion people in the world don't have access to clean drinking water???

Drink & enjoy!