Bottled Or Tap?

[JusMe]

First, I'm posting in this forum because it's not as prolific as some of the others, and next because I live in this area, in Rayong Province.

I use tap water for washing, for brushing my teeth, for making my coffee, and for cooking, either boiling or rice.

But I keep a bottle of bought bottled water in the refrigerator for drinking.

I don't go through much, so expense isn't an issue at all, just the nuisance or convenience of going out and getting a big jug of water.

I have read that Bangkok water is actually safe to drink (true, and I know we all drink bottled in BKK, but apparently it really is safe to drink). What about municipal water in other places?

Taste is another matter altogether. If it's safe but tastes bad, okay, bottled is the way to go. But taste is an individual response. Hygiene and safety isn't.

Anyone know about the scientific safety of drinking municipal tap water? Or where one could take some of it for testing?

[Spoonman]

I drink straight from the tap, after it passes thru a triple filtration filter thingo.

[Jingthing]

I would never use tap for coffee (the taste) or in cooking soups and such, but to boil pasta to drain, yes.

[zaphodbeeblebrox]

The tap water in Rayong province is safe to drink. If you are new to Thailand, it may cause some problems, but it is ok to drink, once you have acclimated.

As Jingthing indicates, the water has an off-taste. I use bottled water for drinking, and filtered water for coffee, tea, cooking, etc.

[Trickcyclist]

anyone know an outlet that sells small domestic water distillers??

[Soutpeel]

anyone know an outlet that sells small domestic water distillers??

Why do you want a distiller ??.....A water filter is more than adequate and you can buy these a just about any Tesco's, Home Pro or Big C's

[ballzafire]

Anyone know about the scientific safety of drinking municipal tap water? Or where one could take some of it for testing?

While it may be safe to drink once it leaves the treatment plant, it may not be by the time it reaches your tap.

Be on the safe side and drink filtered water. Use tap for everything else.

There was a thread a while back discussing this where someone mentioned where you can bring a water sample to one of the universities or something where they would test it. But, why bother? After all, if the Thais are going to the trouble to filter tap water and then deliver it, that should tell you something...

I have a simple Hanna TDS1 meter I use to test water with. I discovered that my tap water had more than twice the dissolved solids as the filtered drinking water I buy. But what it doesn't tell you is what those dissolved solids are. That's the mystery you don't want to find out...

So, just drink bottled/filtered water and be safe.

[ballzafire]

anyone know an outlet that sells small domestic water distillers??

Why do you want a distiller ??.....A water filter is more than adequate and you can buy these a just about any Tesco's, Home Pro or Big C's

One good reason is that a distiller doesn't require the constant expense of filter changing. You get consistent quality, too.

Filters begin clogging from day 1, so after a few months you may think you're drinking safe water, but, it is, in fact, coming closer and closer to tap quality all the time...

But, distillers require electricity, so there's a trade-off. They are also more expensive (but I've seen ones on Amazon that distill a gallon in a few hours that go for about 100 USD).

I've often wondered whether it would be economically feasible to set up one using relatively inexpensive LPG as the method of heating. That's something I might look into at some point, myself.

[powderpuff]

I use a 3 stage filter here in BKK. No problems whatsoever. Tap water safe to drink but has a bad taste.

[londonthai]

to kill bacterias you need an uv watrr filter