Drinking Water Concerns

[meowchawpnom]

I have become concerned about the drinking water in Thailand. I've read that it often has too much fluoride, which can be very harmful to the body. I assumed that the drinking water I buy in those 950 milliliter plastic bags (you know, the ones that you buy six bags to a pack, often with a picture of a chicken or penguin on the bag) was good water, but a Thai told me today that you cannot be sure of that.

He said that the only way to be sure that the water would contain minimal fluoride was to buy Reverse Osmosis water. I thought that's what was in the bags. But now that I look at them closely, I don't see the "RO" symbol which means Reverse Osmosis here.

I asked this Thai about all the water vending machines which say "Reverse Osmosis" on them. He said that he doesn't trust them because the people who maintain them don't clean or change the membrane often enough, so the water that comes out may be little better than tap water.

And I don't know what the story is with those huge 20 liter refillable plastic jugs that you can buy cheaply at many locations. What's in them? RO water? Then there is also the concern that manufacturers of these containers might say it is RO, but it really isn't.

Any ideas about how to get really pure water in Thailand without spending a fortune?

Edited May 15, 2005 by meowchawpnom

[thai_norman]

buy your own water purifyier from lotus perhaps, a 3 phase one....

[peter991]

Any ideas about how to get really pure water in Thailand without spending a fortune?

Maybe come and live in rural Issan. The tap water in Bangkok and Pattaya seems to be so bad that even Thai friends won't drink it.

In the village I visit in Issan, it seems everybody drinks tap water with no ill effects (at least not for me). Was I just lucky or is Issan water cleaner?

Peter

[Zarkow]

If you live in BKK, just buy the 6L. Nestle Pure Life-bags and you are home free.

And hey, water is cheap as dirt.

[meowchawpnom]

You guys gotta understand that just because water tastes good and doesn't seem to make you sick, doesn't mean it's good. Problems like excess fluoride take a long time (years) to manifest themselves in disease symptoms.

Zarkow, I don't live in Bkk but have spent lots of time there and never saw any Nestle water in bags. Am I misunderstanding you? Also, if it's locally produced, do you know it's RO?

Norman, the Lotus machine sounds interesting. How much does it cost and how big and heavy is it? Is it reverse osmosis system?

[Kathe]

Any ideas about how to get really pure water in Thailand without spending a fortune?

Maybe come and live in rural Issan. The tap water in Bangkok and Pattaya seems to be so bad that even Thai friends won't drink it.

In the village I visit in Issan, it seems everybody drinks tap water with no ill effects (at least not for me). Was I just lucky or is Issan water cleaner?

Peter

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Do you mean drinking water from the tap without cooking ? I have never seen any of my thai friends or family's members ( we are thai ) drink water from the tab. It sounds funny but true, my parents use the purify machine at home. We shall pour water from this tap ( they said the bacteria shall be killed by laser and have to refill the filter once a year ), fill water in the bottles and from those bottles , we boil , then later put again in a bottle in freez to drink. If I am too lazy, I shall buy Nesle' water to drink.

And if we have to clean veggi, mom always has ( sorry dont know how to spell in english) it looks like powder in dark velvet, put some in water , water looks pale velvet in thai we call "Dang Tubtim , then put the veggi for some minutes to clean, to be sure you are safe from those insecticide they sprayed. My parents has been doing these procedure for the whole life. It sounds too much but it feels more safe. We dont know what water in the bottle they sell, buy the good one and you are sure. Or you take some medicine from your country to kill bacteria in the water if you have to stay in Isaan or place where you cant get 7/11 shop nearby.

[chownah]

I have heard that if the water in a region has too much fluoride then the children will have mottled teeth. I had a friend who told me this. He was from such a region and his teeth looked unevenly stained. He said all the kids he grew up with had this because when he was young noone knew about this but now it is widely known. Since I've never seen children with mottled teeth in Thailand I've always assumed that the water does not have excess fluoride.

My well is a hole bored in the ground and the water comes from about 9 meters down if I remember correctly. The water has an obvious odor and has some mineral that will stain your clothes orange if you wash them with it. This is common in my neighborhood. To clean this water we build tanks out of 1 meter diameter concrete pipe. A typical tank is 3 or 4 meters tall. The bottom is for storage but the top 1 meter or so is quartz sand. Quartz sand is white. We don't use the reddish colored sand because it has sand derived from limestone which will make your water harder. This sand filter works both as a mechanical filter and as a biological filter. It takes about one week for micro organisms to grow on the surface of the sand when you first fill the tank. After the micro organisms get established the filter is operational. After filtration the water has no odor, does not stain clothes when washed, and tastes fine. Of course, as mentioned previouslsy, this does not mean that it is good to drink it. I have sent a sample of the filtered water to the gov't agency that tests water and I'm waiting for the report to arrive...its 2 weeks late already.....patience is a virture!....

I checked into this sand filtering technology before building one and found that this is a standard way to treat water to make it suitable for domestic consumption. Many cities and towns rely on this method. I doubt that it would remove excess fluoride or many other minerals. If you have a well I suggest you locate your local gov't agency and pay them (about 5,000baht for testing for EVERYTHING) to test your water. Disease from bad drinking water can be very subtle at first and take a long time to develop so just because you drank some and didn't get sick doesn't mean that you won't.

[RDN]

If you live in BKK, just buy the 6L. Nestle Pure Life-bags ...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yep - Nestle Pure Life or Aura. Do not drink water from the tap! (That's what it says in the Phuket Gazette, anyway.)

[Zarkow]

Zarkow, I don't live in Bkk but have spent lots of time there and never saw any Nestle water in bags. Am I misunderstanding you? Also, if it's locally produced, do you know it's RO?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well, I...the Nestlé-company is from Switzerland, but if the water itself is somehow produced locally...I couldn't tell. I'm currently unable to read Thai.

But water-bottles with machine-wrapped plastic around their top at the volyme at 50ml is sold in every 7-Eleven. Just track down the same brands, but bigger containers, at the supermarkets.

Or do as my wifes parents, install a filter.

[WilliamIV]

Any ideas about how to get really pure water in Thailand without spending a fortune?

Maybe come and live in rural Issan. The tap water in Bangkok and Pattaya seems to be so bad that even Thai friends won't drink it.

In the village I visit in Issan, it seems everybody drinks tap water with no ill effects (at least not for me). Was I just lucky or is Issan water cleaner?

Peter

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Do you mean drinking water from the tap without cooking ? I have never seen any of my thai friends or family's members ( we are thai ) drink water from the tab. It sounds funny but true, my parents use the purify machine at home. We shall pour water from this tap ( they said the bacteria shall be killed by laser and have to refill the filter once a year ), fill water in the bottles and from those bottles , we boil , then later put again in a bottle in freez to drink. If I am too lazy, I shall buy Nesle' water to drink.

And if we have to clean veggi, mom always has ( sorry dont know how to spell in english) it looks like powder in dark velvet, put some in water , water looks pale velvet in thai we call "Dang Tubtim , then put the veggi for some minutes to clean, to be sure you are safe from those insecticide they sprayed. My parents has been doing these procedure for the whole life. It sounds too much but it feels more safe. We dont know what water in the bottle they sell, buy the good one and you are sure. Or you take some medicine from your country to kill bacteria in the water if you have to stay in Isaan or place where you cant get 7/11 shop nearby.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Saothai

It is called Potassium Permanganate.

I am told some Restaurants use it to wash their Salad Leaves ?

Bill

[bina]

pot. permag. is used as anti bacterial in chicken houses, fish tanks, all animal stuff; nowadays we dont use it anymore, we use bromosept etc... kali as we call the red stuff (k=potasium) does not get rid of pesticides, etc... it just kills some of the easier bacterias that u can get from animals ; a lot can kill u!

fluoride (fluorine? i think there is a chemical difference) is usually not a problem in most water; water concerns are: lead (as in boston were my sister lives they drink bottle only); e.coli/polio/ other sewage loving things like in israel we have a lot so as the bacterial count rises, so does the chlorine count. water tastes terrible but safe as far as bacteria are concerned (but the chlorine compounds may be carcinogenic); many countries dont add fluoride in water if they have natural amounts; if there is no fluoride in water, many semi third world (israel used to be in this category) countries give instructions to baby/child clinics that all children between certain ages must get fluoride drops. now water is fluorinated. .

RO is best system other systems add bacteria since filters develop bacteria rather well if not changed/taken care of well...

boiling water must be boiled at least ten minutes to kill giardia lamblia (intestinal parasite that most third and second worlders dont have problems with, we get one or two bouts and then the body adjusts... old people and infants however are an other story. treatment is flagyl ) euro. and americans get bad diahrea even as adults... common in israel too)and even more for other nasties, and boiling means over flame or electric stove, not IN electric tea pot!!!

[meowchawpnom]

pot. permag. is used as anti bacterial in chicken houses, fish tanks, all animal stuff; nowadays we dont use it anymore, we use bromosept etc... kali as we call the red stuff (k=potasium) does not get rid of pesticides, etc... it just kills some of the easier bacterias that u can get from animals ; a lot can kill u!

fluoride (fluorine? i think there is a chemical difference) is usually not a problem in most water; water concerns are: lead (as in boston were my sister lives they drink bottle only); e.coli/polio/ other sewage loving things like in israel we have a lot so as the bacterial count rises, so does the chlorine count. water tastes terrible but safe as far as bacteria are concerned (but the chlorine compounds may be carcinogenic); many countries dont add fluoride in water if they have natural amounts; if there is no fluoride in water, many semi third world (israel used to be in this category) countries give instructions to baby/child clinics that all children between certain ages must get fluoride drops.  now water is fluorinated. .

RO is best system other systems add bacteria since filters develop bacteria rather well if not changed/taken care of well...

boiling water must be boiled at least ten minutes to kill giardia lamblia (intestinal parasite that most third and second worlders dont have problems with, we get one or two bouts and then the body adjusts... old people and infants however are an other story. treatment is flagyl )  euro. and americans get bad diahrea even as adults... common in israel too)and even more for other nasties, and boiling means over flame or electric stove,  not IN electric tea pot!!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[meowchawpnom]

Well, I've been doing some research, and it seems that Reverse Osmosis removes fluoride but doesn't remove other chemicals like pesticides. However, if the RO filter is combined with a carbon filter, it will remove the pesticides too. In the US it is common to combine the two types in one unit.

So what I think I need is a SMALL (so I can take it with me when I move) RO/carbon unit. Or maybe just a simple carbon/alumina filter (alumina is a substance that removes fluoride).

Has anybody seen these items locally? Where would be the best place to buy it, one of the megastores like Lotus or Big C or a local Thai specialist in these things?

Of course one would also need the filters to be available for replacement.

It would be pretty expensive to have to import this stuff from faraway lands.

By the way, I have found several web pages that describe excessive fluoride in Thailand as a big problem. Fluoride is a controversial substance and a lot of scientists say it's really bad for you, weakens your bones, causes osteoparosis, among other things.

[meowchawpnom]

Any ideas about how to get really pure water in Thailand without spending a fortune?

Maybe come and live in rural Issan. The tap water in Bangkok and Pattaya seems to be so bad that even Thai friends won't drink it.

In the village I visit in Issan, it seems everybody drinks tap water with no ill effects (at least not for me). Was I just lucky or is Issan water cleaner?

Peter

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Do you mean drinking water from the tap without cooking ? I have never seen any of my thai friends or family's members ( we are thai ) drink water from the tab. It sounds funny but true, my parents use the purify machine at home. We shall pour water from this tap ( they said the bacteria shall be killed by laser and have to refill the filter once a year ), fill water in the bottles and from those bottles , we boil , then later put again in a bottle in freez to drink. If I am too lazy, I shall buy Nesle' water to drink.

And if we have to clean veggi, mom always has ( sorry dont know how to spell in english) it looks like powder in dark velvet, put some in water , water looks pale velvet in thai we call "Dang Tubtim , then put the veggi for some minutes to clean, to be sure you are safe from those insecticide they sprayed. My parents has been doing these procedure for the whole life. It sounds too much but it feels more safe. We dont know what water in the bottle they sell, buy the good one and you are sure. Or you take some medicine from your country to kill bacteria in the water if you have to stay in Isaan or place where you cant get 7/11 shop nearby.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Saothai,

Washing vegetables is certainly a good idea, but it doesn't get all the pesticide off. Lots of pesticide is inside the vegetable, because it is taken up by the roots.

[chownah]

Well, I've been doing some research, and it seems that Reverse Osmosis removes fluoride but doesn't remove other chemicals like pesticides. However, if the RO filter is combined with a carbon filter, it will remove the pesticides too. In the US it is common to combine the two types in one unit.

So what I think I need is a SMALL (so I can take it with me when I move) RO/carbon unit. Or maybe just a simple carbon/alumina filter (alumina is a substance that removes fluoride).

Has anybody seen these items locally? Where would be the best place to buy it, one of the megastores like Lotus or Big C or a local Thai specialist in these things?

Of course one would also need the filters to be available for replacement.

It would be pretty expensive to have to import this stuff from faraway lands.

By the way, I have found several web pages that describe excessive fluoride in Thailand as a big problem. Fluoride is a controversial substance and a lot of scientists say it's really bad for you, weakens your bones, causes osteoparosis, among other things.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

could you post a couplel of these web sites as links?

[Kathe]

Any ideas about how to get really pure water in Thailand without spending a fortune?

Maybe come and live in rural Issan. The tap water in Bangkok and Pattaya seems to be so bad that even Thai friends won't drink it.

In the village I visit in Issan, it seems everybody drinks tap water with no ill effects (at least not for me). Was I just lucky or is Issan water cleaner?

Peter

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Do you mean drinking water from the tap without cooking ? I have never seen any of my thai friends or family's members ( we are thai ) drink water from the tab. It sounds funny but true, my parents use the purify machine at home. We shall pour water from this tap ( they said the bacteria shall be killed by laser and have to refill the filter once a year ), fill water in the bottles and from those bottles , we boil , then later put again in a bottle in freez to drink. If I am too lazy, I shall buy Nesle' water to drink.

And if we have to clean veggi, mom always has ( sorry dont know how to spell in english) it looks like powder in dark velvet, put some in water , water looks pale velvet in thai we call "Dang Tubtim , then put the veggi for some minutes to clean, to be sure you are safe from those insecticide they sprayed. My parents has been doing these procedure for the whole life. It sounds too much but it feels more safe. We dont know what water in the bottle they sell, buy the good one and you are sure. Or you take some medicine from your country to kill bacteria in the water if you have to stay in Isaan or place where you cant get 7/11 shop nearby.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Saothai

It is called Potassium Permanganate.

I am told some Restaurants use it to wash their Salad Leaves ?

Bill

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks Bill for the information ! If those restarants wash their salad leaves with little potassium permanganate , then at least you are sure to have healthy meal. But mostly they dont do that, sometimes not even wash

[Kathe]

Any ideas about how to get really pure water in Thailand without spending a fortune?

Maybe come and live in rural Issan. The tap water in Bangkok and Pattaya seems to be so bad that even Thai friends won't drink it.

In the village I visit in Issan, it seems everybody drinks tap water with no ill effects (at least not for me). Was I just lucky or is Issan water cleaner?

Peter

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Do you mean drinking water from the tap without cooking ? I have never seen any of my thai friends or family's members ( we are thai ) drink water from the tab. It sounds funny but true, my parents use the purify machine at home. We shall pour water from this tap ( they said the bacteria shall be killed by laser and have to refill the filter once a year ), fill water in the bottles and from those bottles , we boil , then later put again in a bottle in freez to drink. If I am too lazy, I shall buy Nesle' water to drink.

And if we have to clean veggi, mom always has ( sorry dont know how to spell in english) it looks like powder in dark velvet, put some in water , water looks pale velvet in thai we call "Dang Tubtim , then put the veggi for some minutes to clean, to be sure you are safe from those insecticide they sprayed. My parents has been doing these procedure for the whole life. It sounds too much but it feels more safe. We dont know what water in the bottle they sell, buy the good one and you are sure. Or you take some medicine from your country to kill bacteria in the water if you have to stay in Isaan or place where you cant get 7/11 shop nearby.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Saothai,

Washing vegetables is certainly a good idea, but it doesn't get all the pesticide off. Lots of pesticide is inside the vegetable, because it is taken up by the roots.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

At lease we did wasch eventhough we all do know that it doesnt help much. But sometimes our body needs no purify clean in order to make anti body. Better little dirty than too clean. There are still lots of new deseases coming to our planet Sometimes temptation is stronger and the mouth is fulled and eye wide shut..hehehe

[meowchawpnom]

...By the way, I have found several web pages that describe excessive fluoride in Thailand as a big problem. Fluoride is a controversial substance and a lot of scientists say it's really bad for you, weakens your bones, causes osteoparosis, among other things.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

could you post a couplel of these web sites as links?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sure.

http://nofluoride.com/

http://rvi.net/~fluoride/s15.htm

http://www.diagnose-me.com/cond/C627523.html

http://www.unicef.org.vn/flurodize.htm

http://www.anamai.moph.go.th/factsheet/health1-4_en.htm

Edited May 17, 2005 by RDN

[chownah]

...By the way, I have found several web pages that describe excessive fluoride in Thailand as a big problem. Fluoride is a controversial substance and a lot of scientists say it's really bad for you, weakens your bones, causes osteoparosis, among other things.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

could you post a couplel of these web sites as links?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sure.

http://nofluoride.com/

http://rvi.net/~fluoride/s15.htm

http://www.diagnose-me.com/cond/C627523.html

http://www.unicef.org.vn/flurodize.htm

http://www.anamai.moph.go.th/factsheet/health1-4_en.htm

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I checked out the nofluoride.com and as I expected it is run by the anti water fluoridation people in the US. I don't know enough about fluoride to say that these people are wrong but in my opinion they do not make a convincing arguement that they are right.

I checked out the UNICEF site and it was very informative about a region in Vietnam where the children's teeth are mottled from the excess fluoride in the water. I mentioned this mottling in a previous post on this thread. This site gave me information that agreed with my previous post. It is my belief that if there is excess fluoride in drinking water then you will know this by the mottled teeth of the people who live there. I could be wrong on this. I suppose that you could have excess fluoride so as to be harmful but not so much as to cause mottling....but I don't know.

Anyway, neither of these mentioned excess fluoride in Thailand. I'll check out some of the others but I'm a bit dissappointed that you have directed me to sites which apparently don't talk about excess fluoride in water in Thailand. Can you check these out too and make a new list of the sites that do mention THailand?

(EDIT: SORRY, RIGHT AFTER POSTING I SAW THAT THE LAST LINK WAS FOR A THAI WEBSITE SO I OPENED IT AND VOILA THERE WAS STUFF FOR THAILAND)

Edited May 17, 2005 by RDN

[chownah]

By the way, I have found several web pages that describe excessive fluoride in Thailand as a big problem. Fluoride is a controversial substance and a lot of scientists say it's really bad for you, weakens your bones, causes osteoparosis, among other things.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

could you post a couplel of these web sites as links?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sure.

http://nofluoride.com/

http://rvi.net/~fluoride/s15.htm

http://www.diagnose-me.com/cond/C627523.html

http://www.unicef.org.vn/flurodize.htm

http://www.anamai.moph.go.th/factsheet/health1-4_en.htm

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I checked out the nofluoride.com and as I expected it is run by the anti water fluoridation people in the US. I don't know enough about fluoride to say that these people are wrong but in my opinion they do not make a convincing arguement that they are right.

I checked out the UNICEF site and it was very informative about a region in Vietnam where the children's teeth are mottled from the excess fluoride in the water. I mentioned this mottling in a previous post on this thread. This site gave me information that agreed with my previous post. It is my belief that if there is excess fluoride in drinking water then you will know this by the mottled teeth of the people who live there. I could be wrong on this. I suppose that you could have excess fluoride so as to be harmful but not so much as to cause mottling....but I don't know.

Anyway, neither of these mentioned excess fluoride in Thailand. I'll check out some of the others but I'm a bit dissappointed that you have directed me to sites which apparently don't talk about excess fluoride in water in Thailand. Can you check these out too and make a new list of the sites that do mention THailand?

(EDIT: SORRY, RIGHT AFTER POSTING I SAW THAT THE LAST LINK WAS FOR A THAI WEBSITE SO I OPENED IT AND VOILA THERE WAS STUFF FOR THAILAND)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I went to the Thai website and it has maps showing data for fluride content of natural and bottled water. A good resource if you want to start checking it out. In my opinion it does not do a agood job of helping you to evaluate the risk.

I went to the rvi.net site and found this:

"According to generally accepted scientific knowledge, the ingestion of optimally fluoridated water does not have an adverse effect on bone health. Evidence of advanced skeletal fluorosis, or crippling skeletal fluorosis, "was not seen in communities in the United States where water supplies contained up to 20 ppm (natural levels of fluoride)." In these communities, daily fluoride intake of 20 mg/day would not be uncommon."

The subject of acceptable fluoride content of water is controversial so I will only state my OPINION here. In my opinion the rvi.net site statement coupled with the Thai site indicates that there is not much health risk from fluoride from drinking water in Thailand. Also I am now more of the OPINION that if a water source has high fluoride content to the point of health concerns then some of the local people will have mottled teeth.....ONLY MY OPINION.

Edited May 17, 2005 by RDN

[peder.klockmann]

... reminds me of my friend trying to convince me that my Anti-persperant deodorant will cauze me to have Alzheimer's disease because of the Aluminum Zirconium Trichlorohydrex ingrediant (the one that actually goes in the poers that stop you from sweating).

Edited May 17, 2005 by peder.klockmann

[chownah]

... reminds me of my friend trying to convince me that my Anti-persperant deodorant will cauze me to have Alzheimer's disease because of the Aluminum Zirconium Trichlorohydrex ingrediant (the one that actually goes in the poers that stop you from sweating). 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This reminds me of the story about the pesticide salesman. Back in the '50's when pesticides were just becoming popular there was a salesman who went around selling the stuff and to prove it was harmless to humans he would drink some. Many years later he died a tortured death from multiple cancers of the internal organs and mouth. Its probably not true.

[bina]

Mottled teeth possibly = overuse of tetracycline... eating certain foods that stain enamel of teeth... brushing habits (use toothbrushes or wooden sticks etc)certain spices....

saothai maybe correct when she says (i think its her ) a little dirt never hurt anyone; its been my experience that tourists from the more 'hygienic' countries tend to suffer more from basic diseases than those that come from 'less hygienic' countries when exposed; i'm not talking about major time diseases, but the e.coli affects us less then the tourists, the giardia our kids seem to be carriers but not symptomatic; etc....

pesticides in veggies etc plus the spraying you all are talking about against mossies are probably a rather more long term problem not to mention air quality

[chownah]

Mottled teeth possibly = overuse of tetracycline... eating certain foods that stain enamel of teeth... brushing habits (use toothbrushes or wooden sticks etc)certain spices....

saothai maybe correct when she says (i think its her ) a little dirt never hurt anyone; its been my experience that tourists from the more 'hygienic' countries tend to suffer more from basic diseases than those that come from 'less hygienic' countries when exposed; i'm not talking about major time diseases, but the e.coli affects us less then the tourists, the giardia our kids seem to be carriers but not symptomatic; etc....

pesticides in veggies etc plus the spraying you all are talking about against mossies are probably a rather more long term problem not to mention air quality

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You are right in that mottled teeth can be caused by many things, but if a populatoin drinks the water and noone has mottled teeth then I feel pretty sure that there is not unhealthy levels of fluoride in the drinking water....my opinion only.

[The_Other_Mac]

... and boiling means over flame or electric stove,  not IN electric tea pot!!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think the common kitchen appliance known to the Irish and British as an "electric kettle" is sufficient for boiling the water. It does exceed boiling point (since we need it for making tea that actually has flavour). Sounds like you're referring to the standard Asian water heater shaped in a vertical cylinder, etc, which only heats to about 97'C.

Some of the higher-end Japanese models of water heaters have special buttons and stuff to make the water "super-hot" (i.e. boil it). They like their tea too, the Japanese, though I don't know about that funny green stuff.

Edited May 17, 2005 by The_Other_Mac

[mnoorsapl]

If you live in BKK, just buy the 6L. Nestle Pure Life-bags and you are home free.

And hey, water is cheap as dirt.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Agreed. No hassle.

[meowchawpnom]

If you live in BKK, just buy the 6L. Nestle Pure Life-bags and you are home free.

And hey, water is cheap as dirt.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Agreed. No hassle.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes, no hassle, but unless the water was made by reverse osmosis, distillation, or filtered with alumina, it may very well have fluoride in it. Most of the water in bags is apparently only subjected to carbon filtration and maybe one or two other processes that don't remove fluoride. I received this info from local Thai specialist in water purification.

I will stick with reverse osmosis.

Also, it is only small children who get mottled teeth from fluoride. Seeing adults with good teeth doesn't tell you what you need to know (unless they grew up in the same area they are living in now).

I suggest you all read those links more closely. Fluoride is bad news. Of course, lots of other stuff in our water is also pretty awful.

Edited May 21, 2005 by meowchawpnom

[bina]

if the electric kettle keeps the water boiling for longer than ten minutes than you are safe from giardai and other nasties; if it is indeed like what i have at home for coffee/tea instant stuff, the water boils and the kettle turns itself off.... to boil water for infants etc i boil water in a pot on the gas flame.... and also let the 'stone' to settle as we have very hard water also not including the chemicals...

i agree looking at peoples teeth does not mean lack of fluoride; after all all the old ladies chew that betel stuff also which stains teeth and wears them down too... the best is to check amounts in water from kits that are like pool water or sewage water or aquarium water quality kits... i'm sure the hysterical americans have a kit for this... check mother jones or good earth almanac or homesteader forums since they are all paranoid about gov't poisoning etc ... fluoride would be the last thing i would worry about in water in thailand or anywhere else...

here in jerusalem we had high rates of POLIO in the water and a mild outbreak among unvaccinated kids, a few years ago;

my daughter was just diagnosed as having bordetello (whooping cough!! and chlymidia -pneumonia, a possible water borne pathogen)

e.coli and salamanella types are the nasties; and chemicals carried in rain water for those that drink from the big ongs in issaan that i saw....

[Zarkow]

Fluoride is bad news.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Don't oversimplefy. Besides, back in Sweden they add flouride in the drinking-water (and have been for a long time) to make sure that people get enough and improve the quality of peoples teeth. And I have yet to hear anyone complain...and our quality of teeth is by far higher then...the British for instance. :}

[Projectpaperclip]

Diet, injections, and injunctions will combine from a very early age to produce the sort of beliefs that the authorities considered desirable. And any serious criticism of the powers that be will become psychologically impossible.

Bertrand Russell, and the impact of science on society.

Another quote

We are in the process of developing a whole series of techniques which will enable the controlling oligarchy which have always existed and presumably will always exist to get people to actually love their servitude. Aldous Huxley

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Are there evil people in this world? Yes. Have evil people gained powerful positions before in this world? Yes. Are evil people constantly trying to take advantage of others? Yes. Would evil people do whatever it took to remain in power and continue taking advantage of others that much easier? Yes. Or they wouldn't be evil. Could these all-powerful evil people find some evil scientist to accept large amounts of money and say that fluoride is good for your teeth and not harmful to your health? yes. Could it actually be good for our teeth and not harmful to our health? Yes. What was mixed into the water supply at the concentration camps of Hitler and Stalin? Fluoride. What industrial waste product was expensive to clean up and get rid of? Fluoride. Do good people underestimate what evil people will do? Yes.

Given the possible benefits of stronger teeth and lower dentist bills and looking at the possible negative ramifications of fluoride ingestion of reduced intelligence quotient, joint problems, and holes in your brain, I think I'm just going to play it safe and not drink the stuff.

This position is obviously paranoid and obviously what 90% of the people will not align themselves with. For anyone out there who is part of the paranoid 10% remain vigilant. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1070329053600562261