Bottled Water. Is It Safe?

[somchy]

I am in Isaan and I filled the bathroom water "box" half full, let it set

1 week, and scooped most of the water out. With about 5 inches

of water this is the amount of dirt that came out of solution.

If you drink tap water, or cook with it, this is what is in it.

[MJP]

I am in Isaan and I filled the bathroom water "box" half full, let it set

1 week, and scooped most of the water out. With about 5 inches

of water this is the amount of dirt that came out of solution.

If you drink tap water, or cook with it, this is what is in it.

Oh it will have sediment, it will be dirt. Basically fine silt to clay particles. That's not really the bother.

The long term risk is more likely to be ingestion of the more environmentally mobile pesticides and of course nitrites from all the fertilizer these folks cast about the place. If I get another pesticide plant remediation job I'll sneak a sample into a sample batch and do a semi-quantitative GCMS TIC on it to find out.

I drink it. Not done me any harm so far . . . 

[cusanus]

This is 8 years of university chemistry, biology, math speaking, MS Soils/chemistry, magna cum-laude. Ground water passed through a good filter is your best bet. The major brands of bottled water may have fluoride, hopefully not. Despite heavy propoganda about the benefits of fluoride, it will do NOTHING to prevent decay, but it will gradually eat out your brain first, then bones and teeth, then the rest, so avoid it like the plague and shut your ears to the propaganda. These claims originated with the Rockefeller family who found it difficult to get rid of the hazardous waste from aluminum production, and who were good friends with the Nazis who used it to brain hobble concentration camp residents. Tooth enamel is especially hard due to fluorine content, but consuming rat poison, which uses the same active ingredient as the fluoride put in water, is not the way to get the fluoride in the right place, but a lot of money exchanges hands over your deteriorating carcass when the chicks come home to roost. Even a Nobel winner has openly called out fluoride for the scam it is. Likewise, don't let your dentist talk you into "silver" amalgams. Ceramic or composite is extra good these days, but try to find a dentist who can also assure you that the composite is BPA free. Staying alive isn't as difficult as it used to be, it's being conscious while you're still kicking that's getting difficult.

[MJP]

This is 8 years of university chemistry, biology, math speaking, MS Soils/chemistry, magna cum-laude. Ground water passed through a good filter is your best bet. The major brands of bottled water may have fluoride, hopefully not. Despite heavy propoganda about the benefits of fluoride, it will do NOTHING to prevent decay, but it will gradually eat out your brain first, then bones and teeth, then the rest, so avoid it like the plague and shut your ears to the propaganda. These claims originated with the Rockefeller family who found it difficult to get rid of the hazardous waste from aluminum production, and who were good friends with the Nazis who used it to brain hobble concentration camp residents. Tooth enamel is especially hard due to fluorine content, but consuming rat poison, which uses the same active ingredient as the fluoride put in water,  is not  the way to get the fluoride in the right place, but a lot of money exchanges hands over your deteriorating carcass when the chicks come home to roost.  Even a Nobel winner has openly called out fluoride for the scam it is. Likewise, don't let your dentist talk you into "silver" amalgams. Ceramic or composite is extra good these days, but try to find a dentist who can also assure you that the composite is BPA free. Staying alive isn't as difficult as it used to be, it's being conscious while you're still kicking that's getting difficult.

I think a treated groundwater using sand filter then an activated GAC is probably sufficient. Also depends on the aquifer. Industrial areas are likely to have groundwater contamination as are intensively farmed areas (Thai farming was infamous for over application of pesticides), so the carbon filtration is probably wise, it will deal with the organics.

I'm already contaminated to hel_l with most stuff so is doesn't really bother me.

[pzoom]

How about oxygen-enrich bottle water?

[Trentham]

This is 8 years of university chemistry, biology, math speaking, MS Soils/chemistry, magna cum-laude. Ground water passed through a good filter is your best bet. The major brands of bottled water may have fluoride, hopefully not. Despite heavy propoganda about the benefits of fluoride, it will do NOTHING to prevent decay, but it will gradually eat out your brain first, then bones and teeth, then the rest, so avoid it like the plague and shut your ears to the propaganda. These claims originated with the Rockefeller family who found it difficult to get rid of the hazardous waste from aluminum production, and who were good friends with the Nazis who used it to brain hobble concentration camp residents. Tooth enamel is especially hard due to fluorine content, but consuming rat poison, which uses the same active ingredient as the fluoride put in water, is not the way to get the fluoride in the right place, but a lot of money exchanges hands over your deteriorating carcass when the chicks come home to roost. Even a Nobel winner has openly called out fluoride for the scam it is. Likewise, don't let your dentist talk you into "silver" amalgams. Ceramic or composite is extra good these days, but try to find a dentist who can also assure you that the composite is BPA free. Staying alive isn't as difficult as it used to be, it's being conscious while you're still kicking that's getting difficult.

Well can you explain how a filter removes chemicals and pollutants that have molecule sizes as small or smaller that water molecules?

[frenchfarangjomtien]

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Sorry to make it big, bug as I have been wondering for many years why Thai (and foreigners it seems) are stupid enough to buy DRINKING WATER

when MINERAL WATER is sold almost the same price ?! (especially Carrefour and Tops brands)

Is it because you come from countries where it's not possible to drink tap water ? (So you don't know that it's useless to buy it in bottles?)

For Thai, I guess that they have heard on TV that beer brands drinking water is better, and they believe, but foreigners ?

How can foreigners not know that the only useful water for you body is mineral water, and that you should change the brand often ?

Please reply and tell me how stupid I am to buy and drink mineral water when i could buy shxt drinking water for higher price ?!

Thanks !

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[souvenirdeparis]

my funny French story

a man with a PhD in chemistry had inherited a land in the southern countryside and wanted to build a house on it ; town water didn't reach there and the once farming land relied on a well , which he knew was polluted and just good for washing etc .since he had done his own test. The mayor told him "I'll grant you construction permit only with a lab testimony the water from your well can be drunk, this is the law here" ", so our man bought a bottle of a good brand , filled the vial with that and sent it to the lab ; it came back with "unfit for human consumption, too many bacteria" and he had to do it again with another brand and another lab.

-plastic bottles give out chloric acid if stored in the sun ; they travel on trucks under the sun.

-when a kid, on holiday at the village in Normandy we had tap water, a fountain in our street,and another one farther down called "the sandy patch" which was the purest around. All over the village were ordinary metal fountain pumps, and several great wheel fountains (about 1,2 meter round) to pump deep water . fun to operate. ALL of them are dead now, people don't even know there used to be fountains there, apart from one wheel that was kept for decoration.They were killed by people building septic toilets and using chemicals for their garden. Still if I go to the forest there's a spring I still trust.

The world is so much poorer water-wise now it crushes me when I think of my village pumps.

[dominique355]

Basically, there 3 kinds of water for human consumption here:

- Tab water, supposed to be safe for drinking (in BKK), but doesn't taste good. I don't drink it.

- Filtered water (filtered, reverse osmosis, UV), without any minerals, tastes even worse. I use only for cooking.

- Mineral Water like Aura, Mont Fleur and of course the imported, expensive stuff. I like the taste of Mont Fleur and use it as drinking water.

I would not use rain water in Bangkok, except for watering plants. But I remember having been up-country where I used to take my shower with rain water collected from the roofs. Very soft, and makes it difficult to wash off the soap.

In feel a bit bad about all the plastic bottles I buy for drinking water and calm my conscious with the fact that our maid collects them and sells them to a boat on the klong behind our house. I hope they get somehow recycled, but I am not sure.

[yesdavy]

You guys drink that stuff? I thought water was for bathing.

[souvenirdeparis]

@craig T 3365

"" The main issue with water is chemicals, not minerals. Whether water contains 30 or 3 parts per million calcium isn’t really significant, but the difference between 0.5 and 5 parts per million chloroform is of life or death importance.""

Athing to check on brand bottled water is the NITRATE content (farming chemicals) and big expensive brands can come as a shock whereas cheaper bottles from hard discount can be better for nitrate. It's written in microscopic letters of course.

[MJP]

my funny French story

a man with a PhD in chemistry had inherited a land in the southern countryside and wanted to build a house on it ; town water didn't reach there and the once farming land relied on a well , which he knew was polluted and just good for washing etc .since he had done his own test.  The mayor told him "I'll grant you construction permit only with a lab testimony the water from your well can be drunk, this is the law here"   ", so our man bought a bottle of a good brand , filled the vial with that and sent it to the lab ; it came back with "unfit for human consumption, too many bacteria" and he had to do it again with another brand and another lab.

-plastic bottles give out chloric acid if stored in the sun ; they travel on trucks under the sun.

-when a kid, on holiday at the village in Normandy we had tap water,   a fountain in our street,and another one farther down called "the sandy patch" which was the purest around. All over the village were ordinary  metal fountain pumps, and several great wheel fountains (about 1,2 meter round) to pump deep water . fun to operate. ALL of them are dead now, people don't even know there used to be fountains there, apart from one wheel that was kept for decoration.They were killed by people building  septic toilets and using chemicals for their garden.   Still if I go to the forest there's a spring I still trust.

The world is so much poorer water-wise now it crushes me when I think of my village pumps.

It's unbelievable up here, the ignorance.

Septic tanks are soakaway types. If the economy is good the honey cart man comes round the villages to remove the sludge, but the liquids filter into the ground. Now. People have water wells, not deep ones here, mine goes to 15m to the bottom of the casing and the level can be dry to about 7m bgl.

I have tried repeatedly to explain about sewage treatment and the need to seal the base of these tanks to prevent groundwater contamination, especially in close proximity to wells (like 10m proximity). Does not sink in, they just won't believe me.

Perhaps a little project is to design a very cheap using local materials home sewage treatment plant. Just using concrete rings, plastic pipe and a filter medium of coarse gravels for a trickling filter, the water then used for the garden. I should have done this ages ago, but being bone idle I just sealed the base of the cesspit and call the tanker guy out more.

[koto]

Mostly drink filtered tap water. My building has one of those filter machines that dispenses water at 1 baht per liter. Tastes great, would want something like it if I bought a house

Have never seen them clean or replace the carbon or resin, on the freestanding dispensers, no dates when they do, are posted, just see them collecting the coin, when prices are to good to be true, it should make one wonder, also to refill and reuse the cheap plastic bottles over and over is not the best way to go either, I think one of the safer ways, is at least the 4 to 6 thousand baht stainless steel 3 chamber, carbon, resin, ceramic, unit at home and point of use, back wash often and depending on use, replace with new carbon, resin as needed, at least one knows when it is cleaned and am pretty sure the freestanding units don't have a ceramic filter, just carbon and resin, Lotus has bottled water that has had Reverse Osmosis, Ultraviolet and Ozone 25baht, 6000Ml. when in stock. Tap water is a no, no, roof rain water if filtered after, well water could be the best if checked often, be careful with drinking to many melted ice cubes, unless your making them, that are purified, I also wonder about the white jugs of water even the blue, how often and how well do they clean them, what do they use, just my thoughts, one can never be to safe, if one wants to be.

Keep in mind that 1/3 of all deaths and 80% of all diseases are caused by contaminated water, most of the people in hospitals are there due to waterborne diseases, LOOK at what goes into our storm drains that end up in our lakes, rivers, streams, creeks, ocean. WAKE UP WORLD.

[Thede]

Don't drink the rain water. Every hear of acid rain? Well, Bangkok (or Thailand) ain't the Swiss Alps.

hmm ACID water.

Are you drinking soda ??

try look how much acid is in that please.

And the Osmosis.

Please, there is so many menbranes for Oasmosis that you can sort almost what ever yoy want to sort away

Even milk you can run through and only get rid of up to 99% of the bacterias in it

John Thede

[crazyswede]

Surin rain water taste like sh*t and filtered tap water in BKK taste like taken directly from a swiming pool but every one (thai) drinks it .. they also drink my bottled water if i buy some , strange! 5555

Edited July 25, 2010 by crazyswede

[dreamtime]

Hello,

The fluoride that's added to products are an industrial toxic poison. You would have to be out of your mind to ingest any product where fluoride was added. Here are some links for people who are unaware fluoride is a poison and will harm you when you ingest a product that has added fluoride.

http://www.lovethetruth.com/truth_about_fluoride.htm

http://www.fluoridation.com/

http://www.apfn.org/apfn/fluoride.htm

http://www.squidoo.com/fluoride-poisoning

http://www.fluoridealert.org/toothpaste.html - Poison warning on toothpaste? You think that's good for you?

- Doctor exposes the poison.

You can search in any main search engine for many sites detailing out the dangers of fluoride poisoning. A good search engine is www.startpage.com.

S

Seriously we used to use tap water for washing and cooking. This was in Chonburi province.

The tap water was passed though a triple filter, carbon/resin/ceramic to produce our drinking water.

In the UK water is treated with Fluoride to help prevent tooth decay.

That will not be true of any water source in Thailand.

Consider using a toothpaste with extra fluoride.

[drBouz]

my heart is still somewhere close to beers

[PoorSucker]

To be sure I mix 5 kg of sugar and 500g yeast per 20 litres of water.

Let it stand for three days.

Then I warm it to 80 degrees Celsius and collect the vapour in a brass tube coil.

Then I clean it through activated coal.

Better to be sure then sorry.

[SAMCHAROEN]

Taste may vary not only with the temperature it's served but also with how thirsty the person is.

I don't drink Monte F brand often but when I do I feel more refreshed and have better short term memory.

Back home we used to first filter tap water by passing it thru a clean white cloth. Then we used to boil it. After boiling we would store it in clean glass bottles in the fridge or put it in clay pots for those who want it at room temp.

Edited July 25, 2010 by SAMCHAROEN

[Chunky1]

In the UK water is treated with Fluoride to help prevent tooth decay.

That will not be true of any water source in Thailand.

Not entirely true, though the percentage is on the low side.

There are some countries where Fluorosis, too much fluorine from natural resources are a major health problem.

International Water and Sanitation Center

It was a communist conspiracy.

[craigt3365]

@craig T 3365

"" The main issue with water is chemicals, not minerals. Whether water contains 30 or 3 parts per million calcium isn’t really significant, but the difference between 0.5 and 5 parts per million chloroform is of life or death importance.""

Athing to check on brand bottled water is the NITRATE content (farming chemicals) and big expensive brands can come as a shock whereas cheaper bottles from hard discount can be better for nitrate. It's written in microscopic letters of course.

Ummmm....my bottle doesn't have anything like that listed. I get those big bottles delivered to my house....from Amtech here in Pattaya.

My main worry is pesticides and chemicals. Most bacteria will make you sick, but then go away with treatment or time. Pesticides and chemicals build up over a long time and then cause problems. Kinda like they guys who initially viewed the nuclear bomb tests from 1 kilo away. They were fine the next day...the next year...but dead 20 years later due to radiation problems.

[BroadBlast]

In the UK water is treated with Fluoride to help prevent tooth decay.

That will not be true of any water source in Thailand.

Not entirely true, though the percentage is on the low side.

There are some countries where Fluorosis, too much fluorine from natural resources are a major health problem.

International Water and Sanitation Center

It was a communist conspiracy.

Is it true that they put fluoride in bottled water in Thailand? I heard that the water supplies were not fluoridated, and I can actually get fluoride free toothpaste. Really important to me to avoid fluoride as I can't afford the brain-damage, those neurons are ear-marked for alcohol poisoning. Problem is even if you don't drink the stuff, if you shower in it you absorb plenty of the poison through your skin.

How they ever managed to convince people that one of the most active and toxic elements, used to kill rats, was something to be forced on us as medication is one of the greatest PR campaign victories in human history. Headed by the company that told us cigarettes and asbestos were just great for us... if that aforementioned documentary is correct. I suffer from mild dental dental fluorosis myself, white spots and pitting on my teeth, from taking fluoride tablets forced onto me as a child. Couldn't given me vitamins but ... my parents gave me an evening dose of rat poison.... that's love.

Regarding water filtered by reverse osmosis being lacking in minerals, I read also that if you eat unprocessed salt, (as table salt is demineralized) you can get your mineral needs. They used to remove all minerals from salt then put in iodine because deficiency in iodine results in deforming goiters, but they didn't put any of the other minerals back into the salt so who knows what other horrible diseases you can get from starving your body of all the other minerals. So if you drink demineralized water you should probably eat mineral salt, instead of table salt, it is usually pink or brown in color and comes in a larger crystal form. If its pure white then its probably had the minerals removed.

[Seismic]

Seriously we used to use tap water for washing and cooking. This was in Chonburi province.

The tap water was passed though a triple filter, carbon/resin/ceramic to produce our drinking water.

In the UK water is treated with Fluoride to help prevent tooth decay.

That will not be true of any water source in Thailand.

Consider using a toothpaste with extra fluoride.

If you are only using filters and no UV irradiation, then you are not killing harmful bacteria/microbes in the water. I would strongly suggest investing around 8-10K in a reverse osmosis with UV irradiation, pick them up at any central store.

[dreamtime]

One of those multi-stage under the sink units with UV radiation is a good way to go. After that if you want not just purified water but hyper-charged water then Ozone the water with an ozone machine for 10 minutes and that will kick you in the pants. But, that is a whole other discussion

I have a two stage large building water filter and after that I put it through the under the sink unit for my drinking water. If I'm missing any water filters I go buy bottled water.

S

Seriously we used to use tap water for washing and cooking. This was in Chonburi province.

The tap water was passed though a triple filter, carbon/resin/ceramic to produce our drinking water.

In the UK water is treated with Fluoride to help prevent tooth decay.

That will not be true of any water source in Thailand.

Consider using a toothpaste with extra fluoride.

If you are only using filters and no UV irradiation, then you are not killing harmful bacteria/microbes in the water. I would strongly suggest investing around 8-10K in a reverse osmosis with UV irradiation, pick them up at any central store.

[joshua1971]

All bottled water which is in plastic bottles have more or less the chemicals from the plastic inside.

The longer it stays in there. the more you have. especially with RO water. water that has been deprived its minerals will suck out anything it touches. incl. plastic bottles and YOUR body. RO water is highly acidic.

If it get in contact with sun exposure, you can be sure it has chemicals in it. Or heated up by the sun.

not to mention water standing still for long time has no life in it. and most brands are selling acidic water. We need alkaline living water.

Check out PH miracle. or read up on alkaline water. you will be surprised.

Rain water is pretty good still most places. Storing it is however creating same problems as plastic bottles.

glass bottles of spring water is good but dead water. usually also acidic.

or here is what I do:

Got well water supply. no fluoride or chlorine.

filter it through ceramic, carbon, resin and then UV light. then it goes into my water alkaline ionizer and recharges it. Hydrogen molecules is super charged which means lots of antioxidants.

Then some people would even vortex the water to restructure it. I plan on doing so when I got my vortexer. water is liquid crystals containing sacred geometry in its healthy form. read up on victor shaubergers works on water.

you can even code your water with healing energies. sound vibration. light etc.

we consist of 70% water. its a pretty important topic. More important than nutrition. Water can heal.

Usually what we get is killing. Re mineralizing your water is also a good idea. Minerals are what we need for conductivity in our bodies. flow of energy.

Water is Life

[stevenl]

I collect rainwater and use it for drinking. been doing this for 4 years now, no problems at all.

[zzaa09]

Basically, there 3 kinds of water for human consumption here:

- Tab water, supposed to be safe for drinking (in BKK), but doesn't taste good. I don't drink it.

- Filtered water (filtered, reverse osmosis, UV), without any minerals, tastes even worse. I use only for cooking.

- Mineral Water like Aura, Mont Fleur and of course the imported, expensive stuff. I like the taste of Mont Fleur and use it as drinking water.

I would not use rain water in Bangkok, except for watering plants. But I remember having been up-country where I used to take my shower with rain water collected from the roofs. Very soft, and makes it difficult to wash off the soap.

In feel a bit bad about all the plastic bottles I buy for drinking water and calm my conscious with the fact that our maid collects them and sells them to a boat on the klong behind our house. I hope they get somehow recycled, but I am not sure.

If I were a cynical sort, I might suggest that one still has to be suspicious of even the beloved 'mineral water' - certainly if it's processed. And plastic....be it petroleum based, polymer, or synthetic based - probably is more destructive to anything consumable that it encases.

[zzaa09]

Surin rain water taste like sh*t and filtered tap water in BKK taste like taken directly from a swiming pool but every one (thai) drinks it .. they also drink my bottled water if i buy some , strange! 5555

Our {Surin} rain water is quite tolerable, actually. Even non-descript.

[Lite Beer]

More confused than ever now.

[jfchandler]

My wife told me, when she was growing up upcountry, that her family used to get their drinking water from the roof runoff....after the first hard rain or two had washed the roof off a bit...

And I couldn't help but thinking re similar comments in this thread: OK...so then, you wanna go up and early your food every day off the top of the roof of your house... If it's good enough for the water, it must be OK for the food too, right???

Don't see too many people doing that though..... Most of us seem to prefer reasonably clean plates and bowls.

Surin rain water taste like sh*t and filtered tap water in BKK taste like taken directly from a swiming pool but every one (thai) drinks it .. they also drink my bottled water if i buy some , strange! 5555

Our {Surin} rain water is quite tolerable, actually. Even non-descript.