Can You Trust The Street Water Purification Slot Machines?

[msgtb]

Thebest thing to do is buy a water pin (tester). You can buy them on amazon.com they only cost around twenty dollars US. I have been using one for over ten years now. I always test new source of water before letting my family use it. I have even found bottled water reading higher than safe limits. My moto is trust but varify. The water despensers that I have tested in the past, that were labled Reverse Osmosis (RO) were fine.

Take care

[ThreeProperty]

If your water out of the machine is questionable then just boil it to be sure.

Three Property

[Kilgore Trout]

Thanks , this is useful.

I know reverse osmosis is dependent on the cleanliness of water going in, and wouldn't be much good at all for flood water contamination, but from what I've heard so far BKK tap water hasn't been compromised yet, so a quick trip to one of these machines is on the schedule for today.

(I certainly wouldn't trust untreated tap water in Bangkok, despite water authority's assurances that it's safe. It may well be when it's tested at the water treatment plants, but after travelling through miles of dodgy cracked pipes and plumbing filled the brim with virulent microorganisms, assorted unidentified solids and the odd enterprising but now deceased rat I doubt that it continues to be....)

cheers

I was using one in the pra kanong area until a couple of weeks ago when it started to taste really bad. Don't know if it was because the filters were dirty or the water going in was. Had to by bottled water at double the price

Best way to check is if you see many Thais using a specific machine, than it must be safe.

So I guess if you see a bunch of Thais swimming in the Saen Saab canal, then it must be safe too, right?

[hyperdimension]

Here's the control panel of a water vending machine that I walked past that had lights for reverse osmosis and ozone. Since the lights are not on, does it mean that both the reverse osmosis filter and the ozone treatment are not actually working?

[roamer]

Water thus treated should be kept out of bright light to avoid reactivation.

Actually, the opposite is true. Leaving water out in direct sunlight in clear bottles can disinfect it. 6 or more hours is recommended. The water should be clear beforehand, otherwise the radiation would not be able to get into all of the water. Labels should also be removed to allow more light to go through. See Solar water disinfection.

I said "water thus treated......"

Stand by my post. Photoreactivation is scientifically proven over many years and occurs rapidly with strains such as E.Coli, particularly relevant to the situation in Bangkok. Bacterial regrowth after solar disinfection is no different to bacterial regrowth after UV sterilisation because they are essentially the same process.

[hyperdimension]

Water thus treated should be kept out of bright light to avoid reactivation.

Actually, the opposite is true. Leaving water out in direct sunlight in clear bottles can disinfect it. 6 or more hours is recommended. The water should be clear beforehand, otherwise the radiation would not be able to get into all of the water. Labels should also be removed to allow more light to go through. See Solar water disinfection.

I said "water thus treated......"

Stand by my post. Photoreactivation is scientifically proven over many years and occurs rapidly with strains such as E.Coli, particularly relevant to the situation in Bangkok. Bacterial regrowth after solar disinfection is no different to bacterial regrowth after UV sterilisation because they are essentially the same process.

When you say "kept out of bright light to avoid reactivation", I think it depends on the kind of light. If the light is or contains U.V. radiation (such as direct sun light) then the U.V. would kill a lot of the bacteria (after leaving it for sufficient time), and as long as the water is left in such light the bacteria would be unable to repopulate.

Once the water is taken away from U.V. exposure then the bacteria could start to repopulate, especially if left in a warm environment with very little or no U.V. exposure. So after treatment, the water should be placed in a refrigerator to slow the repopulation or drank as soon as possible.

Edited November 19, 2011 by hyperdimension

[submaniac]

I saw bear grills drink swamp water filtered through his sock. Not anything like the clear tap water in Bkk and Pattaya, Phuket ,Samui and he lived

I saw Bear Grylls "drink" water by giving himself an enema of dirty water into his butt. Just because Bear Grylls does it, doesn't mean that I should do it.

.......of course one could also save 5 baht from the machines.

[kdc1899]

I might try it if I have ever see somebody either actually clean it or change a filter once.

How often does the filter need to be changed? I don't think it's likely to ever catch someone changing one even if it is changed regularly.

The water from the machines I use does not taste the same as tap water, someone must be servicing it and collecting money although I've never seen them

The R/O claim is hogwash. 5 gallons of water R/O'd would take over an hour. There are 2 or 3 filters in these machines but the tap water comes through at such high speeds that they can't be doin much cleaning. The machines that have U/V are helpful when the water is pumped through at a moderate speed.

Basically, y'all paying for straight tap water.

Have at it

[Fookhaht]

This has been a frequent thread on TV for many years.

The general consensus has been: If you trust the machine owners to maintain the machine filters as regularly as apartments, secondary streets, sidewalks, public restrooms, spaghetti power lines, primary school facilities, canal sluice gates, 1-2 Go jets, etc. are maintained in Thailand. . . . .then, drink away!

[DP25]

The R/O claim is hogwash. 5 gallons of water R/O'd would take over an hour. There are 2 or 3 filters in these machines but the tap water comes through at such high speeds that they can't be doin much cleaning. The machines that have U/V are helpful when the water is pumped through at a moderate speed.

Basically, y'all paying for straight tap water.

Have at it

I'm looking online and I'm finding R/O water machines in the US that do over 1000 gallons per day

http://www.aquapolar.com/machine5.htm

[Totster]

This has been a frequent thread on TV for many years.

The general consensus has been: If you trust the machine owners to maintain the machine filters as regularly as apartments, secondary streets, sidewalks, public restrooms, spaghetti power lines, primary school facilities, canal sluice gates, 1-2 Go jets, etc. are maintained in Thailand. . . . .then, drink away!

Likewise if you have been drinking it for 2 years or whatever with no problems....

totster

[Fookhaht]

This has been a frequent thread on TV for many years.

The general consensus has been: If you trust the machine owners to maintain the machine filters as regularly as apartments, secondary streets, sidewalks, public restrooms, spaghetti power lines, primary school facilities, canal sluice gates, 1-2 Go jets, etc. are maintained in Thailand. . . . .then, drink away!

Likewise if you have been drinking it for 2 years or whatever with no problems....

totster

Some people have all the luck!

(P.S. Been monitoring the gradual build up of toxic minerals in your blood?)

Edited November 21, 2011 by Fookhaht

[Totster]

This has been a frequent thread on TV for many years.

The general consensus has been: If you trust the machine owners to maintain the machine filters as regularly as apartments, secondary streets, sidewalks, public restrooms, spaghetti power lines, primary school facilities, canal sluice gates, 1-2 Go jets, etc. are maintained in Thailand. . . . .then, drink away!

Likewise if you have been drinking it for 2 years or whatever with no problems....

totster

Some people have all the luck!

(P.S. Been monitoring the gradual build up of toxic minerals in your blood?)

Luckily, I'm not a hypochondriac

totster

[Fookhaht]

This has been a frequent thread on TV for many years.

The general consensus has been: If you trust the machine owners to maintain the machine filters as regularly as apartments, secondary streets, sidewalks, public restrooms, spaghetti power lines, primary school facilities, canal sluice gates, 1-2 Go jets, etc. are maintained in Thailand. . . . .then, drink away!

Likewise if you have been drinking it for 2 years or whatever with no problems....

totster

Some people have all the luck!

(P.S. Been monitoring the gradual build up of toxic minerals in your blood?)

Luckily, I'm not a hypochondriac

totster

Early death without all the worry. It's gotta be a plus!

[Soboringtochooseaname]

Do not trust anyone in Thailand, and not even machines :-)