Drinking water I litre -1 baht. Is this water really drinkable?

[marseniy]

I am a bit wary about the water that sold in slot machines for 1 baht per litre. If it so cheep why do people still buy bottled water from grocery. My acquaintance from Australia, who lives in Pattaya, told me that kind of water good only for cooking and he wouldn't suggest me to drink it unboiled.

[David48]

Every place/machone is different.

I stayed for some months just outside Bangkok.

Drank literally gallons of it.

Most in the multi-story apartment block did the same ... 3 Farangs ... balance Thais.

NEVER a problem ...

So, buy 1 litre ... give it a try.

No squirts ... no problem.

.

[marseniy]

Every place/machone is different.

I stayed for some months just outside Bangkok.

Drank literally gallons of it.

Most in the multi-story apartment block did the same ... 3 Farangs ... balance Thais.

NEVER a problem ...

So, buy 1 litre ... give it a try.

No squirts ... no problem.

.

I have already tried and I still alive. it isn't poisened indeed. But the question is about its quality. I usually buy this water nearby Chaweng Pattana village in Koh Samui.

[harrry]

Tap water when it leaves the plant is drinkable. The slot machines are supposed to have a filter and UV light but often they are not working. Safest is to put the water in the sun in clear one litre plastic bottles for an hour or two if you are worried.

THe bottled water thing is more to show you have money unless you happen to live in a place where the water does not taste good. (Adelaide in Australia for example.)

the forgoing assumes you use piped water. well water that may be used in a condo has not been treated though the plastic bottle trick will kill almost all nasties.

Edited November 8, 2013 by harrry

[Boater]

Is it worth the risk ? You can get the 5 litre bottles delivered for 20 thb , which are good for cooking ECT .. Personally I only ever drink nestle water or similar , it is still so cheap !

I always find saving money like this will only cost you more in the future

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[notmyself]

Tap water when it leaves the plant is drinkable. The slot machines are supposed to have a filter and UV light but often they are not working.

Not sure how you know the inline UV is 'often' not working but I wont use them because I have no confidence that they would be working. I've been buying the 15l white bottles for 14 years and never had an issue so will stick to them. A friend some years back who is a bit of a health freak came over for a stay and tested it with some gizmo he had and said it was fine. He still boiled it before drinking though!

[loeuftok]

been drinking tap water for more than 10 years in kpgn, never got any problem.

My wife, insisted that we install a water purifier at home. She is now bottling liters of purified tap water, and I keep on drinking it straight from the tap...

I think that the more you sanitize your environment the proner you are to get sick

[Birdman]

Buying the Tesco 12 pack for drinking since years and the white 20l bottle for tea/coffee making, simple because it tastes like plastic and Tesco's more like water

[BigC]

I boil all my water before drinking it no matter where it's from

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[sscsamui]

I known people who have gotten sick from them.. It is tap water. if they don't clean and change filters then there is a possibility of illness.

[Boater]

been drinking tap water for more than 10 years in kpgn, never got any problem.

My wife, insisted that we install a water purifier at home. She is now bottling liters of purified tap water, and I keep on drinking it straight from the tap...

I think that the more you sanitize your environment the proner you are to get sick

That is impressive , not even the locals or Burmese would risk drinking straight from the tap

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[David48]

been drinking tap water for more than 10 years in kpgn, never got any problem.

My wife, insisted that we install a water purifier at home. She is now bottling liters of purified tap water, and I keep on drinking it straight from the tap...

I think that the more you sanitize your environment the proner you are to get sick

That is impressive , not even the locals or Burmese would risk drinking straight from the tap

I must admit, even I don't drink from the tap.

But the 1b a litre water works just fine for me ... mind you I had a singular source, so my sample size isn't large.

At the Farm we just drink rain water, stored in earthen jars then run through a basic gravity particle filter before consumption ... gallons of that also ... nary a problem.

[Ticketmaster]

the truth of the matter is that bottled water is false security anyway. The testing standards are very low. Sure, if "properly tested," it will not have bacteria so you will not immediately get sick, but there is no required test for chemical contaminants. That bottled water could be contaminated with pesticides, herbicides, PCB's, mercury or practically any other chemical or heavy metal, and nobody would ever know, because there is norequired test for such contaminants.

so you might not get the trots, but give yourself 10 years of drinking the stuff and you may get cancer.

I don't worry about any of this. I drink from those machines, I drink bottled water, I drink tap water. Seldom ever get the runs, and for the rest of it, gonna die anyway.

[carmine]

been drinking tap water for more than 10 years in kpgn, never got any problem.

My wife, insisted that we install a water purifier at home. She is now bottling liters of purified tap water, and I keep on drinking it straight from the tap...

I think that the more you sanitize your environment the proner you are to get sick

warning; don't try this at home folks!

[Mole]

I also used to drink tap water when I lived in Bangkok.

But when I moved to Samui, I had to stop because the chlorine here seems to be stronger and I believe I can taste something else in the water as well.

I now just use a water purifier on my tap water.

[BigC]

the truth of the matter is that bottled water is false security anyway.  The testing standards are very low.  Sure, if "properly tested," it will not have bacteria so you will not immediately get sick, but there is no required test for chemical contaminants.  That bottled water could be contaminated with pesticides, herbicides, PCB's, mercury or practically any other chemical or heavy metal, and nobody would ever know, because there is norequired test for such contaminants.  

so you might not get the trots, but give yourself 10 years of drinking the stuff and you may get cancer.

 

I don't worry about any of this.  I drink from those machines, I drink bottled water, I drink tap water.  Seldom ever get the runs, and for the rest of it, gonna die anyway.

So even if I book water that does not have theses chemicals in them I shall still get cancer ?

If bottled water still has these chemicals in there then I shall get cancer even without boiling ?

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[Rooo]

the truth of the matter is that bottled water is false security anyway. The testing standards are very low. Sure, if "properly tested," it will not have bacteria so you will not immediately get sick, but there is no required test for chemical contaminants. That bottled water could be contaminated with pesticides, herbicides, PCB's, mercury or practically any other chemical or heavy metal, and nobody would ever know, because there is norequired test for such contaminants.

so you might not get the trots, but give yourself 10 years of drinking the stuff and you may get cancer.

I don't worry about any of this. I drink from those machines, I drink bottled water, I drink tap water. Seldom ever get the runs, and for the rest of it, gonna die anyway.

So even if I book water that does not have theses chemicals in them I shall still get cancer ?

If bottled water still has these chemicals in there then I shall get cancer even without boiling ?

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BigC the only thing you can take at the moment is your medicine.

[circusman]

Is it worth the risk ? You can get the 5 litre bottles delivered for 20 thb , which are good for cooking ECT .. Personally I only ever drink nestle water or similar , it is still so cheap !

I always find saving money like this will only cost you more in the future

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Do you believe Nestle is better quality than say Tesco Brand ? Probably from the same supplier only different label. Why pay more?

[Nip]

I seem to recall Nestle being in trouble with the quality of their bottled water ie when tested by Health and Safety they found all sorts of nasties. What I can assure you is that not 100 meters from my home in Phuket there is a water bottling plant and the water in the bottles and containers comes straight from the mains water supply. Its not a big operation but the water is not filtered in any way.

Edited November 10, 2013 by Nip

[jackflash]

> The slot machines are supposed to have a filter and UV light but often they are not working.

Simple filters are not much use. Unless the filters are changed frequently, they do more harm than good as the bugs breed in the filter.

The better machines use Reverse Osmosis to purify the water. R.O. is the only thing which will remove dissolved solids (besides distillation).

But as before, so much dependes on how well (and how often) the machines are serviced......

Edited November 10, 2013 by jackflash

[henry2109]

I remember a report about this kind of water supply machines. Many are not maintanenced properly, and so the water is not proper and should not be drunk. As far as I remember, about 1/3 or 1/4 of all the machines are not on a sufficent level. So if you get the water from such a machine, you have to check, when and how the machine is maitenanced.

[Zumteufel]

been drinking tap water for more than 10 years in kpgn, never got any problem.

My wife, insisted that we install a water purifier at home. She is now bottling liters of purified tap water, and I keep on drinking it straight from the tap...

I think that the more you sanitize your environment the proner you are to get sick

I agree with the sanitizing logic. Personally I'm sick far less often here when I lived in Denmark, where keeping food out of the fridge for more than five minutes is a mortal sin.

However, drinking water is a slightly different story in my eyes. It's not just about dirt and bacteria anymore, it's about chemicals being mixed in the groundwater. I don't trust the Thai authorities to test the levels properly, hence I buy my water bottled (or at least filtering it when the water from the tap is ok, which isn't where I live now).

[Forkinhades]

Why dont you just get a water testing kit?

[craigt3365]

2 years after national regulation, 20% of Pattaya drinking-water machines still contaminated with bacteria

PATTAYA:--More than two years after national public-health officials began regulating drinking-water vending machines, Pattaya still has not cleaned up its dispensers, with more than 200 providing below-standard water.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/654782-2-years-after-national-regulation-20-of-pattaya-drinking-water-machines-still-contaminated-with-ba/

Vending water not up to standards: Health Dept

Only 70 per cent of bottled water and drinking water from vending machines has passed quality standards set by the Department of Health, director-general Dr Somyos Deerasamee said Wednesday.

"The problem lies with contamination. Contaminants include heavy metals and bacteria," he said.

Contaminated water causes various diseases including diarrhoea and typhoid, he said.

Only 40 per cent of water from water utility services, artesian wells, rain and shallow wells passed the department's quality requirements, he said.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/home/Vending-water-not-up-to-standards-Health-Dept-30151645.html

One big problem, as stated above, is most water treatment methods don't deal with heavy metals. Which don't cause short term issues, but can be very bad over the long term. Especially with children.

[proovms]

I drink the tap water in Chiang Mai, it's fine. I got sick once or twice at the beginning, but nothing bad.

Just drink the water, it will strengthen your immune system.

[little mary sunshine]

I have been using the water RO machines in my Condo Complex for 4 years now. They are

inspected and dated with each change of the RO filter(s). To my knowledge, these machines

will not operate of the filter is not changed at the appropriate time. They , the fliters, are good

for thousands of liters of water; never had a problem with any of the water.

[Mur]

drank the water from those street machines for years and wondered about it but a bit of research turned up the fact that if these machines are operating well with good filters they might actually filter out too much, including the minerals and there is a chance it may be like the water you should put in a battery.. So its possible some of them could be too effective. Apparently drinking demineralised water day in day out can cause the body to leech the minerals of of your cells, which is not so good

[papa al]

the truth of the matter is that bottled water is false security anyway. The testing standards are very low. Sure, if "properly tested," it will not have bacteria so you will not immediately get sick, but there is no required test for chemical contaminants. That bottled water could be contaminated with pesticides, herbicides, PCB's, mercury or practically any other chemical or heavy metal, and nobody would ever know, because there is norequired test for such contaminants.

so you might not get the trots, but give yourself 10 years of drinking the stuff and you may get cancer.

I don't worry about any of this. I drink from those machines, I drink bottled water, I drink tap water. Seldom ever get the runs, and for the rest of it, gonna die anyway.

So even if I book water that does not have theses chemicals in them I shall still get cancer ?

If bottled water still has these chemicals in there then I shall get cancer even without boiling ?

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***********************

Maybe.

Maybe.

You are going to die for sure.

[Paangjang]

Tap water when it leaves the plant is drinkable. The slot machines are supposed to have a filter and UV light but often they are not working. Safest is to put the water in the sun in clear one litre plastic bottles for an hour or two if you are worried.

THe bottled water thing is more to show you have money unless you happen to live in a place where the water does not taste good. (Adelaide in Australia for example.)

the forgoing assumes you use piped water. well water that may be used in a condo has not been treated though the plastic bottle trick will kill almost all nasties.

Google Plastic water bottles cancer risk. Basically plastic bottles are safe however, don't leave your plastic water bottle in the sun or a hot car etc. This has been proven, bad idea to drink the water after its been in a warm plastic container.

[harrry]

Tap water when it leaves the plant is drinkable. The slot machines are supposed to have a filter and UV light but often they are not working. Safest is to put the water in the sun in clear one litre plastic bottles for an hour or two if you are worried.

THe bottled water thing is more to show you have money unless you happen to live in a place where the water does not taste good. (Adelaide in Australia for example.)

the forgoing assumes you use piped water. well water that may be used in a condo has not been treated though the plastic bottle trick will kill almost all nasties.

Google Plastic water bottles cancer risk. Basically plastic bottles are safe however, don't leave your plastic water bottle in the sun or a hot car etc. This has been proven, bad idea to drink the water after its been in a warm plastic container.

You know more than the World Health Organization about safe water do you?

http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/wsh0207/en/index4.html