Thailand's drinking water meets WHO standards

BANGKOK: -- The raw water from the Chao Phrya River which is the source of Bangkok's domestic water supply after treatment by the Metropolitan Waterworks Authority (MWA) is clean and meets standards set by the United Nations World Health Organisation, a senior municipal water official said Sunday.

Virachart Olapiriyakul, the MWA's assistant governor for Water Transmission and Distribution Systems, said the agency's officials has tested water quality in four central provinces which the river passes through following the release of excessive floodwater from the northern province of Uttaradit into the Yom River recently.

The test showed that the wastewater level in the Yom River had been reduced due to waters from the Nan, Ping and Wang Rivers which converge and form the Chao Phya River in the central province of Nakhon Sawan, Mr. Virachart said.

The quality of raw water in Thailand's central Chao Phraya River is near the WHO standard of 3 milligrammes/litre while river's oxygen level was at 4.1 milligrammes/llitre, which he said was suitable to produce clean water.

Responding to public concerns regarding chemical residues or water-borne diseases which could be contained in the river, he said the MWA measured oxygen levels on a regular basis and that so far no problem was detected.

--TNA 2006-06-18

I have doubts about that......

Thailand's drinking water meets WHO standards

BANGKOK: -- The raw water from the Chao Phrya River which is the source of Bangkok's domestic water supply after treatment by the Metropolitan Waterworks Authority (MWA) is clean and meets standards set by the United Nations World Health Organisation, a senior municipal water official said Sunday.

Virachart Olapiriyakul, the MWA's assistant governor for Water Transmission and Distribution Systems, said the agency's officials has tested water quality in four central provinces which the river passes through following the release of excessive floodwater from the northern province of Uttaradit into the Yom River recently.

--TNA 2006-06-18

Bangkok's maybe, all of Thailand??

The water coming from the treatment plant may be okay to drink, but one has to wonder about what may happen to its cleanliness while it is piped from there to the tap.

Edited June 18, 200620 yr by ovenman

Thailand's drinking water meets WHO standards

Responding to public concerns regarding chemical residues or water-borne diseases which could be contained in the river, he said the MWA measured oxygen levels on a regular basis and that so far no problem was detected.

--TNA 2006-06-18

If chemical residues or water-borne disease was detected, will they inform consumers immediately or they just black out the news?

I'd love to see a statement from WHO backing this claim.

I think I will pass

I, for one, would never drink Thai tap water.

I, for one, would never drink Thai tap water.

I used to know one guy who drank the tap water in Chiang Mai - I wouldn't, but has anyone?

I, for one, would never drink Thai tap water.

I used to know one guy who drank the tap water in Chiang Mai - I wouldn't, but has anyone?

I use to drink the tap water in town when no bottled water was available. It did not taste that great but I suffered no ill health effects.

The Chiang Mai water at least smells a lot better than Bangkok water. I remember an article two or so years ago, where the municipality claimed it was safe for consumption.

I see no reason to not believe them - but I agree with the earlier poster who said the main problem is the state of the piping between the water works and your tap... so I do not drink the tap water.

If you boil it, it's okay for guests and servants to drink. At least, that's according to tradition.

The quality of raw water in Thailand's central Chao Phraya River is near the WHO standard of 3 milligrammes/litre while river's oxygen level was at 4.1 milligrammes/llitre, which he said was suitable to produce clean water.

Responding to public concerns regarding chemical residues or water-borne diseases which could be contained in the river, he said the MWA measured oxygen levels on a regular basis and that so far no problem was detected.

This is idiot journalism. It's a bit like saying that the air in BKK still has adequate levels of oxygen therefore it is of good quality. How about the fecal coliform count etc etc?

Anyway, as for the quality of BKK tap water, I've been told by a Thames Water engineer (out here fixing stuff) that the drinking water coming out of the treatment plants is good quality. The problem is the distribution system to houses etc. is buggered up with cracks and leaky pipes and lies parallel to the sewers in many places so it gets contaminated in transit.

I've drunk a fair bit of it with no apparent harm though...I think...

The water coming from the treatment plant may be okay to drink, but one has to wonder about what may happen to its cleanliness while it is piped from there to the tap.

Very true. Every rainy season , our underground water tank (filled with city water) smells bad and I have to clean out sludge accumulated at the bottom, twice a year. Groundwater seeping in. Have to do it this week as a matter of fact.

I don't even drink tap water in the UK! Tap water is for washing and some cooking. Drinking and making tea/coffee is bottled water.

I use a carbon filter in the UK, I don't know if this would be okay for Thailand. Any thoughts?

^I use one.

Works a treat!

jb

I don't even drink tap water in the UK! Tap water is for washing and some cooking. Drinking and making tea/coffee is bottled water.

I use a carbon filter in the UK, I don't know if this would be okay for Thailand. Any thoughts?

A test in Sydney showed that bottled water doesn't have enough fluoride in it when compared with tab water and water from carbon filter containner. The companies just simply don't add fluoride in the water.

I drank unboiled, unfiltered tap water for quite a while in BKK with no ill health effects--I didn't realize you should boil it. Other than tasting not very good, it was fine. I still only boil water for drinking. A lot of bottled water isn't particularly pure--several years back one common brand in Pattaya was found to contain fecal material.