Tap water in Thailand safe to drink: PWA

[connda]

if your a foreigner, recommend you purchase bottle water for drinking.

Tap water is ok for washing dishes or cleaning food.

Recommend you boil the tap water first for personnel consumption.

After I boil the village water it's still brown. I ain't drinking that. And I have a three stage filter which I've recently replaced all the filters. There's still color to the water when compared to reverse osmosis water that I get in town. After boiling, I'd drink the filtered water in a pinch. But I generally stick to the bottled water.

[goltec]

if your a foreigner, recommend you purchase bottle water for drinking.

Tap water is ok for washing dishes or cleaning food.

Recommend you boil the tap water first for personnel consumption.

After I boil the village water it's still brown. I ain't drinking that. And I have a three stage filter which I've recently replaced all the filters. There's still color to the water when compared to reverse osmosis water that I get in town. After boiling, I'd drink the filtered water in a pinch. But I generally stick to the bottled water.

Install a good reverse osmosis system with proper pre-filtration to make it easier for your R.O. system.

after that install a mineral cartridge to get the PH up and put the good minerals back into your water.

your water will taste delicious and will be beneficial to your health.

last step before yourwater comes to your tap: a small UV lamp (6watt) and you will be fine and have good quality drinking water at home.

Replace UV lamp 1 time per year. NEVER turn off the UV lamp because every time you turn it off and on it will lose 6 hours of it's "life span"

[unclueng]

In Angthong we pay 9 Baht for 20 liter plastic bottles including delivery. We use it for drinking and cooking. The village water comes from a well. Sometimes the water is turbid. We use a sand filter to keep the water clear. We store the filtered water in stainless steel tanks and pump it for bath, shower, toilets and cleaning.

[Artisi]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

It might be "safe" when it leaves the plants, but by the time it goes through all those crappy, rusty, gungy pipes that are in place before finally emerging from the taps, I'd dispute how "safe" it is to drink . . .

I just can not believe this sh!!t, I use UV machine.

It's not the "crappy, rusty, gungy pipes" you need to be worried about, it's the cross contamination with sewage pipes / bum guns connected to the water supply and the possible ingress of contaminated ground water gaining access to the water supply, this happens if the water supply pipe lines go under vacuum and there are any leaks in the line, this is very possible in high demand areas especially when people connect pumps directly to the main water pipe lines.

[MickGC]

we use one of these http://www.amway.com/at-home/eSpring

Expensive initial investment but the water is always sweet. Nobody up my way drinks directly from the tap.

[DrTuner]

Replace UV lamp 1 time per year. NEVER turn off the UV lamp because every time you turn it off and on it will lose 6 hours of it's "life span"

We use the UV when filling up a 20L bottle that's than placed on the water cooler and a few other containers for water to be used for cooking. Meaning it's used once about every 2 days for about 20mins. So in our case, it makes sense to turn it off.

[kenio]

I have been drinking the tapwater in "our" village, all the time. It looks clean and it taste good.

I´ve been there 2-3 month for many years, All the family drink it and never have problem with that.

Maybe we are just lucky that have good water.

[cewing]

I drank tap water from the faucet in my apartment's bathroom for one year. I never got sick. Lucky? Maybe. Dumb? Maybe. Sick? Never.

[monk213]

The entire time I have been here I have brushed my teeth with the tap water, showered in it and on a couple of occasions I have drank it either due to waking up in the night semi drunk and lazy or simply laziness. I am fine, never had any issues after either. Go figure

Edited August 14, 2014 by monk213

[goltec]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

It might be "safe" when it leaves the plants, but by the time it goes through all those crappy, rusty, gungy pipes that are in place before finally emerging from the taps, I'd dispute how "safe" it is to drink . . .

I just can not believe this sh!!t, I use UV machine.

It's not the "crappy, rusty, gungy pipes" you need to be worried about, it's the cross contamination with sewage pipes / bum guns connected to the water supply and the possible ingress of contaminated ground water gaining access to the water supply, this happens if the water supply pipe lines go under vacuum and there are any leaks in the line, this is very possible in high demand areas especially when people connect pumps directly to the main water pipe lines.

Exactly,

I saw a dead dog in a ditch along the road.

In the same ditch there was a leaking water pipe,,,,,,

The system goes vacuum sometimes..... guess what happens....

[goltec]

Replace UV lamp 1 time per year. NEVER turn off the UV lamp because every time you turn it off and on it will lose 6 hours of it's "life span"

We use the UV when filling up a 20L bottle that's than placed on the water cooler and a few other containers for water to be used for cooking. Meaning it's used once about every 2 days for about 20mins. So in our case, it makes sense to turn it off.

In your case, you are right.

But there are people who have the lamp connected to their drinking water system and it turns on because it is connected to a pressure switch.

This means that every time they open the drinking tap it will turn on.

When they close the tap it will turn off.

They think the lamp will work 1 year....but not.

[goltec]

I have been drinking the tapwater in "our" village, all the time. It looks clean and it taste good.

I´ve been there 2-3 month for many years, All the family drink it and never have problem with that.

Maybe we are just lucky that have good water.

Figure this :

"i smoke a pack of cigarettes every day all ready for 10 years. I never got sick. maybe i am just lucky. or maybe i have just good cigarettes......."

[monk213]

I have been drinking the tapwater in "our" village, all the time. It looks clean and it taste good.

I´ve been there 2-3 month for many years, All the family drink it and never have problem with that.

Maybe we are just lucky that have good water.

Figure this :

"i smoke a pack of cigarettes every day all ready for 10 years. I never got sick. maybe i am just lucky. or maybe i have just good cigarettes......."

The dangers of smoking are not ones that have a fast onset, cancers and poor lack of health occur over time, with drinking water the diseases and infections happen very quickly, so insofacto, very poor analogy

[anselpixel]

So after adding 20% tap water to my fish pond, All 200 fish were dead in 2 hours. They started dying after 15 minutes , I netted them out and rinsed them in Rain Water and put them into a water barrel of more rain water, they all died regardless.

So the toxin was lethal after a 15 minute exposure, and this is DRINKING WATER ???

Those fish survived 2 years ++, but all it took was the one little top up to KILL.

This was not Chlorine poisoning, I know what that smells like , this was Toxic.

THIS IS THAILAND , you have been warned.

Perhaps chlorine or some other variable had some role in that after all.

You can smell it in high concentrations (swimming pools, etc.), but many can not detect it in the amounts usual for drinking water.

I have routinely topped up my fish pool with Mae Rim tap water with the recommended 20% for months, and haven't lost one fish.

[Jonmarleesco]

Since when? I've never seen any prior formal claim that the tap water is safe to drink. I'll stick with bottled, thanks all the same.

[Holiday Kojak]

Thats a real confidence builder safe water in Thailand, not in a million years will I drink from the tap, let alone brush my teeth with it. My fiance won't even was her face with it has a shower and rinses her face with bottled. I have been using bottled water even back home in Canada for well over 18 years, and the water treatment plants there to here are no comparison. I dont think water sales will suffer by this news.

[outsider]

Head in sand, as usual.

[DogNo1]

When we lived back in Los Angeles from 1986-1996 we considered drinking the tap water so we bought a long filter enclosed in a clear plastic housing and ran our water through it. You wouldn't believe the amount of black dirt and gunk there was in the filter at the end of one week! We quickly switched to bottled water. I don't know ANYONE in LA who drinks tap water.

[lovetotravel]

I drank tap water from the faucet in my apartment's bathroom for one year. I never got sick. Lucky? Maybe. Dumb? Maybe. Sick? Never.

Most municipal water sources are treated with chlorine. Which kills the nasties that make you sick quickly. What they don't deal with are the pesticides, heavy metals and chemicals that are in almost all water here. Even bottled water. These take time to get you. Kids are especially susceptible and can have serious effects on their well being.

[noitom]

This kind of statement is irresponsible.

[lovetotravel]

This kind of statement is irresponsible.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/385634-bottled-water-is-it-safe/#entry3768711

“The raw water that the drinking water companies use is taken from the same sources as the public tap water: Thailand’s rivers and canals. The only difference is in the treatment,” Suksom said.

“The Metropolitan Waterworks Authority (MWA) treats tap water in conventional ways, by filtering out turbidity [suspended particles] and disinfecting with chlorine to remove toxic bacteria.” Although the MWA sets and enforces standards for tap water in Bangkok, the standards do not approach WHO or other international water quality standards. Outside Bangkok, water treatment comes under the aegis of the Provincial Waterworks Authority, whose standards are even lower, according to Suksom.

“The quality of tap water in Bangkok further suffers in neighbourhoods far from the pumping station where standpipe pressures may be low, making them susceptible to outside contamination, both industrial and organic, when pipes leak.

“Individual buildings may also have rusting pipes or pipe fittings, increasing turbidity and metal contamination. Furthermore, owners often build systems that store tap water in large tanks, where the supply can stagnate and breed bacteria.”

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/03/18/opinion/opinion_30029568.php

[lovetotravel]

http://www.ianrpubs.unl.edu/epublic/pages/publicationD.jsp?publicationId=1109

Contaminants not removed from water by RO filters include dissolved gases such as hydrogen sulfide, a common nuisance contaminant with characteristic rotten egg odor, which passes through the RO membrane. Some pesticides, solvents and volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) are not removed by RO.

[GinBoy2]

Which virtual reality do these people inhabit? Water safe to drink! It's almost as comical as Thai Airlines saying they are going to double revenue and make a Gazillion Baht profit in the next six months.

Maybe in Bangkok or the larger cities it may be true, but for most of us, we see what comes from the local supply, we know how often you need to be changing clogged filters, and without a UV treatment....forget about drinking it

[lovetotravel]

This is plain crazy:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/mar/25/french-bottled-waters-contaminated-brands

One in five French bottled waters 'contain drugs or pesticides.

Now, however, an investigation has discovered traces of pesticides and prescription drugs – including a medicine used to treat breast cancer – in almost one in five brands of bottled water on the shelves of France's supermarkets.

While scientists say the contamination is minuscule and the water remains safe, consumer groups are warning of a "potential cocktail effect" for drinkers, and say the findings raise serious environmental concerns.

[crusader79]

Great news! Just not sure PWA: Tap water in Thailand safe to drink can fit on my tombstone.

[KuhnPaen]

Safe to drink...for Thais...who already have worms, flukes, Toxoplasmosis, etc.

Albendazole is sold over the counter at most pharmacies. One pill will kill almost anything wormy in your system. I take one after every trip--and eating all the crazy street food for weeks on end.

[SteveFong]

So after adding 20% tap water to my fish pond, All 200 fish were dead in 2 hours. They started dying after 15 minutes , I netted them out and rinsed them in Rain Water and put them into a water barrel of more rain water, they all died regardless.

So the toxin was lethal after a 15 minute exposure, and this is DRINKING WATER ???

Those fish survived 2 years ++, but all it took was the one little top up to KILL.

This was not Chlorine poisoning, I know what that smells like , this was Toxic.

THIS IS THAILAND , you have been warned.

Agenda 21 comes to Thailand

[MaxLee]

That has to be the funniest thing I read here for a while on the News Forum ...

So, despite the diversity of all of Thailand's water supplies, the wells, the bores, the dams, across the entire Nation ... the PWA declare everywhere is fit to drink.

HA ... tell that to my extended Thai Family ... they refuse to drink it and wash their clothes begrudgingly in it.

Potable water out of the pipe ...

.

The Nation is running out of topics, so they just randomly asked some waterworks authority who would just spill some BS

[BSJ]

Surely sir you jest? I am only holding this for Somchai the photographer!

PS: I am a big fan of rainwater, filtered of course.

Edited August 15, 2014 by BSJ

[bannorkbannork]

are they having a joke?