I've been drinking the tap water, and I feel great!

[peter267]

I am another one of the few not so hung up on the tap water issue in Thailand and drink it all the time hmm 8 years now. Ok I do have a basic drip drip ceramic filter in the house that should take out the residual microbes, anything that might wiggle and asteroids that might be termed turbidity. Its bonkers to haul all that water slipping discs and hernias etc and then have to take out all the voluminous empties.

There is a lot of "Emperors New Clothes" in all this. The bottled water industry is globally worth billions of $ and what a profit margin taking 99.9% that comes out of a common water supply for near nothing and putting in a polluting plastic bottle consuming energy and 'adding value' earning those clever few big boys piles & piles of dosh. They are delivering an impressive marketing message as seen on TV today with those in favour of 'its in a bottle its safe'.

Some interesting tidbits - can say both for & against.

Thames Water in London UK proudly claim their tap water EU monitored to WHO drinking water standards has passed through a human body a minimum of 3 times

Not much new water about, it does not just fall from the skies it has to lifted up there first from all available sources. Fetid to the scenic

You might install the Home Pro offering of 5/ 6 stage filtration - pass your piped water through it - how do you know its working? A UV chamber can get contaminated with bacteria - a short period of turbidity can clog and block the fancy 3 micron resin filter. No red and green light to say this is not working or working. (if there is its a lie)

In Cambodia in the 90's with 20,000 UN troops on the ground the order was "only drink bottled water". Continual bouts of the runs in strong & fit soldiers from 70 countries - before someone thought to test the 'bottled water' from the available sources to find it was 70% contaminated.

Why hung up on just drinking water? Our bodies are exposed to water intake from a number of sources - namely showering - shower water will be absorbed by a body. So its not the 10 baht a bottle x 3 per day to get near a recommended intake for a day but 30 bottles a day at 10 baht hmm thats 4 beers worth? Washing up, food prep etc all carry risks of contamination being carried over from water use.

Yes we benefit from using & needing pretty 'clean water' but lets not get too excited that what we drink must come in a bottle. We all cross roads that buses use and few us get flattened heh hoh.

[55Jay]

I don't even drink the tap water at home in the States. In the words of the venerable Mick "Crocodile" Dundee,

"You can live on it, but it tastes like sh_ i _ t"

[BKKBrit]

Bottled water is so cheap, what made you want to drink dirty Bangkok tap water?

I was so wishing someone wasn't going to say that. Have you any idea how much pollution these things cause?

Please take a moment to read this and educate yourself about how harmful this industry is. Then perhaps pop down to Homepro and buy yourself an inexpensive water filter system for less than Bht2000 - saves money and stops the pollution.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/norm-schriever/post_5218_b_3613577.html

Have a conscience and play a role in reducing pollution folks...this is one thing farangs can do well here. Thanks!

[Guest]

FILED UNDER: "FAMOUS LAST WORDS"

[Nemesis7]

All the best.

[mikiea]

Perhaps you could do a before and after series of photographs of your bowel movements; we could then discuss how the tap-water is affecting the consistency, shape etc..........

I do commend your efforts though; the glorious Japanese have a saying;

虎穴に入らずんば虎子を得ず。 (Koketsu ni irazunba koji wo ezu) Literally: If you do not enter the tiger's cave, you will not catch its cub.

Meaning: Nothing ventured, nothing gained. / You can't do anything without risking something.

Read more: http://www.linguanaut.com/japanese_sayings.htm#ixzz3EnGZ2kTb

[mrfaroukh]

I did not bother to read your post, just say good luck hope you stay in Thailand rather than going to heaven.

[ggt]

It is a slow process...being eaten from the inside...

[RBOP]

A while ago there was a water main break in front of our building. Workers dug it up to replace a section that was broken. I wish I took a picture of the sewer water that was flowing into the pipe before they closed it up. Yuck.

Edited October 1, 2014 by RBOP

[RBOP]

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

Bottled water is so cheap, what made you want to drink dirty Bangkok tap water?

I was so wishing someone wasn't going to say that. Have you any idea how much pollution these things cause? alt=facepalm.gif>

Please take a moment to read this and educate yourself about how harmful this industry is. Then perhaps pop down to Homepro and buy yourself an inexpensive water filter system for less than Bht2000 - saves money and stops the pollution.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/norm-schriever/post_5218_b_3613577.html

Have a conscience and play a role in reducing pollution folks...this is one thing farangs can do well here. Thanks!

Plastic bottles get recycled here in Thailand. Have you not seen them separate plastic at the garbage truck?

[BadBouy]

Bottoms up and have a couple mints while your at it!

[RBOP]

If you drink chlorinated tap water, at least run it through an activated charcoal filter. The source of tap water in Bangkok comes from the Chaopraya River which has high organic matter. When you add chlorine the reaction with the organic matter makes formaldehyde which is carcinogenic. http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/chemicals/formaldehyde130605.pdf

[ableguy]

I live in Hua Hin and the city advises do not drink the tap water, looks clean smells fine but would I drink it ?no way.

[ableguy]

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

Bottled water is so cheap, what made you want to drink dirty Bangkok tap water?

I was so wishing someone wasn't going to say that. Have you any idea how much pollution these things cause? alt=facepalm.gif>

Please take a moment to read this and educate yourself about how harmful this industry is. Then perhaps pop down to Homepro and buy yourself an inexpensive water filter system for less than Bht2000 - saves money and stops the pollution.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/norm-schriever/post_5218_b_3613577.html

Have a conscience and play a role in reducing pollution folks...this is one thing farangs can do well here. Thanks!

Plastic bottles get recycled here in Thailand. Have you not seen them separate plastic at the garbage truck?

In Hua Hin they turned back into fuel and used in the city trucks. True it takes energy pros and cons.

[bkkcanuck8]

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

Bottled water is so cheap, what made you want to drink dirty Bangkok tap water?

I was so wishing someone wasn't going to say that. Have you any idea how much pollution these things cause? alt=facepalm.gif>

Please take a moment to read this and educate yourself about how harmful this industry is. Then perhaps pop down to Homepro and buy yourself an inexpensive water filter system for less than Bht2000 - saves money and stops the pollution.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/norm-schriever/post_5218_b_3613577.html

Have a conscience and play a role in reducing pollution folks...this is one thing farangs can do well here. Thanks!

Plastic bottles get recycled here in Thailand. Have you not seen them separate plastic at the garbage truck?

In Hua Hin they turned back into fuel and used in the city trucks. True it takes energy pros and cons.

Not to mention if they banned shopping bags I would have to go out and buy plastic garbage bags

[ClutchClark]

It's not a hard water vs. soft water problem, nor a chlorine taste issue, the water just has a bit of a dirt taste.

I was only curious to explore people's fears of microbes. At least from my tap, it seems safe in that respect.

It's awesome that you are performing an experiment for the benefit of humankind on the presence, or lack, of microbes in the water and I for one can barely contain my excitement to learn what the long term health benefits of heavy metals and other less obvious contaminants are to human organs. Do post updates over the next few years.

As for the quote above, I almost fell off my chair. A bit of dirt taste. So not "clean taste" then. That's the taste of prime Bangkok sewage inadequately treated.

Here's a clue, has the Director of the Bangkok Water Authority (or whoever is in charge, if anyone is in charge actually) ever come out in public declaring that he and his family, including his beloved children, are drinking water straight from the tap?

If you think a country that believes safety standards are for pussies might actually send potable water through to its population, well, you've been drinking that water too long.

Freshwater fish like catfish often have a "dirt taste," and they are fine. Having a dirt taste doesn't mean it's dirty (although I wouldn't rule it out either).

Has the Director of the Bangkok Water Authority had the tap water? Not in Bangkok, but elsewhere in Thailand officials have had some tap water as a PR thing.

"Officials from Provincial Waterworks Authority in Songkhla province drink tap water to assure the public of its safety."

http://news.asiainterlaw.com/expert-downplays-health-concerns-salty-tap-water-bangkok/

And freshwater catfish that live in polluted waterways are not healthy to eat.

[sawadee1947]

Wait until the worms invade your brain hahahahahaha

they are there already, otherwise you would not drink pesticides deliberately

[richard101]

..

[ClutchClark]

I am another one of the few not so hung up on the tap water issue in Thailand and drink it all the time hmm 8 years now. Ok I do have a basic drip drip ceramic filter in the house that should take out the residual microbes, anything that might wiggle and asteroids that might be termed turbidity. Its bonkers to haul all that water slipping discs and hernias etc and then have to take out all the voluminous empties.

There is a lot of "Emperors New Clothes" in all this. The bottled water industry is globally worth billions of $ and what a profit margin taking 99.9% that comes out of a common water supply for near nothing and putting in a polluting plastic bottle consuming energy and 'adding value' earning those clever few big boys piles & piles of dosh. They are delivering an impressive marketing message as seen on TV today with those in favour of 'its in a bottle its safe'.

Some interesting tidbits - can say both for & against.

Thames Water in London UK proudly claim their tap water EU monitored to WHO drinking water standards has passed through a human body a minimum of 3 times

Not much new water about, it does not just fall from the skies it has to lifted up there first from all available sources. Fetid to the scenic

You might install the Home Pro offering of 5/ 6 stage filtration - pass your piped water through it - how do you know its working? A UV chamber can get contaminated with bacteria - a short period of turbidity can clog and block the fancy 3 micron resin filter. No red and green light to say this is not working or working. (if there is its a lie)

In Cambodia in the 90's with 20,000 UN troops on the ground the order was "only drink bottled water". Continual bouts of the runs in strong & fit soldiers from 70 countries - before someone thought to test the 'bottled water' from the available sources to find it was 70% contaminated.

Why hung up on just drinking water? Our bodies are exposed to water intake from a number of sources - namely showering - shower water will be absorbed by a body. So its not the 10 baht a bottle x 3 per day to get near a recommended intake for a day but 30 bottles a day at 10 baht hmm thats 4 beers worth? Washing up, food prep etc all carry risks of contamination being carried over from water use.

Yes we benefit from using & needing pretty 'clean water' but lets not get too excited that what we drink must come in a bottle. We all cross roads that buses use and few us get flattened heh hoh.

You have this long justification about why its OK to drink the tap water but then you admit you use a filter?

Having a home filter is not the same thing as drinking water straight from the tap.

[timmyp]

And freshwater catfish that live in polluted waterways are not healthy to eat.

Of course. Nothing should be eaten from a polluted river. Freshwater catfish from a pristine stream still have a "dirt" taste though. They are clean and safe, it's just the way they taste.

I have some videos of some black gunk floating to the surface of a khlong near my house. I'm going to post those later and ask if anyone knows what it is... looks like oil.

I saw a guy fishing there once, and I just assumed he was doing it for the sport of it. My Thai friend said, "No, I'm sure he eats what he catches." I didn't believe it, and bet my Thai friend 1000 baht. I mean, the guy looked like a normal guy, he didn't look like a homeless person. When we asked, sure enough, he eats the fish. "Of course I eat it," he snapped, irritated by such a stupid question. I lost 1000 baht.

I imagine those fish had much more than a dirt taste...

Edited October 1, 2014 by timmyp

[facthailand]

We don't often "drink" our tapwater; we have a simple two-stage filtre of activated charcoal and diatomaceous earth. Our tapwater does not taste of chlorine or dirt. It mostly tastes of iron and calcium. I suspect Bangna, where we live at least, has quite hard water.

When I first moved to Bangkok, there were heavy metals warning for the tapwater. But the water, just like the air, is undeniably cleaner these days. And we are mercifully not fluoridated.

I NEVER drink bottled water. When I first moved to Thailand, the beaches were littered with plastic water bottles. Don't know where they go now butr I do know one thing: nothing goes "away"!

I'm on a personal campaign. Whenever I eat out, I force any restaurant, from high to low, to bring me a GLASS of ice water. EVERY restaurant, just like every home, is fitted with a water filtre. Plastic water is just a bad habit. Use your social skills to educate people.

[whaleboneman]

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

Bottled water is so cheap, what made you want to drink dirty Bangkok tap water?

I was so wishing someone wasn't going to say that. Have you any idea how much pollution these things cause? alt=facepalm.gif>

Please take a moment to read this and educate yourself about how harmful this industry is. Then perhaps pop down to Homepro and buy yourself an inexpensive water filter system for less than Bht2000 - saves money and stops the pollution.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/norm-schriever/post_5218_b_3613577.html

Have a conscience and play a role in reducing pollution folks...this is one thing farangs can do well here. Thanks!

Plastic bottles get recycled here in Thailand. Have you not seen them separate plastic at the garbage truck?

[ClutchClark]

We don't often "drink" our tapwater; we have a simple two-stage filtre of activated charcoal and diatomaceous earth. Our tapwater does not taste of chlorine or dirt. It mostly tastes of iron and calcium. I suspect Bangna, where we live at least, has quite hard water.

When I first moved to Bangkok, there were heavy metals warning for the tapwater. But the water, just like the air, is undeniably cleaner these days. And we are mercifully not fluoridated.

I NEVER drink bottled water. When I first moved to Thailand, the beaches were littered with plastic water bottles. Don't know where they go now butr I do know one thing: nothing goes "away"!

I'm on a personal campaign. Whenever I eat out, I force any restaurant, from high to low, to bring me a GLASS of ice water. EVERY restaurant, just like every home, is fitted with a water filtre. Plastic water is just a bad habit. Use your social skills to educate people.

If we had social skills, we would not be here on TV.

[ThaiTrav]

What an absolute foolish thing to do. I've seen first hand what feeds the dams ,undiluted paints , chemicals, raw sullage dead animals .......YUK!!

and he feel GREAT!!....Hahaha just when you think you,ve met em all .....and Farang too!!!

Bottled water is so cheap, what made you want to drink dirty Bangkok tap water? EXACTLY!!! but you,ve heard of the saying " cheap charlie!!!"

[ClutchClark]

I would bet money the OP is not from Portland, Oregon where one "pee" can result in an entire reservoir being replaced:

http://time.com/66459/portland-reservoir-pee/

Edited October 1, 2014 by ClutchClark

[bkkcanuck8]

What an absolute foolish thing to do. I've seen first hand what feeds the dams ,undiluted paints , chemicals, raw sullage dead animals .......YUK!!

and he feel GREAT!!....Hahaha just when you think you,ve met em all .....and Farang too!!!

Bottled water is so cheap, what made you want to drink dirty Bangkok tap water? EXACTLY!!! but you,ve heard of the saying " cheap charlie!!!"

Have fun with your personal boobs

[canman]

I have been drinking tap water in Bangkok for almost two years now (living in two places and drinking from water fountains all over the city), without negative effects; no short-time effects, I have to add; I am a chemist so I know what I am talking about: I identified three sources of problems:

heavy metals (in Bangladesh they have high level or arsenic in ground water, which makes people sick), inprobable in Bangkok

residues from pesticides, inprobable in Bangkok

bacteria, that might be the cause for some people getting sick, but your stomach can get used to them by increased exposure, which I did

(one might add plasticizers from PVC plastic tubing, which can screw up your hormone system - man grow tits and women grow hair and stuff like that)

I first believed the stuff they tell (that you will get sick), but as a scientist, I want to verify or falsify a statement, and unlike religion, in this case it is very easy, just by ingesting increasing amounts of tap water. Started with a spoon and after a month completely changed to tap water. At that time I lived on fifth floor, 1 Baht per liter is not much money, but I had to go down and up to get water!

The ultimate proof is soi dogs. They don't drink filtered water and don't get sick, I once saw a soi dog nibbling on a roadkill rat that was flat and already dry from days in the sun. But then, dogs live only 10 years, maybe because they don't drink filtered water?

For people of poor health or a sensitive stomach, I would advice drinking only filtered water.

This whole story is a fine example how easy it is can be to influence people, just tell the same (lies?) over and over again, and they will believe it. Nobody questions, nobody dares to do a simple experiment that can verify or falsify.

As a chemist and a scientist you would have had extensive testing done on the tap water you are drinking and you would have done so from several samples obtained throughout the year. You would have had these samples tested for heavy metal, chemical and biological contamination. You would of course be particularily concerned about biological contaminates such as Clonorchiasis and Schistomiasis both of which can be fatal, there are several others.

Or is your scientific method simply limited to the human guinea pig experiment described above, ie it hasn't harmed me yet ergo it is safe?

Hey; I plan to live for ever; so far so good!!

[The Deerhunter]

Wait until the worms invade your brain hahahahahaha

And the worms ate into his braaaiiiiiinnnn. Pink Floyd: The Wall.

[Eneukman]

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

The tap water is generally fine, at least in Bangkok. Everyone ingests tap water to some degree every day, even if most don't drink it for drinking water. Almost everyone uses it for brushing their teeth, washing dishes, washing fruit, cooking, etc. People get it in their system every day without getting sick.

I've drank it plenty of times in Bangkok and never been sick, but the problem is that it doesn't taste good. There are filter machines that charge 1 baht per litre all over the place, including in many apartments, there is no reason for me to drink straight tap water instead of spending a few baht per day for drinking water. Alternatively get a filter hooked straight up to your sink and you have great tasting water right out of the faucet.

I had a filer installed a few months ago so I have been drinking my own filtered tap water since then with no ill effects. Tap water is used for brushing my teeth and washing dishes though.

Alan

[Farma]

I have some good friends who operate a health dept mobile laboratory and part of their duties include testing water and certifying water factories. I tend to trust their advice.

Rain water collected near farms - they won't drink, too many pesticides.

Town water - they won't drink, not clean enough but OK to clean teeth and wash dishes.

Bottled water - Some local brands they won't drink even though it passed standards, suspect cleanliness issues between inspections.