Water Quality in Thailand

[welshboy454]

Just curious about the Water Quality from the mains supply here in Thailand.

We do not drink it without filtering but we brush our teeth and wash vegetables for salads etc without any problem and I assume restaurants also wash vegetables for salads in mains water. Any Views ?

[h90]

I think for washing no problem.

Here where I am is so much chlorine inside nothing could live....

[lopburi3]

It varies by location. In Bangkok all tap water is tested and leave treatment facilities at drinking standards, and has done so for many decades. But there is always a chance, due to low pressure, of contamination en-rout to customer, although this has become less so as improvements to supply system are an ongoing process. But most people will filter drinking water. But for other use untreated water is normally used. But this refers to main city provided water here in Bangkok. Many places will have well water that may or may not be properly treated.

That said would not be overly concerned with brushing teeth use - have done so in much worse places - normally it is a large quantity of bacteria rather than the little bit that overcomes our own immunity system.

[Soutpeel]

depends on where you are in the country, where I am the water is fit for drinking straight out the tap and have done so on many occasions over the last 14 years and never come down with anything

[h90]

It varies by location. In Bangkok all tap water is tested and leave treatment facilities at drinking standards, and has done so for many decades. But there is always a chance, due to low pressure, of contamination en-rout to customer, although this has become less so as improvements to supply system are an ongoing process. But most people will filter drinking water. But for other use untreated water is normally used. But this refers to main city provided water here in Bangkok. Many places will have well water that may or may not be properly treated.

That said would not be overly concerned with brushing teeth use - have done so in much worse places - normally it is a large quantity of bacteria rather than the little bit that overcomes our own immunity system.

it might be safe to drink, but sometimes it smells terrible of chlorine. Sometimes it comes a bit brownish/greyish and smells like land.

Even for cooking noodles I use bottled water. Not because I worry of bacteria, because you can taste a difference. (I only cook noodles when I want to eat something really good, so I am more sensitive to it, than if I just want to fill my stomach)

[answermeplease]

I've also questioned the cleanliness of bottled water. After manufacturing the plastic bottle, I presume that they do not rinse it before filling it with water. How bad is that?

Edit: I've also noticed a bunch of bottled water brands popping up all over the place. Which one do you trust? The Singha brand is prolific but tastes horrible.

Edited March 18, 2015 by answermeplease

[chopin2]

How about the levels of toxic heavy metals like lead and arsenic?

[h90]

I've also questioned the cleanliness of bottled water. After manufacturing the plastic bottle, I presume that they do not rinse it before filling it with water. How bad is that?

Edit: I've also noticed a bunch of bottled water brands popping up all over the place. Which one do you trust? The Singha brand is prolific but tastes horrible.

I buy only brand name bottled water in the hope that they are a bit better.

I had once a cheap bottle (these soft plastic bottles) with oil or gasoline in it. terrible strong smell.....

[wpcoe]

it might be safe to drink, but sometimes it smells terrible of chlorine.

That used to be a significant problem with Bangkok's municipal water, but I think they've tempered the over-use of chlorine now. It used to be that hotels had "Do not drink the tap water" signs in their rooms in Bangkok because there was so much chlorine it would upset visitors' stomachs. The water was actually sanitary, but the over-chlorination caused digestive problems, so folks thought the water was unsanitary.

[lopburi3]

Bangkok provides real time reporting of water quality every 10 seconds on internet (how many other cities do that?) - and that includes the chlorine level at pumping stations throughout the city. Water does not have any strong chlorine smell that I have noticed in normal times (during flooding they did add extra to be sure but that was several years ago).

http://wqconline.mwa.co.th/wqc/OverviewMap.aspx?uiculture=en-US

[h90]

Bangkok provides real time reporting of water quality every 10 seconds on internet (how many other cities do that?) - and that includes the chlorine level at pumping stations throughout the city. Water does not have any strong chlorine smell that I have noticed in normal times (during flooding they did add extra to be sure but that was several years ago).

http://wqconline.mwa.co.th/wqc/OverviewMap.aspx?uiculture=en-US

That is fantastic!!! And I am in the high chlorine area!

yes 2011 it was brown, but dead....

But pumping stations......You mean they pump the water out of the ground in Bangkok? That is a bit shocking.....Water must come from the mountains over long pipelines.....OK I might be spoiled from at home....

[Soutpeel]

Bangkok provides real time reporting of water quality every 10 seconds on internet (how many other cities do that?) - and that includes the chlorine level at pumping stations throughout the city. Water does not have any strong chlorine smell that I have noticed in normal times (during flooding they did add extra to be sure but that was several years ago).

http://wqconline.mwa.co.th/wqc/OverviewMap.aspx?uiculture=en-US

That is fantastic!!! And I am in the high chlorine area!

yes 2011 it was brown, but dead....

But pumping stations......You mean they pump the water out of the ground in Bangkok? That is a bit shocking.....Water must come from the mountains over long pipelines.....OK I might be spoiled from at home....

somehow don't thing your drinking water out the ground around BKK, it would be brackish, suspect the water is coming through long pipelines from dams and yes you would need pumping stations along the pipe line route to get it BKK to maintain proper flow and pressure, gravity alone will not be enough

Edited March 18, 2015 by Soutpeel

[maxtwo]

I brought a water test meter with me on last my last trip and ran test in bkk and roi et area and did not get one bad result some better than uk.Tested water from some of the water purifying machines they all came out perfect.

[llp]

I've tested a 1.5L bottle of RO water that I got for free when filling up the car with gas at TDS 40ppm, so even that isn't so clean.

[bubba]

It's not just about the basic tests such as chlorine residual, pH, turbidity, hardness and dissolved solids. Consider that MWA's water comes from surface water (Chao Phraya and Mae Khlong rivers), and that surface water has travelled a long way carrying agricultural runoff, including pesticides, herbicides and other organic compounds. None of those is detected by test kits or water test meters, but they are definitely not good for you. The other issue is MWA's chlorination of their finished water, which would no doubt have a lot of organic residuals. This results in a chemical reaction that creates compounds called trihalomethanes, such as chloroform. These compounds are very volatile and would be removed by boiling, but other agricultural chemical residues such as pesticides would not.

MWA does not do the extensive and frequent testing that you would find in say, Europe and North America. So who knows....

[oneday]

In America I can always smell the chlorine in the water which I hate so I filter my drinking water in America due to the chlorine. Here, in Pattaya, I do not smell any Chlorine. The water delivered to us seems to be clean enough that you don't get sick. We also brush our teeth, rinse our mouths out and cook with it as long as the water boils and as far as I know we have never gotten sick from the water.

In our little village in Kalasin the water is delivered from a small lake and I think it goes through a filter and it looks clean, but I wouldn't trust it. We have drilled a well 62 meters down and that is where we will get our drinking water and that will even go through a filter before we drink it.

Order a testing kit from the West and test your water if you want to know. I'm sure kits are available here, but they are more difficult to track down...for me anyway.

[lopburi3]

1. Water source for Bangkok is major river flow.

2. Any runoff materials are thus diluted to virtually undetectable levels so not like farm runoff into a well.

3. Tests are made to international standards levels and frequency.

4. Independent tests by US Embassy Medical Unit of bottled water and city water in central Bangkok more than 35 years ago gave advantage to city water. Although am sure most bottled water is much safer these days.

[timmyp]

Water quality has improved considerably over the years. There is a project to make water drinkable all over Thailand. They are adding one area at a time.
Here is a list of the cities, jangwats, and provinces, etc. where water is safe to drink. That is, not just potable, not just for brushing your teeth, but safe to drink right out of the tap without a filter. The list is in Thai.
http://www.pwa.co.th/contents/service/save

The water is safe to drink in Bangkok. Nobody drinks it, though. People have filters in their homes, or they purhcase filtered water (usually from the water filter vending machines you'll see in every soi).

People will tell you that the water isn't not safe. The foreigner concensus is, "This country is a mess, there is no way anyone should trust the water," and I think Thais with any money don't want to be associated with the economically down trodden, so they don't drink the tap water either. It is true that the water used to be dangerous to drink, but nowadays, it's fine.

I have been drinking the water in Bangkok straight out of the tap, and I have never gotten sick. It is not a case of being used to the water, because I have never gotten sick from it in the first place. I started drinking the water last August after reading more claims from the government that the water is safe. I thought, "I don't believe it, so I'll test it with my own gut." It's fine, and now I drink it.

Many people will argue that it just might be where I live, that pipes in other areas are something to worry about. I drink tap water all over the city, and it's fine. My 70 year old parents just visited, and they drank the tap water and never got sick. Note that we only drank tap water in areas listed as safe on the link that I sent you: Ayuthaya (safe since 2005), Nakhon Rachasima (safe since 2005), Nakhon Sawan (safe since 2008), Lopburi (safe since 2002), Sukhothai (safe since 2000) and Chiang Mai (safe since 2000).

I posted a silly video demonstrating that the water is safe, and that link is below.
I can't speak for metals in the water, or BP from the PVC piping, but as far as gut-threatening bacteria go, straight tap water is fine for you and your family.

If you want to continue fearing it and distrusting claims that it is safe, then I'm sure the bottle water companies are more than happy to sell you their products.

[Daniel Ingalls]

Most people over a year or more, have built a tolerance level of bacterial infestation of the gut. If you have a filtering system running water through your kitchen sink. I would not be concerned. Brushing teeth using water not filtered, is not a big risk. After brushing use Listorine, or some other mouthwash will kill any germs after one minute of slushing.

[answermeplease]

I can literally say that you are a man with guts

Water quality has improved considerably over the years. There is a project to make water drinkable all over Thailand. They are adding one area at a time.
Here is a list of the cities, jangwats, and provinces, etc. where water is safe to drink. That is, not just potable, not just for brushing your teeth, but safe to drink right out of the tap without a filter. The list is in Thai.
http://www.pwa.co.th/contents/service/save

The water is safe to drink in Bangkok. Nobody drinks it, though. People have filters in their homes, or they purhcase filtered water (usually from the water filter vending machines you'll see in every soi).

People will tell you that the water isn't not safe. The foreigner concensus is, "This country is a mess, there is no way anyone should trust the water," and I think Thais with any money don't want to be associated with the economically down trodden, so they don't drink the tap water either. It is true that the water used to be dangerous to drink, but nowadays, it's fine.

I have been drinking the water in Bangkok straight out of the tap, and I have never gotten sick. It is not a case of being used to the water, because I have never gotten sick from it in the first place. I started drinking the water last August after reading more claims from the government that the water is safe. I thought, "I don't believe it, so I'll test it with my own gut." It's fine, and now I drink it.

Many people will argue that it just might be where I live, that pipes in other areas are something to worry about. I drink tap water all over the city, and it's fine. My 70 year old parents just visited, and they drank the tap water and never got sick. Note that we only drank tap water in areas listed as safe on the link that I sent you: Ayuthaya (safe since 2005), Nakhon Rachasima (safe since 2005), Nakhon Sawan (safe since 2008), Lopburi (safe since 2002), Sukhothai (safe since 2000) and Chiang Mai (safe since 2000).

I posted a silly video demonstrating that the water is safe, and that link is below.
I can't speak for metals in the water, or BP from the PVC piping, but as far as gut-threatening bacteria go, straight tap water is fine for you and your family.

If you want to continue fearing it and distrusting claims that it is safe, then I'm sure the bottle water companies are more than happy to sell you their products.

[answermeplease]

Wow, that's a cool site...though I have come to be dubious "measurements" and "statistics" provided by authorities here

Bangkok provides real time reporting of water quality every 10 seconds on internet (how many other cities do that?) - and that includes the chlorine level at pumping stations throughout the city. Water does not have any strong chlorine smell that I have noticed in normal times (during flooding they did add extra to be sure but that was several years ago).

http://wqconline.mwa.co.th/wqc/OverviewMap.aspx?uiculture=en-US

[Nickhick]

I've also questioned the cleanliness of bottled water. After manufacturing the plastic bottle, I presume that they do not rinse it before filling it with water. How bad is that?

Edit: I've also noticed a bunch of bottled water brands popping up all over the place. Which one do you trust? The Singha brand is prolific but tastes horrible.

. Plus I see the plastic bottles sitting out in the sun all day,that's not good

[timmyp]

Most people over a year or more, have built a tolerance level of bacterial infestation of the gut. If you have a filtering system running water through your kitchen sink. I would not be concerned. Brushing teeth using water not filtered, is not a big risk. After brushing use Listorine, or some other mouthwash will kill any germs after one minute of slushing.

It's really not a case of building tolerance to the water.

If the water supply is unsafe because it allows bacteria in, then while it is true that you can get used to common bacteria in the water system that you wouldn't be used to otherwise, there will continue to be new bacteria seeping in, and that new bacteria is going to continue to make you sick. "Getting used" to a dangerous water supply is temprorary, it will make you sick again.

People don't get sick and repeatedly sick on Bangkok tap water because it's not dirty, not because they are used to the bacteria.

If you eat street food, you are taking far more sanitation risks than drinking tap water. I've got nothing against street food, but a person eating street food and then opting to buy bottled water has a screwy understanding of the dangers.

Oh, just one more thing: There is no getting used to dirty water slowly. Once the bacteria is in your system, it's going to run its course. I remember a traveler in India back in the early 90s who said that he got "used to" the water by starting to brush his teeth with it, then after a few days of sipping a bit. "Now I'm up to a full glass. Soon I should be able to drink it all the time." That was silly. It's not a poison that your body builds a tolerance to. Once bacteria is in your gut that you can't fight off, it's going to run its course, whether it is just a sip or an entire liter.

[bubba]

1. Water source for Bangkok is major river flow.

2. Any runoff materials are thus diluted to virtually undetectable levels so not like farm runoff into a well.

3. Tests are made to international standards levels and frequency.

4. Independent tests by US Embassy Medical Unit of bottled water and city water in central Bangkok more than 35 years ago gave advantage to city water. Although am sure most bottled water is much safer these days.

2. No. Instrumentation used to analyse raw water for trace organics yields detection limits in the tenths of parts per billion. That's roughly equal to detecting a few drops of a substance dissolved into an Olympic size swimming pool. Very little of this trace organic monitoring is done by MWA or any agency for Bangkok's water supply.

3. That is debatable. I know a bit about the lab at MWA. Quality standards there are definitely not on par with European, North American or Australian labs. Yes, their results are compared to WHO standards, but consider the lab where the data were generated. The scope and frequency of their chemical testing is nowhere near to what EU or USEPA would require for a large municipal water supply.

4. Based on what tests? This is a key question throughout this thread.

[robcar]

I pass quite a few "Ice Suppliers" while out walking every day and continually wonder where the water comes from for the Ice that they sell

[craigt3365]

Welshboy: where do you live? As has been pointed out above, it will make a huge difference. Water quality here is not on par with what you are probably use to back in the west. Where I live, it's not unusual for the water to flow brown with lots of sand coming out. We have a whole house water filter for this. Even then, I won't drink it. I see locals changing their vehicle's oil in the reservoirs when they are low. And of course it's got lots of cows roaming around also.

In Bangkok the water comes from the Chao Phraya. Not the best of rivers. It'd be rare to get immediately sick from drinking the water, but I sure wouldn't give it to a young one. The long term effects could be serious. Bottled water also comes from this source and not all chemicals can be removed.

[h90]

I pass quite a few "Ice Suppliers" while out walking every day and continually wonder where the water comes from for the Ice that they sell

surely all check regularly as well government will check them, if they do all according to the regulations

[SinCityGr8One]

The Missus and I have a 3 stage water treatment system in our kitchen in BKK to filter the tap water for drinking and cooking. Plain water runs out the faucets through out the rest of our place for showering, laundry, etc. We do not drink Thailand's tap water anywhere through out The Kingdom. We also have a House in the Missus Home Village that has access to Municipal water, however we also use a 3 stage water treatment system there too. Better safe than sorry!

[smudger1951]

They drilled down to water at the app't here in pattaya. I find my kettle gets brown coating inside. I use the recycle machines (osmosis) for drinking but prefer to buy the bottled my teeth have deteriorated - I think the water is not floridated.

[wpcoe]

Are water testing meters readily available in Thailand? A friend from Taiwan had one I used a few times. It looked almost exactly like this (random photo courtesy of Google):

I've not seen one here, but not really sure what type of place would sell them.