Thai Health Ministry testing drinking water for bacteria this summer

[lovetotravel]

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

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 waterutility services, artesian wells, rain and shallow wells passed the department's quality requirements, he said.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/761682-sattahip-investigates-water-supply-quality-after-610-fall-ill

SATTAHIP:--Sattahip officials are investigating the cause of suspected water contamination believed responsible for sending at least 600 residents to the hospital with stomach ailments.

District Water Supply Department officials on Sept. 7 tested the area’s water-storage tank to determine if it was contaminated with chemicals or some other agent that also caused resident fish to die. While authorities were still waiting for test results, they ruled out that the dead fish themselves were cause of the ailments, as fish typically can be found in hard-water storage tanks and thrive there.

However, many of the fish died, probably due to a lack of oxygen in the tank. Officials ordered the dead fish removed, put in plastic bags with alum and then disposed of at a local dump.

Around the same time, in late August, 610 Sattahip residents poured into Queen Sirikit Naval Medical Center, Apakorn Kiatwong Hospital and Sattahip Hospital, complaining of stomach aches and vomiting.

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

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.

More than 20 percent of Pattaya’s approximately 1,000 water-vending machines were found to have unacceptable levels of Coliform bacteria, up to a 56 percent concentration. Random tests also found substandard quantities of hard metals, Public Health Office Director Suphaphorn Cherdchaiphum said at a July 10 meeting with machine operators.

I'd still question the tests they are doing on these machines. Doubt they are up to international standards.

[HeijoshinCool]

I was eating in a restaurant once upon a time, when a guy comes in and replaces the filter in the big water machine just outside, people used to fill up jugs for home use.

It was completely covered with black, green, and red mold.

I asked him how many liters between changes.

He says, every six months.

Brilliant announcing the testing. Gives everybody a heads up to change their filters. Even if it hasn't been 6 months.

Maybe someone's replied already but here goes.

Those water filters are supposed to be covered in green stuff. I think it's algae; it's one of the several filters the water goes though to make it clean. Most of the older houses in Bangkok have them.

.

That's interesting, and I'd be interested in hearing more about it.

But there was only one filter in this machine, I looked, and it was all mold inside.

[arunsakda]

Is Tesco's drinking water safe?

I like the big jugs.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Dannyboy666]

Best thing to do long term is buy one of those machines that makes water from air. Pure water is the final product. The basic one is about 28 k last time I checked.

We have one of these machines, it is excellent and quite happily supplies enough water for us. We usually have 3 people living full time at the house, but often up to 6 and we have never run out of fresh water.

Now the filters are ready for changing, the machine flashes alerts at us and it will not provide any water until we put in filters. Currently waiting for a shipment of filters to come into Thailand so reduced to drinking bottled water. We buy the Nestles one, relying on big name brand to protect us.

The water from our machine not only goes through filters, it is subjected to uv light as well. We feel pretty safe with it, use for drinking and cooking.

. I had heard Nestles is the Worst, I buy that brand at 7/11 , made by 7/11, Spring Water, it has Silica in it which supposedly takes out the Metals in your body, same as Fiji Water it's like a rectangle bottle, Blk top, I wonder if it's any good??? Anyone else like it?

[Thai at Heart]

This is an abomination.

Supposedly ozonised and chlorinated drinking water is not safe to drink? Disgraceful

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

There isn't a whole lot of news reporting on real water quality testing in Thailand -- not surprisingly.

But this report from back in 2006 had a government survey showing that the water supplies in about 2/3rds of schools surveyed nationwide was substandard.

That's a ratio that pretty much fits in line with the OP report here that found only one-third of the water checked in the latest general survey was safe.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/98607-drinking-water-at-over-60-per-cent-of-schools-not-hygiene-enough/

The water agencies always pop up with statements saying their water is safe to drink. And then the public health and medical testing that's done of the water shows that's simply not true. Probably because the water agencies are testing right at the water filtration plants, whereas the medical/public health checks are being done at the consumption points. BIG difference.

Drinking water at over 60 per cent of schools not hygiene enough

BANGKOK: -- Drinking water at about 63.12 per cent of schools is substandard, according to random checks by the Medical Sciences Department.

The department's director general Dr Paijit Warachit Wednesday said the problems mainly came from contaminated water sources, water containers, water coolers and water-filter machines.

Conducted between March and August, the random checks covered 724 schools in various provinces.

The random checks found cadmium, lead, nitrate, manganese, aluminium, fluoride, microorganisms in drinking water at many schools.

According to Paijit, these chemicals could harm the drinkers' health. For example, manganese can cause fever, headache, loss of appetite, and weakening muscles. Iron can cause nausea and osteoporosis.

-- The Nation 2006-12-27

[chooka]

So these Gov officials in the health dept know that only 33% is NOT harmfull or fit for human consuption, yet clearly monitoring is useless and clearly enforcemnt is not happening, clean drinking water should be a primary concern for any Government, even millitary take overs.

And why only test for the summer ??

This is more than embarresing for Thailand.

The whole current government is embarrasing and show they are well out of thier depth.

[lovetotravel]

A good report on pollution caused by runoff. Definitely not filtered out by the tap water supply companies. And the consequences are long term. You won't get sick immediately from drinking this type of contamination.

http://www.greenpeace.to/publications/nitrates_philippines_thailand.pdf

[masuk]

This is an abomination.

Supposedly ozonised and chlorinated drinking water is not safe to drink? Disgraceful

Recently I mentioned that my 20 litre bottles of water had green gunk growing on the inside.

Maybe I should go back to a system our maid in Indonesia used; she would boil 10 litres or so in the evening, and let it cool, before storing it in the fridge next morning.

[beowolf2012]

Thai Health Ministry testing drinking water for bacteria this summer.

it's lisen good, but please also check government water if you have small scratch then you can have same like this...

[bernd1616]

check out the company nestle and other drinking water companies and the strong ties with some members of the military goverment and you know all about it. its about the big business selling drinking water and make billions with it.

[Gandtee]

Our drinking water is passed by the wife.

[pattayasnowman]

. I had heard Nestles is the Worst, I buy that brand at 7/11 , made by 7/11, Spring Water, it has Silica in it which supposedly takes out the Metals in your body, same as Fiji Water it's like a rectangle bottle, Blk top, I wonder if it's any good??? Anyone else like it?

Not such a good idea to " remove (takes out) the Metals in your body" trace minerals are essential to your health.