When was last time filter changed in water machine ?

[Lumbini]

When was last time filter changed in water machine ?

This was message I just sent manager at condo where I live . I notice on the front of the machine there is a display that lets entries be posted when the filters are changed . I remember seeing this on other machines filled with entries but all blank on this machine that is many years old . I see my neighbor having big water bottles being delivers by company left outside his door. The question is how healthy is drinking water from a reverse osmosis machine that looks like it has no posted filter changes ? Also what is best company to deliver water and what is the cost , also any of these companies delver in glass bottles so one can bypass the BPA in most plastic bottles ? Thanks

Edited March 10, 2016 by Lumbini

[inbangkok]

Better not to think about it. My wife read an article from a Thai news site claiming around 60% of these machines are contaminated. However, I am not sure how serious the contamination is. Its gotta be safer than tap water. If you have a house or condo you are pretty set in, might be better to have a filter installed in the kitchen if you are worried about it.

Edited March 10, 2016 by inbangkok

[lopburi3]

Actually tap water in Bangkok is safe to drink and has been for decades. That does not rule out local contamination but even that is much less likely than previously as most pipes have been replaced and pressure increase. I meter to test RO process is only about 150 baht on Ebay (search TDS meter) - mine shows a difference of Bangkok tap at about 160 and after RO about 11.

[inbangkok]

Actually tap water in Bangkok is safe to drink and has been for decades. That does not rule out local contamination but even that is much less likely than previously as most pipes have been replaced and pressure increase. I meter to test RO process is only about 150 baht on Ebay (search TDS meter) - mine shows a difference of Bangkok tap at about 160 and after RO about 11.

Yeah, it's the contamination from rotting pipes that I am concerned about. And considering the vast majority of Thais don't even drink tap water, I don't want to test my luck.

[KittenKong]

I used to use machines but now get my water delivered in the big transparent bottles.

I have zero faith in the ability of the management in my building to follow maintenance programmes, or to monitor them.

[Speedo1968]

The large bottles used for water dispensers are often loaded with algae, look for the green tell tale signs at the bottom of the bottles. The effects of algae toxins can be rapid and bad, even on Thai stomachs. I do not like the idea of using plastic bottles either but have a dispenser that takes 10 litres and the bottles can be recycled. As for my local tap water, no way, pressure is up and down depending on time of day ( its increased at peak hours ) and have had flukes at certain times of the year. And if you against fluoride dont drink some of the brands of milk here !!!

[little mary sunshine]

RO machine 7 meters from my porch, ai see them

Service the machine every two weeks, last month

They replaced several filters,,,I am lucky the company

Does clean this machine. I have used the filtered

Water,for several years, never been sick!!

[fakename]

I have used the White plastic 20 bottles, (cheaper) 15 baht, and Never seen any green algea, never a bad taste, even after sitting opened for a couple weeks. There was a machine outside our shop, and in a year, never seen it serviced.

[Lumbini]

little mary sunshine , you are right there are several filters and I just got message from manager of my condo and she said filter ( not filters ) changed ever 6 months . Do I believe her ??? Why would someone change filter and not record this on front of machine ? On front door of machine where you put your water bottle in to fill there is a display with lines that have a description for each filter part and multiple columns to the right of this filter part to list enter date of each filter part change . On machine here no entries at all ( just blank boxes .. I notice other machines these boxes filled with dates entered in with sharpie/markers ) but manager says " we change filter every 6 months . I know this is hard to believe but I have been lied to before in Bangkok [emoji87]

Edited March 10, 2016 by Lumbini

[Acharn]

Actually tap water in Bangkok is safe to drink and has been for decades. That does not rule out local contamination but even that is much less likely than previously as most pipes have been replaced and pressure increase. I meter to test RO process is only about 150 baht on Ebay (search TDS meter) - mine shows a difference of Bangkok tap at about 160 and after RO about 11.

I drank the tap water in Bangkok for almost twenty years. Thai people kept telling me it was unsafe, but I never had a problem. When I lived in the boonies in Nakhorn Ratchasima province back in 1982 we got our water from a pond the buffalo used to lounge in. I'm not sure if we boiled it or not, but I figured that if I could survive that there wasn't any reason to worry about tap water. I'm convinced the bottled water is a scam, anyway. From time to time samples are tested and found to be more impure than the tap water.

[Pib]

Me and the family have been drinking Bangkok tap water for 8 years...still alive. It only gets run through a charcoal filter before use which I change yearly.

[avander]

Just a little of my experience here and maybe useful advice for those of you using your own filter systems.

I've been here 2 and a half years now. Wife and I own our own shop-house which was new when we bought it. We had a multi-stage reverse osmosis filter system installed on the ground level when we first moved in. It has a computerised controller and has never given us any trouble. Let's us know when the water is out as it also has a beeping alarm when the presssure is too low for it to work.

We're on the darkside in Patts & run a cafe/restaurant so use the filtered water for the coffee machine, drinks and ice maker. It's been fine but a couple of months back I noticed a degradation in the quality and a slight smell to the water "out of the tap". My wife assured me she was told by the guy that installed it that the filters only needed changing every 2 years or so and it was around that time.

It was all obvious sales BS and have obviously been lucky but she was also really shocked by the muck and filthy state of the old filters when we replaced them (3).

On advice from the guy that replaced them for us we will be changing them every 6 months from here on. It's not that expensive and oh, so much better drinking water now!

[lopburi3]

And from what you say you use a lot more filtered water than the normal household user so expect much more frequent filter change would be wise (plus your water is probably not very clean to start with in Pattaya). For a house in Bangkok the recommended one year change and at bit longer for RO appears to be reasonable.

[BangkokKen]

We must be living in 2 different bangkok

My TDS3 meter shows levels of PPM of 170 for Bangkok water

Water is considered safe under 50 ppm

http://www.aeruswater.com/aboutyourwater/testyourwater.cfm

[Inuk]

Reverse Osmosis is far more complex than the machines you see on a street corner or in a shop which are basically water filters using mains water. The filter system should have a warning light to indicate filter change required or on a timer/counter after x hours of operation. If the water flow from the machine is slow, this is a very good indication of blocked or fouling in the filter. TDS (totally dissolved solids) value on the hand gauges shown in the article is a guide only and that is all the gauges will show. WHO guide is 1,000 parts/million and the US EPA std is 500 ppm. Filters should remove TDS but only ultra violet will remove viruses. Ph value is the acidic or alkaline value found in water - between 6 and 8 is an acceptable level. Below 6 and it is acidic and above 8 is alkaline - measuring kits are readily available or a combo TDS/Ph gauge.

I guarantee you could not connect one of these machines to the raw water in canals or rivers or lakes and the sea and produce healthy potable water whilst a dedicated R.O. plant will provide good clean water.

The purpose built R.O. machines on sea water or salty water need to operate on a pressure of around 56 bar (850 psi) and on brackish water 28 bar (425 psi) to be effective.

Tap water safe to drink? Now I am talking about the so called developed nations and there are many many water borne contaminants, viruses, bacteria and amoeba that still make it through today's purportedly hi tech feed water processing including chlorine which is a carcinogen. Fluoride levels have had to be reduced, but there are many more chemicals used extensively for the production of potable water but do not clean up the inorganic,synthetic organic contaminants and the throw away hazards from our daily living habits which enter the water table.

Generally speaking bottled water in Thailand is of acceptable standard in quality terms. The 18/20 litre bottles are very good value and quality.

I wonder though whether bottled water supplies are going to be hit by the anticipated water shortages over the next few months. If you have a domestic water supply and filter assembly and the mains supply is cut off periodically, check your filter elements more regularily.

[thailand49]

I'm not going to cite you all the science and technical stuff. I will tell you what I have read and that I have one of these machines for five years in Pattaya.

A number of times I have read on the Bangkok Post articles the past few years regarding when the filters are to be changed. The Thai health Department? which stated that they were going to required and check that these machines have their filters changed every 2 months. A year later I read another story in the Bangkok Post stating the 2 month requirement. Regardless, I've never heard nor have I been given any type of notices of any inspection.

For commercial water in the cheaper white bottles or clear bottles I've visited a few local water bottles place and can say they are not cleaned properly. A close family member used to work for a major water company in the West coast and I've been to the plant and seen how they are supposed to be cleaned. Here I seriously doubt any of that is being done even in the major plants. I've never been given a noticed or heard anyone getting one that a inspection was coming.

When I first purchased the machine it was warranty for a year. I notice as it got closer to a year the service was getting worse after the year past when I call for service I had to wait days. So I started to do some research and located a place where I can buy supplies and parts. These machines are located everywhere and I seriously doubt people are changing the filters even 6 months. When I put my machine in I was 1 other in my neighborhood now there are several. In the beginning, I was bringing in 3-4 thousand baht, now I barely scrape up 1000?

Nevertheless, in the beginning I use to change all the filters every 3 months but the cost didn't justify the money I was bringing in. My machine has 5 large filters a set at the dealer cost me 3,000, then I started to look around and finally got a place to sell them for 2000 a set. I started to inspect the filters and lines. You can pull them out and rinse them out, the lines I use a Q tip to clean the area where they are inserted and check the lines, I do this once a month. During the first year when the service guy came out I stood right there and watch what he did, now I service it myself unless it's something I can't fix.. The last 2 years, I changed all the filters every 6 months, it has gotten to the point I'm barely breaking even. I've tried buying the stickers to indicate when I service it but they won't sell them to me so I just make my own tags.

My neighbors know I take real good care of the machine and I've never seen any of the others ever having a service person come out nor seen them changing their filters.

If the filters are outdated and need changing the water starts to smell a bit. My only suggestion is for people to continuing doing what they been doing if they haven't gotten sick.

Good luck..

Edited March 10, 2016 by thailand49

[BangkokHank]

This topic is of great personal interest to me. Here is my story: After not having had any stomach problems at all during my first 20 years in Bangkok, I suddenly started getting diarrhea about once a week. I visited a number of expensive specialists at the best hospitals in Bangkok, but they couldn't find the cause. I concluded that something in me had undergone a fundamental change and that I would just have to learn to live with weekly diarrhea for the rest of my life.

Then I took a business trip to Vietnam for a couple of weeks - and while I was there, my diarrhea cleared up completely. This led me to the conclusion that the problem was not ME, but rather something in my environment in Bangkok. I then tried to think if I had changed anything in my lifestyle that could have caused the diarrhea, but I was eating and drinking exactly the same things as I was eating and drinking before I started getting diarrhea.

Then one as day I was leaving my condo and I passed by the (reverse osmosis) water machine where I got my drinking water, and I decided to ask the receptionist at the condo how often they changed the filter in the machine. To my shock, she answered NEVER!

The next step in my process of discovery was to start drinking store-bought bottled water. It didn't take long after that for my diarrhea to stop. And now, I am completely back to normal.

Moral of the story: Drinking dirty water can have negative health consequences, and it is important to know about the cleanliness of the water you drink. If you buy your drinking water from one of those cheap reverse osmosis machines, don't be surprised if they don't change the filters and you get sick. From now on it's only bottled water for me. It's more expensive that the water from those machines, but I make up for it on what I save on medical bills.

[facthailand]

I'm far more worried about BPA and algae growth in plastic bottles of all sizes. Algae always grows in the presence of light, so unless you keep your bottles in the dark, they're going to bloom.

I should also mention that I never buy bottled water in restaurants. I'm not opposed to them profiting a few baht but millions on millions of plastic bottles don't just disappear--there is no 'away'! My regular restos have grown accustomed to my drinking water from their kitchens, obviously filtred. And I practice some conservation teaching on the rest. If they give me too much of a hard time, I don't go back after leaving thirsty.

We have a simple charcoal filtre but often just drink the water. I'm ordering a TDS metre from Amazon, though--I think it will be fun to use!

Anyway, drink when you're thirsty. There's no right amount for every body.

[Torrens54]

I used to use machines but now get my water delivered in the big transparent bottles.

I have zero faith in the ability of the management in my building to follow maintenance programmes, or to monitor them.

Ahh, BUT have you ever tested the water from these bottles?

They don't have to have GreenGunk showing up, to be contaminated. Best to get your own Tank and Water Purification.

[Lumbini]

So it is quite obvious that machine in my condo has never had filters changed and when I asked manager told me " boss said she change every six months " ... When they pass off your question and answer " boss says " you know what that means .

So where is best company to deliver the big bottles of water to condo as I go through much daily for many things . To buy and bring home is not possible . If anyone knows best most reputable company in Bangkok for best drinking water please give me a link and I will call and report back on the progress . Again and again I find that when you ask Thai's questions they know you will not like the answer to like " have you ever changed filter " there is a big chance they will lie ... Not always but many times when I investigate I find I get lied to and lying about safety of drinking water is not anything I want to risk . I also heard that to replace filters was about 3000 baht and I can not see most places taking it upon themselves to spend 3000 if they can just lie . That's really nasty thing to say but better safe than sorry and since there are no laws or stickers that I am aware of guess the machines are a no go . Thanks for all the comments again this forum is invaluable .

PS : I read Sprinkle at 02-712-7272, one of the best ?

"at the start you need to pay 2400 baht includes the deposit and coupons for 24 bottles. When you run out of coupons, another 24 cost 1500 or 1800 baht (cant remember)

It includes a pump (d size batteries needed). You tell them when they come you want it delivered every week, if in an emergency they will deliver on short notice.

very professional, in and out in 1 minute."

Edited March 10, 2016 by Lumbini

[canarysun]

Hello viewers!

It must be noted to all our viewers that I have been as " sick as a dog " from drinking water from these hideous water machines.I wouldn't even have a shave in that water.( I don't shave very often...) Pay a little bit more and buy a nice bottle of filtered water otherwise you will be paying out a lot more in hospital bills.....

Greetings to all our viewers,

C.S xxx

[inbangkok]

Hello viewers!

It must be noted to all our viewers that I have been as " sick as a dog " from drinking water from these hideous water machines.I wouldn't even have a shave in that water.( I don't shave very often...) Pay a little bit more and buy a nice bottle of filtered water otherwise you will be paying out a lot more in hospital bills.....

Greetings to all our viewers,

C.S xxx

How do you know you are sick because of drinking from the machines?

[elgenon]

Most water in the US is unsafe (though the water agencies say it is) but Bangkok/ Thailand is safe? Don't know how much safer bottled water is. Large corporations are so powerful they get the regulations diluted. So in "pure mountain water" a % doesn't have to be that.

Water is tested for some things. Not tested for drugs etc.

[KittenKong]

I used to use machines but now get my water delivered in the big transparent bottles.

I have zero faith in the ability of the management in my building to follow maintenance programmes, or to monitor them.

Ahh, BUT have you ever tested the water from these bottles?

They don't have to have GreenGunk showing up, to be contaminated. Best to get your own Tank and Water Purification.

Why should I trust the filter equipment sold in Thailand any more than I trust the water delivery companies? As far as I can see nothing here is to be trusted.

[sappersrest]

TDS meters expect to pay around 3k for a decent one Hanna instruments spring to mind .

They do require recalibrating every so often.

The cheap ones are only really indicative and should not be the basis of any fact or claim good for checking your water filter though.

So if you are really serious buy the best mine cost about 8k and is calibrated regularly

Remember it is only measuring the conductivity of salts etc in the water no use for bacteriological activity.

[sappersrest]

Make sure you read post 15 very informative written by some one who knows what he is talking about.

[Lumbini]

Post #16 from Desalinator was the post ( but all have been helpful thanks ) that got me to just order home delivery from Sprinkle ( they show promotion on website but don't think I got it on online order ? Date or eligibility in Thai )

http://www.sprinkle-th.com/coverpage/promotion/

Sprinkle 18.9 Litre:

Bottle Deposit: 3 bottles 600.00 Baht

Coupon: 1 set 1,560.00

Water Dispenser TSCO-170: 0 unit 0.00 Baht

Water Dispenser BL-724BS: 0 unit 0.00 Baht

Water Dispenser BL-917W: 0 unit 0.00 Baht

Water Dispenser TSHC-170: 0 unit 0.00 Baht

Water Pump: 1 unit 315.00 Baht

Battery Cells: 1 set 39.26 Baht

------------------------------------

350 ml: 0 packs 0.00 Baht

550 ml: 0 packs 0.00 Baht

1,500 ml.: 0 packs 0.00 Baht

6,000 ml.: 0 box 0.00 Baht

------------------------------------

Sub Total: 1,914.26 Baht

VAT 7%: 134.00 Baht

Total: 2,648.26 Baht

[didi23]

I'd rather recommend you to buy a water filter. Yes, firstly, you'll spend more money, but then you'll save more and save your stomach!
I have chronic gastritis and using a water filter. you can find dozens of reviews of them. think about it. it really worth it.

http://www.homedepot.com/b/Kitchen-Water-Dispensers-Filters/N-5yc1vZarmz
http://water-filters.bestadvisor.com/
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/water-filters.htm

[technologybytes]

I agree about buying your own filter, its works out cheaper in the long run and much more convenient, also you know exactly when the filters were changed.

[thaibeachlovers]

I trust no tap water in LOS. My wife drinks water from company in reused plastic bottles; I only drink water from 7 11/ supermart in non resused plastic bottles.

Only thing I used water from machine outside was for fish tank.