Does a Brita water filter work in Thailand

[bubba]

Well , I'll stick to water bottles , it hasn't killed me yet . I read a test somewhere that Namthip was the best water produced in Thailand . 49 baht for 9 litres at Big C. Normally I boil the water before drinking it anyway.

namthip/crystal only 2 clean companies

Unless you're a wikipedia spammer trying to look better than everyone by defending some of the worse companies of the world.

It is not clear to me here whether you mean clean water or clean business ethics. That said, Namthip is not a company. Namthip is a product name for the drinking water that is produced by Coca Cola (Thailand) Ltd..

Edited April 15, 2016 by bubba

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

i only use boiled tap water, have been doing so for 15 years here. Perfectly safe.

Boiling is good, and is recommended by health authorities when you're uncertain about the quality of the water supply. Boiling kills bacteria and such that may be in the water.

However, boiling alone doesn't assure safe water. if you've got sediment, TDS (total disolved solids), chemicals, and various other stuff in the water, boiling alone does nothing to get rid of those things or keep them out of your body. That's where some kind of proper water filtration comes into the picture.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

The main problem I have with Thailand commercial water is the total lack of any meaningful government regulation / quality control over the products being sold.

Apparently, they do do and/or have done testing, and the results as reported in some of the news articles I posted above show a lot of the commercial water as substandard.

So, what does the Thai govt. do? Do they ever make public the test results showing which water products are low/poor quality? No, never. How about sanction the substandard water companies, pull the unsafe products off the shelves, close or confiscate the unsafe drinking water vending machines??? No, in the years I've been here, never heard or seen any of those things happening, not once. Instead, the MoPH says they're going to urge the water purveyors to do better.

So, in the absence of any meaningful/serious government oversight/regulation, and in the absence of any publicly available information to help me know which products are good/safe to drink and which aren't, I'm left in the situation where I can't trust any of them.

I'm sure/I hope some of them, particularly the bottled water brands, are perfectly/reasonably fine. But how to know which one/ones is the problem.

The government apparently knows, but they sure aren't telling. And I guess some private consumer/health group could do its own testing and report the results as sometimes occurs in the West with entities like Consumer Reports. But here in Thailand, they'd probably end up being charged with criminal defamation by the bad water suppliers and end up getting hauled off to jail by the Thai police. Another way in which the country's laws work opposite from actually protecting its own citizens.

Edited April 15, 2016 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[sandgroper2]

i only use boiled tap water, have been doing so for 15 years here. Perfectly safe.

Boiling is good, and is recommended by health authorities when you're uncertain about the quality of the water supply. Boiling kills bacteria and such that may be in the water.

However, boiling alone doesn't assure safe water. if you've got sediment, TDS (total disolved solids), chemicals, and various other stuff in the water, boiling alone does nothing to get rid of those things or keep them out of your body. That's where some kind of proper water filtration comes into the picture.

As i said, 15 years here , also 2 years Indonesia, yogyakarta, always boiled , never got crook.Filters, waste of money, your all falling for the advertising .

[1BADDAT]

i only use boiled tap water, have been doing so for 15 years here. Perfectly safe.

Boiling is good, and is recommended by health authorities when you're uncertain about the quality of the water supply. Boiling kills bacteria and such that may be in the water.

However, boiling alone doesn't assure safe water. if you've got sediment, TDS (total disolved solids), chemicals, and various other stuff in the water, boiling alone does nothing to get rid of those things or keep them out of your body. That's where some kind of proper water filtration comes into the picture.

As i said, 15 years here , also 2 years Indonesia, yogyakarta, always boiled , never got crook.Filters, waste of money, your all falling for the advertising .

how much money do you figure you spent boiling all that water for 15 years?

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

For me, it's not a question of money when it comes to something so basic and important as the water source and the quality of the water you use to nourish your body every day, day after day.

Even the most cursory reading of any health info on water quality would clearly tell anyone that boiling only deals with part of the water quality issue, and that filtering deals with a whole set of other potential stuff in the water that boiling does NOT remove.

[1BADDAT]

For me, it's not a question of money when it comes to something so basic and important as the water source and the quality of the water you use to nourish your body every day, day after day.

Even the most cursory reading of any health info on water quality would clearly tell anyone that boiling only deals with part of the water quality issue, and that filtering deals with a whole set of other potential stuff in the water that boiling does NOT remove.

i totally agree. My point was that I think people that boil the water probably pay more in energy than someone who used a decent filtration system that actually does clean it properly. Boiling water takes a lot of energy. Energy isn't free. Not to mention a lot of wasted time. Seems like a lose lose all around.

[big carl]

The answer to the OP is yes the same as it does any place in North America. Many places have different water. Thailand does not have an exclusive on only one type of water.

[Craig krup]

I think it's important to remember that 90% of you isn't human. Something like 10% of your cells are human and the rest as parasites and - especially - gut bacteria. You're an animal. The idea that you should be living in a bubble drinking distilled water is just silly, and it'll make you seriously ill. I'm not saying we should consume dangerous toxins, but there's a "paradigm" in place behind a lot of these posts where the scary "outer" is a threat to the pristine "inner". That ain't how the body works.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Actually, a large portion of the human body is composed of...wait for it....water.

Up to 60% of the human adult body is water. According to H.H. Mitchell, Journal of Biological Chemistry 158, the brain and heart are composed of 73% water, and the lungs are about 83% water.

Thus, it makes kind of common sense to replenish your body with a clean, uncontaminated water source. That does NOT mean drinking water with all the minerals removed, because that's not natural. But it does mean not drinking water contaminated with lead, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, parasites, etc.

[Craig krup]

Actually, a large portion of the human body is composed of...wait for it....water.

Up to 60% of the human adult body is water. According to H.H. Mitchell, Journal of Biological Chemistry 158, the brain and heart are composed of 73% water, and the lungs are about 83% water.

Thus, it makes kind of common sense to replenish your body with a clean, uncontaminated water source. That does NOT mean drinking water with all the minerals removed, because that's not natural. But it does mean not drinking water contaminated with lead, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, parasites, etc.

True, but as (IIRC) Lewis Walport said, science is counterintuitive.

A hundred years ago people noted that it was always the doctor's or the parson's kid that got all the serious illnesses - polio, diabetes (possibly) TB - and now we know all about antigens and the useful exposure to harmful agents that should take place. The massive autoimmune problems that lots of people have are caused by the failure to expose yourself to a world of filth when you're young. Having a dog in the house certainly doesn't make it cleaner, but it does make it healthier. A load of indigestible starch in your diet and a gut full of the dog's bacteria is......well... it's.....well, there's no other way to put it, it's the dog's bo**ocks.

[elgordo38]

I think it's important to remember that 90% of you isn't human. Something like 10% of your cells are human and the rest as parasites and - especially - gut bacteria. You're an animal. The idea that you should be living in a bubble drinking distilled water is just silly, and it'll make you seriously ill. I'm not saying we should consume dangerous toxins, but there's a "paradigm" in place behind a lot of these posts where the scary "outer" is a threat to the pristine "inner". That ain't how the body works.

Thanks for your well worded statement. I knew something was bringing out the beast in me. I have read all the comments and will continue to use the water machine in the lobby. I understand the new Brita has a problem with filters not fitting properly and buying 5 litre jugs and refilling them from the machine is what I will continue to do. It has not killed me or made me sick in the last 5 years soooo I will stay with a winning reasonably price (Its the Mennonite in me) product.

Edited April 18, 2016 by elgordo38

[big carl]

I think it's important to remember that 90% of you isn't human. Something like 10% of your cells are human and the rest as parasites and - especially - gut bacteria. You're an animal. The idea that you should be living in a bubble drinking distilled water is just silly, and it'll make you seriously ill. I'm not saying we should consume dangerous toxins, but there's a "paradigm" in place behind a lot of these posts where the scary "outer" is a threat to the pristine "inner". That ain't how the body works.

I thought most of us was water.

I agree with you about the distilled water to a point. I once went 3 days just drinking distilled water no food. I was on holiday and not doing any thing at the time other than reading, watching TV and craving food. The result was that a lot of impurities were flushed out of my system being as I was doing virtually nothing not many new ones formed. My eyes were sparkling according to my wife at that time when the three days was over. She was one of those who notices all changes.

I was working construction in the hot whether for a while and found that when I drank bottled water I got muscle cramps more than when I drank it out of the tap. That was a long time ago.

I now drink bottled water only and have yet to have a problem with it in 10 years.