Drinking Udon's Tap Water For Six Weeks: What Happens?

[Craig krup]

A couple of years ago the Provincial Water Authority said that Thailand's tap water is fit to drink. Many people expressed extreme scepticism. As a service to Thai Visa users - and certainly not because I'm the kind of tight-arse who would spend thirty seconds trying to pick up a satang coin from a tiled floor - I drank the water for six weeks. Now I know there's a hell of a difference between a major city and a village. I should also say that (apart from a couple of occasions) I let the bottles of water sit in the sunlight for six hours - SODIS (disinfection using UV-rich sunlight through recyclable bottles) is an approved method. But I experienced no ill effects at all. The water's clear and it smells of chlorine. I thought it would be fine, and it was.

 

Now you can argue, 1) I got lucky, 2) I've suffered harm I don't yet appreciate or 3) I'm unusually robust. But it would be good if ordinary Thais recognised that probably they could drink the tap water. People who're short of money shouldn't be paying 14 baht for 1.5L. I know the RO machines are cheap, but it's still a pain in the arse carrying the water, and it only passes through the machine at the speed it's used, which means that the water has been sitting in a very hot narrow bore PVC pipe for hours. Frankly I'd rather run the tap for five minutes and use SODIS. Filtering also removes all the minerals, and soft water is correlated with higher heart attacks. 

[Rob13]

Believe I'd at least boil for while first

[CGW]

If I can smell chlorine in water I won't drink it, destroys bacteria! including all the good stuff in your gut! I would say 1 & 2 apply in your list.

Good luck!

[White Christmas13]

Well don't know what to say, but I drank chlorinated water all my life and I still do  

and I don't have any probs whats so ever I am nearly 70  

[manfredtillmann]

who pays thb 14 for 1.5l of bottled water? i buy 6@ 1.5l bottles for thb 45/49 at my local tesco here in that phanom.

 

'my' little town derives it's tap water from the river, and no amount of chlorination and conditioning will remove the herbicides and pesticides that get washed in on it's journey from china and the far north of T.

every morning, when i go for my walk, i see the fish farmers throw out 100's of dead fish from their river farms!!!

i don't even open my mouth when i shower and i definitely do not drink our tap water.

 

pm me when you have grown gills and wings and start to digest your food by excreting body fluids onto them before you suck them up with your newly grown trunk - i'll come and spray you to put you out of your misery...

[sezze]

Water in my area is not drinkable . It doesn't taste good . If it is harmfull or not , i wouldn't know but it just doesn't taste good and is no pleasure for drinking ( done a few sips in the past ) . I just buy the big bottles , delivered at home if you put the bottle near street , or go to local shop and pick up a full one and leave the empty one . Hell of a lot cheaper then 14baht / 1.5l .

 

[CGW]

1 hour ago, White Christmas13 said:

Well don't know what to say, but I drank chlorinated water all my life and I still do  

and I don't have any probs whats so ever I am nearly 70  

 

Just imagine how much healthier you would be if you hadn't been drinking "chlorine"?  

 

[happynthailand]

I've heard that after 7 weeks of drinking tap water,you start to grow hair

 

on the bottom of you feed,and  can start licking your nuts

thanking of tying the tap rain fore 7 weeks just to see if I can lick my nuts

 

will let you know if it work's or not

 

[cooked]

Does anyone here seriously believe that water bought from a machine has passed through a filter that has been changed/ cleaned recently? Or ever?

[lostinisaan]

4 hours ago, cooked said:

Does anyone here seriously believe that water bought from a machine has passed through a filter that has been changed/ cleaned recently? Or ever?

 

 Nope, it's sometime just tap water. 

[Issangeorge]

We get the big bottles delivered ฿10, but when we had our first well which the family had been using forever, we drank the water from it, never a problem. In the dry season of 2013 the first well didn't completely dry up, but couldn't handle the use we gave it. We dug a new well and since then have used the bottle water, but I do shower without closing my mouth, and brush my teeth using the new well water, and have never had a problem. Bottled water has its uses in Thailand, but in Canada, where all publicly delivered water is safe to drink, it seems that everyone is using bottled water, which to my mind is not only a huge waste of money, but an ecological misuse.

Sent from my ASUS_T00J using Tapatalk

[Speedo1968]

I would never use the big bottles as they often have algae.  

I have seen many people fall sick when a bottle was really contaminated.

Roadside water machines - filters ???

Like a previous post I use a 6 pack for 45 baht - delivered to my door 3 km away.

I have also used the 5 litre bottles.

I drink up to 3 litres a day of water.

 

My local tap water gets all kinds of stuff in it.  

When the mains goes off somewhere for repair etc., very often there is sand or it is murky when it is turned back on.

Pressure goes up and down at peak hours morning and evening every day.

The feel of the water can vary especially in dry and wet seasons, i.e. easy or not easy to crate a lather with soap.

Occasionally can have a burning feel without a chlorine smell, normally start of rainy season.

In January and February each year I have found nematodes in the water, not just in my house but also in a local hotels.   Also found in another part of Thailand.   Example, in shower head or when water is run and shower head disconnected.  The nematodes are a white to creamy colour and can climb walls quickly rather like a centipede.    Have tried to photograph but no luck, next year, if I am still about will try and catch and take to Water Department.

[elliss]

On 8/18/2016 at 7:58 AM, happynthailand said:

I've heard that after 7 weeks of drinking tap water,you start to grow hair

 

on the bottom of you feed,and  can start licking your nuts

thanking of tying the tap rain fore 7 weeks just to see if I can lick my nuts

 

will let you know if it work's or not

 

 

      Try  Archa,    if you like licking nuts ,  plenty of them around .  555

[Gary A]

I used to buy the large translucent bottles of water. I quit doing that when I found mosquito larvae swimming in the bottles. I now collect rainwater and filter it. The first filter holds 18 liters of activated charcoal. The final filter is a ceramic tube.

 

ADDED - At my condo, I buy drinking water out of the RO machines for 1 baht per liter. I have let a five liter bottle of that water sit on the counter for two months. No algae or odor at all and absolutely no taste. Those machines are inspected regularly.  I trust them.

Edited August 27, 2016 by Gary A

[ClutchClark]

If you are going to use tap water directly then just let it run for about 5-10 seconds down the drain before filling your container.

[tifino]

7 minutes ago, ClutchClark said:

If you are going to use tap water directly then just let it run for about 5-10 seconds down the drain before filling your container.

 

funny that - testing the tapwater; is so similar to testing:

 

 - urine  - when you flush the first squirts of dreggs, before test tubing what follows

 

 - water from the dirty tin roof, using a delay.diverter and collect trapped dead birds

 

and never forget local ice delivery man, on his bicycle...

... ice falls off bike, and he picks it up and wipes it with dirty sleeve, then rides along again...

 

 

[sezze]

My big bottles are very pure , never anything in it , never strange taste  . I do not know exactly where they come from , but i guess any problems are related to the filling station .

[metisdead]

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