I always go a pick up three big white water containers from the local water distributor. I have often wondered why some of the containers are like new and some of the containers bear the scars of heavy usage.

We paid a 90 baht deposit for the containers when we started using the local service as per normal. I have seen a truck delivering water to the distributors, It looked the same as the ones which pump out the septic tanks. I have seen it almost weekly as I drive by.

Who actually governs these water distributors? I actually have no idea where this water really comes from.

I just wonder how other members feel about their own water usage for personal consumption.

Up-country. Saraburi.

I'm good friends with a health inspector and they have a team that inspects water factories. The factories have to meet the health standards. If it fails, they are issued with a warning to improve and a follow up inspection is carried out. If the factory fails the follow up inspection it's closed down.

I'm good friends with a health inspector and they have a team that inspects water factories. The factories have to meet the health standards. If it fails, they are issued with a warning to improve and a follow up inspection is carried out. If the factory fails the follow up inspection it's closed down.

In Pattaya the white bottles are tap water & the blue bottles are reverse osmosis.

We buy the white bottles & clean the hel_l out of them & purchase the 5-6 litre nestley or whatever companies good drinking water use & refill with the bottle water at the machines & dump into the big containers.

I bought a water test kit & Pattaya's water in white bottles failed miserably!!!! The trucks with the good water(blue bottles) charge 300baht for the initial bottle & the white bottles were 90 baht. I know the machine water is much purer than the tap water.

I gave up on the returnables. I was having several 20-bottle cases (950ml each) delivered each week for a few years but then got tired of the sometimes 'strange' taste of the water. The water is of reverse-osmosis w/carbon-filtering-quality, so that shouldn't happen.

I decided to just go to the plant (it's right down the road from my house) and buy the ones available in new, disposable bottles, that they have stacked up against the wall by the dozens. These are the ones you see for sale in all the mom 'n pop convenience stores. Net cost was only marginally higher, but water quality is now EXCELLENT and VERY consistent. Never any strange taste like with the supposedly 'cleaned' ones.

The additional cost was minimal (20 of the returnable-bottle variety = 30 baht, delivered; but 24 of the disposable-bottle variety = only 60 baht! That's 22.8 L for only USD ~1.70 !) It was a no-brainer.

Oh yeah, I fill up a big trash bag with the disposables and leave it out for the recyclers to pick up, too. So, it's a win-win situation.

there was an article in Post some years ago about 'fecal bacteria' in bottled water.

I try to avoid Thai bottled water.

& ice .. bottled water?

7-11 fountain drinks made from concentrate w/ ice .. bottled water?

I love a 'slurpee' on ahot day..

I know thai that boil tap water for 5 minutes .. but heavy metals, ect.

a 'friend of a friend' in the US has a 'bottled water biz' in Texas ..

his US 'spring water' is simply filtered city tap water

hate to think what the certification criteria might be in Thailand .. especially from a small distributor.

water police? I doubt.

the US water sales man has become very RICH .. drives a Lamborghini or Ferrari, I forget ..

I asked for a ride once & he just gave me the keys!

Very uncomfortable ride .. he was 6" shorter than I & the adjustable pedals were set for him.