Tap Water Quality?

[Papa Carl]

and where does the bottled water come from?Unless it's imported...

The have Water Refilling Stations as businesses all over the Philippines. Bottled water is usually just filtered water most of the time, yet some claim to be spring water, but I have my doubts. Hey Culligan Man is I believe a US company which developed a filtering system years ago. I have walked into some refilling stations and looked at the huge filters they have, so those are legit IMO. The problem I see is that nothing is totally safe here, or anywhere for that matter since humans seem to cut corners whenever they can, and most things done here are not done to any real set standards, so I see the trucks that deliver water will also pick up the empty bottles, and of course many of those bottles do not have caps on them, so along the dirty dusty roads they must get some dirt in them on the way back. I know the bottles that get delivered are usually covered with a fine coat of road dust, so we have to wash the outside before using them, so it is my worry that they do not wash them out first before refilling, and I wonder how sanitary the facility and people are that does the filtering and then puts the new caps on, did the guy or gal capping them wash their hands after using the CR, :( and how often do they change or clean their filters, since profit is the driving force of most businesses, and in a country with little to no regulations, and where even the regulations they do have is rarely checked up on, we all take our chances, but that is often true of back home too, and there have been studies of the bottled water back home, and the results was that tap water was just as good, yet here tap water is loaded with calcium and who knows what else, so bottled water must be better IMO.The other issue I have with tap water is that what pipes have been used to bring it to us, since most things here are done the cheapest way, so my guess is that they use old iron pipes and probably lead solder, so once again filtered water must be safer. I know that when I turn our water on after being gone for a number of months, the first water comes out rusty looking, so my guess is the pipes or fittings must be iron. We can all go crazy with worry, but I found it is just best to roll with how things are done here, and keep imodium tablets around for those just in case moments. So far I have not had to use any but people who visit seem to be more susceptible, so having the tablets around has come in handy.

You know the local water is not safe when even staying in a 5 star hotel there are signs telling you not to drink the water from the tap! or use it to fill the kettle! I have been fortunate in the 4 years I have been here and always purchased bottled water. Only once in those 4 years did I not use bottle water, even for making tea or coffee, and I paid dearly for it!My suggestion, even taking into consideration everything Kuya Lee has said about the quality of the bottled water and refilling stations, at least for the first few years here. If it is not bottled, and sealed..... don't drink it! Just like in India, Pakistan, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos etc etc. if you buy a bottle of water and it is not sealed.... don't drink it! You never know where the water came from or who filled it. For the cost of bottled water, whether in any of the cities or in the provinces compared to days in bed and crawling to (or sleeping in) the CR (toilet), it is a no brainer!Oh now that I think about it, there was another time when I was up in the mountains in Negros Oriental, I drank directly from a well, fed by a stream and not only did I not get sick, but the water was great! But I think that was just lucky.Carl

[Jim Sibbick]

Many companies will proudly tell you how many stages of filtration their water has gone through before it is bottled for you. So, yes it is glorified tap water!I have seen a spring water site on Leyte where they bottle the water. It did not look at all drinkable at the spring. I hope it was filtered too before bottling.Otherwise, I have drunk spring water form many nice tasting springs on Leyte where they don't bottle the water.Regards: Jim

[Fast&Furious]

I can guarantee you that even in Rome which has one of the best quality tap water in Italy and uses still the ancient Roman system, sometimes you get rusty tap water if it has not been running for a week or two (when you go on holiday). Obviously if the pipes of the building/house aren't good, you get that problem.Also, a couple of years ago, in Far North Queensland, in the small town of Innisfail near Cairns ,it was found that the town water was contaminated with the ORANGE AGENT used in the 60s by Americans that were fighting in Vietnam. I think they had a base there and it seems that in all this years no one cleaned up.No one for decades knew anything and given the general good quality of Queensland water, the Council of the town did not even test for the Orange Agent because it was too expensive but eventually someone did because there were too many people dying of many forms of cancer and leukemia in the area, compared with the rest of the State.So, the best way would be to have an accurate water test each year...but I can imagine it's not that easy over there,