Tap water.

[jimholio]

This is not a question wether or not you can drink the tap water in Thailand. Its more like, whats the difference between the tap water back in Europe where you can drink it in the most places. What is it that makes the tap water in some country's worse then others? Is it chemicals, bad pipes, the heat, or where the water comes from?

There is probably a very obvious answer to this question so im sorry if it was a stupid question.

[DaveRetiring]

Originally Posted by jimholio

What is it that makes the tap water in some country's worse then others? Is it chemicals, bad pipes, the heat, or where the water comes from?

Hi Jim,

Having spent some of my life designing water systems, I think I can answer this one. It all begins with the treatment plant. If it is designed to carry the load then the water leaving the plant will be as good as anywhere else. It may have local flavor or taste because of "stuff" (harmless micro bacterial) in the water. But the overall potability or quality of the water will be to a safe standard.

OK, so much for theory. If the plant is made to pass through more water per day than designed then the quality will suffer proportionally and some cooties will get through.

Next on the list is maintenance, if the plant is meticulously maintained then well and good, if not then see the "cooties" issue above.

Next down the line is the reticulation system, the pipes that get it to your tap. One of the major problems is flushing after repairs. If the water company has to replace a pipe, they should over boost with Chlorine and purge all the drained sections, then flush and reconnect the users.

Suffice to say, if LOS is like most other Asian countries I have visited, very little if any of that process is done, Thus injecting possible contamination.

Technically, there should be little to no difference in water quality, PROVIDING every step along the line the guidelines set by engineers are followed. However the gap between "should" and "is" can be huge.

Drink bottled water.

[stevem]

The only Asian city that I have lived in/visited that had consistently good tap water that you could safely drink from the tap was KL. Our house is in Chalong, and the water there is supposedly drinkable, but we didnt drink it, OK we cleaned our teeth with it, but we still used bottled drinking water.

In Patong at the bar, we didnt even clean our teeth with the tap water.

[Mav]

Heard on Oz radio yesterday that Australian children are suffering from drinking bottled (bad teeth) water bcoz it does not contain the flouride found in tap water......not sure how accurate that is?

[Frode10]

Here in Norway is the water suppose to be very clean. But when we are emptying the icecube-machine's in my restaurant/bar once in a year to be cleaned inside, then you can see how dirty the water really is.
Then I drink bottled water for the next week or two.

F

[butterflyblonde]

Originally Posted by Mav

Heard on Oz radio yesterday that Australian children are suffering from drinking bottled (bad teeth) water bcoz it does not contain the flouride found in tap water......not sure how accurate that is?

We had some kind of similar story to that in the UK press a fair while back.

[syeatman]

Originally Posted by butterflyblonde

We had some kind of similar story to that in the UK press a fair while back.

You've also got the camp that is adamant that Fluoride is extremely bad for you. I think it's poisonous in larger quantities, so over time can be very damaging to teeth as well.

Do teeth rot on their own? presumably not, so not having fluoride will not decay your teeth - it's the crap that we eat that does that!

[jimholio]

Thanks Dave, i was just curious. My guess would have been it was related to heat in some way. Figuring because it seems to be mostly in hot country's you cant drink the tap water.

But now i know

[piston]

Whoever invented EVIAN water must have hit the target...a little bottle cost
12 sin.dollars in the minibar on hotel Raffels in the lion city or more than
tiger beer. ( now in singapore you may drink from the tap)
Have seen this brand of water on several locations around the world
and always cost more than other brands now why is that self do not taste
any difference from the others....

[stevem]

I have always found that the Singha brand water tastes the best, whether its just name association, I dont know.

[Sirgezza]

Originally Posted by jimholio

Thanks Dave, i was just curious. My guess would have been it was related to heat in some way. Figuring because it seems to be mostly in hot country's you cant drink the tap water.

But now i know

My guess is you have been to 3rd world countries that happen to be hot.

Some people get the sh1ts when they go from one part of the UK to another on a visit, and they blame the change in water for it.

[DaveRetiring]

Originally Posted by jimholio

My guess would have been it was related to heat in some way.

Thanks Jim,

Yup heat is a popular miscnception when it comes to drinking water. Actually light is the problem. The micro bactrials need sunlight to multiply into dangerous quantities.

If you can keep the water in the dark for about two weeks as in large storage tanks, the bacterial levels will actually drop naturally to very low levels. That's not practical in a town water system, but I was just pointing out that sunlight is the enemy and not heat.

I live in the boonies and have several 2500 gallon tanks for storing rain run off. Never had a problem with it and it gets to 106F (41C) in Summer time.

[ElectrO]

The argument they had in the UK about putting Fluoride in the water system, is that it shouldn't be there. Up north, some people suffer with a problem where they have too much Fluoride, and it makes your teeth look very bad, like you have not cleaned them in 5 years.

I can't remember the actual name, but its a problem when you have too much fluoride.

E

[barfly]

Originally Posted by ElectrO

The argument they had in the UK about putting Fluoride in the water system, is that it shouldn't be there. Up north, some people suffer with a problem where they have too much calcium, and it makes your teeth look very bad, like you have not cleaned them in 5 years.

I can't remember the actual name, but its a problem when you have too much fluoride.

E

Never heard of too much calcium but too much fluoride is harmful to teeth if it gets into the body when the teeth are being formed. This is usually in natural tap water in some places(eg Hartlepool) where it causes "fluoride mottling". At the levels it is added to drinking water in areas that don't have it naturally it doesn't cause any problems to the body or teeth, no matter over how long, but like the vast majority of things(can't think of any exceptions, not even water) it is poisonous if in large enough quantities/concentrations.

[ElectrO]

sorry i was referring to fluoride, then changed it to clacium... oops

E

[ronno]

Incredible! All these replies including an expert and no one has hit the nail on the head! THEY DON'T CHLORINATE TAP WATER IN THAILAND! Phuket's water is 100% rain captured which is a good start in a town with no sewage system. All those funny little tank trucks are hauling your shit off to farm land which will be growing your salad vegies in 6 months. Eat hearty!

[dawsey]

Originally Posted by ronno

Incredible! All these replies including an expert and no one has hit the nail on the head! THEY DON'T CHLORINATE TAP WATER IN THAILAND! Phuket's water is 100% rain captured which is a good start in a town with no sewage system. All those funny little tank trucks are hauling your shit off to farm land which will be growing your salad vegies in 6 months. Eat hearty!

Slightly wrong there ronno,there IS a sewage treatment works in Patong.
Cross Rat u thid Rd opposite the Holiday Inn and go down the soi towards Nanai 2. About 200yds on the right you will find it. Your nose will tell you long before you get there.

[M & M]

Originally Posted by barfly

Never heard of too much calcium but too much fluoride is harmful to teeth if it gets into the body when the teeth are being formed. This is usually in natural tap water in some places(eg Hartlepool) where it causes "fluoride mottling". At the levels it is added to drinking water in areas that don't have it naturally it doesn't cause any problems to the body or teeth, no matter over how long, but like the vast majority of things(can't think of any exceptions, not even water) it is poisonous if in large enough quantities/concentrations.

You are dead right barfly!!! I have actually proven it unfortuantely with my first child who is now 26...

My mother told me to add flouride drops to his milk formula for his teeth...this was fine for us when we were children as we were bought up in outback Australia where there was no flouride in the town water...nor in the rain water which we caught to drink and wash in because the town water was too "hard"!!

Well we were living in Sydney when my son was born and they added enough flouride to the water...I didn't know the damage I was causing...he ended up with the flouride mottling (white spots)...however over the years it has gone and he has unblemised teeth now and no cavities!!! Thank God for small mercies...but I hope I didn't cause any long-term poisoning...don't think so didn't do it for that long...and he's still alive and kicking and asking for money!!!!!!

It's a hot topic here in Australia as they reckon that there's enough flouride in toothpaste and general dental hygiene is much better in modern times...but they still add flouride to the water in major cities and are debating whether to do it in our area...I have bought up three more kids in this area and they have great teeth...enough cleaning with flouridated toothpaste...and regular visits to the dentist...that's all it takes!!

[barfly]

Unfortunately there's a bucket load of stats to show that merely using fluoride toothpaste isn't enough, probably because MOST(ie not all) people don't brush their teeth properly. The biggest factor for cavities by a long way is diet, much more than brushing. Brushing is more to do with keeping the gums healthy.

[M & M]

Originally Posted by barfly

The biggest factor for cavities by a long way is diet, much more than brushing. Brushing is more to do with keeping the gums healthy.

I think that's a bit obvious!!! Fundamentally the diet plays a primary role in the creation and keeping of good teeth...without a good balanced diet one is well behind the 8 ball.

Whatever the diet, unless one is starving to death, in which case they wouldn't give a rats about their teeth, cleaning/brushing is a most important factor in reduction of tooth decay and gingivitis.

[doctorglowstalk]

When in LOS I try to drink up to 3 litres of water a day - I just mix hops & barley with it!

[fun2have]

SteveM, with your goldies did you give them just rain/tap water ? and how did they adapt to the water in oz ?
i know my dogs suffered going from adelaide to home, due to the change in water. took them a couple of days to come right every trip both ways.