Do Ya Drink the Water ?

[shnean66]

Originally Posted by Astrid

No one filtration system can get 100% of the bad stuff in potential drinking water, so in essence, more than one system is desirable. One must balance out what you can achieve with the means at hand and what you can afford. The chart on the following link will help guide you in your choices.

Compare Different Water Filtration Methods-R.O., Distillation, UV

This is what we use when travelling in countries with suspective water
Products - Katadyn Products Inc.

It's a 0.2 micron ceramic filter for those little creatures combined with a carbon filter for the chemicals.
Manual pump filter but also available with a connector to any faucet (pretty low throughput on the low water pressure available in those countries where you need a filter).

We bought it when we first travelled to Egypt with a toddler and never had any issues. Lasts 50.000 liters but needs a manual clean & new carbon replacement every 500 liters or so. But carbon replacement is dead cheap so no worries.

[Astrid]

Astrid, drinking deionized water is actually quite bad for you. I think a good backpacking filter or marine/household equivalent should be plenty good. Drinking chlorine and flourine are bigger health risks than most people appreciate.

Do not confuse Reverse osmosis with deionized wate (reverse ionization)r--two different things entirely. The problem with deionized water is that it will not take out the things that can kill you or make you pray for death, so it is actually one of the poorer choices. Deionized water itself is not harmful, inspire of the urban legends. It is also not particularly beneficial either, lacking as it does some of the things that makes good water taste good.

[mrohr]

Best to chlorinate all water,amoebic dysentery is no joke,thousands die worldwide from it.I had it 2x in mexico and it damn near killed me.

[Sid22]

Wow, thanks to all for the great info and education. I think now now I'll be better prepared when it comes to water issues. In order to be best protected it looks like a combination techniques will do the trick...

[Adax]

Sid ,

I live in Mexico and absolutely no drinking the water here. Even Mexicans who can afford not to, don´t . But in the beginning I still got sick,once very sick.Then a very seasoned traveller told me that handling money is probably the worst thing .So don't handle money and eat straight after and don't eat where somebody handles money and prepares food.That even goes for an ice creamcone for example. I have not been sick since.

[Astrid]

handling money is probably the worst thing

adds a whole new meaning to the biblical term filthy lucre.

[MarkJ]

We have drunk the water everywhere except Galapagos, Indonesia, Thailand and Oman.

In each of those places the cost of fresh water has been exactly the same: US$2 per 20 litre bottle. Delivered.


Mark

[Astrid]

I like distilled water, preferably with fermeted sugar cane and molasses.

[boatman61]

The only time I drink water is after its boiled and had coffee and sugar added to it.... occasionally (often) fortified with spirits.... guess I can't comment...

PS; in alot of places its not the water.... thats usually bottled and fine... its the ice cubes outa the tap

[dirtydon]

got it by eating a great seafood salad with greens (probably washed in the local water. day before coming home it finally hit.

[sck5]

I lived in Mexico for many years. Amoebas are not something you"build an immunity to". They kill you. Filters will not do anything for viral contamination.

One of the first things Mexican families will buy when they get rich enough is bottled water.

Just because you havent had a problem yet doesnt mean you wont. Chorinate your water.

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by hummingway

Some bottled water toxicity shown to exceed law

The poison lurking in your plastic water bottle | Mail Online

Point taken. I did have bottled water once that went smelly long before the tap water did.

I was talking drinking non-boiled tap water vs. bottled water.

To balance the story we must remember how often the tap water exceeds the same limits.

BTW The same applies to watermakers that are not top specs and well maintained - they can deliver bad water too. (I believe the contaminant is one of the radioactive elements in sea water).

b.

[knothead]

Originally Posted by sck5

I lived in Mexico for many years. Amoebas are not something you"build an immunity to". They kill you. Filters will not do anything for viral contamination.

One of the first things Mexican families will buy when they get rich enough is bottled water.

Just because you havent had a problem yet doesnt mean you wont. Chorinate your water.

Not true.

Big Berkey Water Filters, For The Love of Clean Water!

[Astrid]

If I had to recommend a complete water supply treatment system, bearing in mind that no single system is completely capable of removing all the bad stuff, I would say go with a well designed water maker for converting sea water into fresh water (since you may not always have a freshwater source at hand), and a secondary back up for post desalination filtering and filtering fresh water from shore--in this case the Berkey filtration system seems to be the best of the lot. I would still recommend chlorine treatment of all shore water and use the Berkey system to remove the Cl and other undesirables from all water that will be used for cooking and drinking.