What's the deal with tap/drinking water in Delhi?

dzibead

Delhi tap water is really hard, has an adverse effect on the ability of soap lather well, and is absolutely hideous for washing your hair! My hair is really thick and coarse to begin with, and when I wash it in Delhi water, I end up feeling like one of those ancient Celtic warriors who washed their hair with lime before battle to make it stand up, all stiff and spikey. Ugh! It helps if you can rinse your hair with an acid solution, like vinegar or lemon juice, because the acid makes the scales on the hair shafts lie down flat so your hair doesn't look as dried out and spikey as it normally would after washing in hard water.

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Aishah

It seems to be in some areas of Delhi this horrible tacky feeling you get after washing your hair. I've had it staying in Paharganj, Connaught Place and Karol Bagh areas, but when I stayed in South Delhi it seemed to be okay. The people I was staying with in Sth Delhi around ten years ago had a separate rainwater tap in their hand basin and we used that one for hair washing. They also boiled all drinking water first, then transferred that to a steel container with a candle thing in the middle of it where it was filtered yet again. We got our drinking water out of this steel double container affair. I think they have gone out of fashion these days - Zero B, and the Aquaguard-type machines seem to have replaced these.

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dzibead

Yes, rainwater is "soft," i.e., doesn't have dissolved minerals in it, so it's great for washing your hair.

wonderwomanusa

A couple of tablespoonsof vinegar in half-a-liter of tap water, used as a final rinse, will get the soap out of her hair and make it soft and shiny. That's a lot less expensive than Bisleri.

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Nick-H

We do... Zero-B

Get the purifier serviced by the manufacturers at least three times a year. We had a member a while back whose family experienced many stomach upsets after moving into a house with a purifier, service history unknown. They cleared up after getting it serviced. An unserviced filter/purifier is a dangerous thing!
I think those old things were fairly course filters.
Ah, yes, sorry... I missed that, and was thinking of someone who posted that they had drunk tap water in Pakistan several years ago. Legal Eagle spots salient point and clobbers lazy reader with it

Aishah

That's a good tip re the vinegar, WWUSA - our water here seems to be not too bad for hair washing. But it's a good tip to keep in mind for places where the water is terrible.

Nick - what I thought too, and the reason why they boiled the water first before putting it into that container. I think the 'candle' only filtered out sediment sort of stuff, not the bacteria (causing ailments).

Katkoeta

I'm staying in South Delhi (Chattarpur) and the water we got seems indeed ok for washing hair. Don't have any problems, but hey i am not blessed with the very long and thick lovely hair the Indian women have here, so I might not notice the difference after all?!

edwardseco

In good company with Steven Jobs..

chAos

Not at all alarmist. Bad things can happen to people to who trust tap water. As it did earlier this year in Hyderabad.

7 Die, 200 in Hospital
City Facing Water Calamity
Go ahead and drink what you like; I humbly suggest you make that decision based on information, rather than an illusion of your invincibility.

Nick-H

I like the sound of that! I think I'll get one.

Or maybe I'll write a song about the windmills of your mind.

What d'ya mean, been done already?

camelgirl

Great thread everyone! I've enjoyed reading the excellent information offered to the OP and find it puzzling that after asking a reasonable question she then rails against the clear thinking and superb information when she gets the answer!

Like not drinking the water in India is some phoney consipracy to make fearless travelers or expats look bad

I don't care either way what any particular person decides to believe. There are always people who choose their own route through life & many of them actually do just fine. Others don't! Not a risk I would take with tap water in India though!

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MonkeyBoy4u

Believe me mate you are much more safe drinking Old Monk than Delhi tap water !

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I took the one less traveled by,
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namaste_cat

Isn't that the truth! Lived in Delhi for yrs, and knew no one, absolutely no one among family and friends who drank the tap or city water. That's still the case because it's even easier now to get bottled water, filters, etc. than in the '70s.

People in other Indian cities & towns don't drink water without boiling, filtering, etc. either if they can at all help it. Please don't take a chance with your health.

I pore over my local municipality water report, and it does look decent but in the U.S. too maybe from force of habit having grown up in India, I use a filter. I don't even make coffee or tea from tap water

edwardseco

Just the rum, not their awful beer though, tradition counts..

camelgirl

I know my water is safe where I live in the U.S. but I can't stand the clorinated (bleachy) taste, so I use a basic water filter--pitcher with some kind of charcoal stuff--which gets rid of the bad taste & probably helps with other stuff (it claims to). I grew up drinking New York tap water and it was & still is so delicious (& safe). It usually wins blind taste tests with fancy expensive water!

I think the OP decided we don't know what we're talking about & skipped out! But that never stops us from going on & on