drinking water - why and when boiling for 10 min. makes sense

atala

On my return trip from India I sat next to a food engineer on my flight. I asked him some questions that had come up here at IM and were not resolved. One of them was a recent discussion on water purification. Why did some people, like myself plus also Lonely Planet, recommend to boil water for ten minutes, while others say that heating to 80 degrees celsius was enough to kill germs? My food engineer said that most germs were indeed killed with one boil, that however there were surface toxins growing on bacteria and toxins evolving from metabolisms of germs which required a ten minute boil. Such toxins are the actual dangers of drinking water since they attack the liver and can cause serious disease.

He added that if water was greenish or brown that such toxins would definitely be present, while this should not be the case in pretreated drinking water. It became clear, however, that boiling the drinking water was still the safest option available, as far as germs are concerned.

This would imply that in a village situation or an outdoor setting boiling would definitely be the best choice.

jyotirmoy

I fully agree with you. This is what we did before the RO and other types of water purifiers came. Adding a bit of alum while cooling the boiled water helps to have the suspended particles settle at the bottom.

Aishah

I read somewhere last year that not necessary for 10 mins - I think 2-3 mins. was o.k. but the thing is to boil longer at high altitudes. Sorry a bit vague, Atala - I found this info. by googling on the web and just don't have time to search it out again. Yes, boiling is the easiest - also iodine drops.

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dhans

Either boiling for 10 minutes, or iodine. 10 minutes is to be on the safe side. My experts told me that a couple of minutes just doesn't do the trick for some nasty bacteria.

Hans

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amarama

I drank bottled water for maybe my first week in India. Then, after seeing a whole corner of my hotel room filled with plastic bottles I just switched to tap water. I was never sick once, I drank the water even in Delhi. When water is boiled, it adds the element of fire, which allows your body to absorb the water more easily. Boil away...

Nick-H

Well, I suppose everybody's entitled to their religious beliefs!

Actually, one of mine is that believing you won't get sick helps. Positive attitude. But I'm afraid I have to admit that it didn't always work for me.

Here's the bottom line about tap water...

At least in this city, probably others too, it leaves the processing plant clean, chlorinated, and safe to drink. However, it is not piped under high pressure.

In a city like London (at one time at least, don't know current figures), one third of the water is wasted through leakage, the pressure means that leakage is pretty much always outwards from the water main.

Here the water is under negligible pressure. When you see women pumping water in the street, it is not from a well, it is from the water main. That means that leakage can be inwards as well as outwards, and yes, of course the sewage pipes leak too.

Even the water authorities will state plainly that, whereas they know what is leaving their plant, they can make no guarantee about what arrives at the house.

If you are staying in one place long enough, buy a 12.5Litre (or even 20Ltr) can, and fill your daily bottle from it. It will save you lots of money, and prevent the plastic pile from building up.

If you are staying in one place long term, a few drops of the local water, if it is good (quality varies hugely, even between near-by places) may not harm. Most of those bacteria will just give you a nasty day or three, and our immune systems do attune to the local stuff. I don't dry the cup before using it, although I wouldn't fill it from the tap to drink.

For the traveller, especially the traveller with limited time to whom three days in the toilet is a major chunk out of their holiday...

Tap water? Just say No!

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