Drinking water - where does yours come from?

vistet

Another reason, while trekking, could be silt in fast flowing streams. Nothing to fret over , just let the water settle and throw away the gritty stuff at the bottom of the cup/bottle.

vistet

Well, I was partly right. According to a CDC page Chlorine will kill most amoebas under the following conditions (which are not always easily met ) :

*water temperature 22-25 C
* treatment time up to 90 minutes

(The link is : www.cdc.gov/safewater/chlorinationtable.htm , could`nt get VB code right for some reason - bad karma ? )

Midnite Toker

Quite right, vistet. There must be a reason why water companies throughout the world use chlorine in their treatment plants. The temperature and contact time with chlorine are not issues there, obviously, but Amoeba and Giardia are safely killed by it.

If you want to use iodine for purifying water, look for Potable Aqua tablets. These are tiny tablets in a resealable bottle - reliable when the water is not too cold and relatively free of suspended particles (let it settle and pour off the clear liquid before treating it). When trekking, I always use 1% tincture of iodine solution. Be very sure to take a bottle from home though, if you carry this in your pack. Indian bottles all have metal caps which gradually dissolve with the action of the iodine. And this stuff stains!

__________________
travel tips, blog, downloads, panorama photos, online security, tokes:
the tokezone

vistet

Another useful quote :

"death = contact time x concentration of agent

Since "death" is a constant, doubling the contact time will allow half the amount of disinfecting agent to be used. For example , if sixteen drops of iodine solution are needed to disinfect a quart of water in thirty minutes, eight drops will disinfect in one hour, and only four drops are needed to disinfect the water in two hours
--

Note : if the water is cold (below 60 F ) or cloudy, double the dose or the contact time. If both cold and cloudy , double both the dose and the contact time. "




The quote is from A Himalayan Medical Primer by Peter Hackett, MD, - a minor classic in dry prose.
(The link above was supposed to be : Which is your favorite guide book? )
Iodine (which is often sold as "Lugols Solution" in South Asia )is also my preferred chemical method. It also appears to have another advantage : if you taste the water too early , you will get a distinct licking the battery poles sensation.

NonIndianResident

Tomi is deluded to say that restaurants and Indians at home would never serve tap water. Certainly in Delhi, the restaurants and many of the people I know who live there do indeed serve water right out of the tap. At home, they fill it in an available bottle and cool it in the fridge. Some homes and restaurants use filters, but never religiously.

Yaatri

In 1986, my wife and I travelled on trains for two weeks. We used one rule, "don't drink water that had been stored or did not come out of a municipal supply". She did not get sick at all. Bottled water was not available in India at that time. I think municipal water supply might not be as reliable today. She was probably lucky. Now I am planning on taking my two children, 7 and 11 to India. We will stay mostly in delhi, but have lanned a side trip to Ajanta and Ellora. I have bought iodine tablets. Will keep our fingers crossed. The older one got sick in India when he was 3.

chappal

Hi, you are probably aware that iodine is not particularly good for you. There are several products using a newer chemical purification method called chlorine dioxide-oxidation. In addition to being safer, this does not taste as bad as iodine. It may be a little more expensive than iodine tablets. I will try to find a few links for you.
Most people here seem to feel the bottled water is safe. I drank it exclusively on my last trip, but I will be staying in people's homes and don't want to worry about getting bottled water all the time, so I will be using purification too.

chappal

The promised links...

Chemical water treatments:
Katadyn purification tablets. EPA approved. Protect against viruses, bacteria, cryptosporidium, and giardia. Easy as iodine.
http://www.katadyn.ch/site/us/home/o...r_mp1_tablets/
http://www.rei.com/product/47575360.htm

Aqua Mira made by McNett. 2 step solution plus optional filter. Solution eliminates all same viruses. The filter also reduces many waterborne chemicals including lead and chlorine.
http://www.mcnett.com/page.cfm?pageID=561
http://www.gossamergear.com/cgi-bin/...Aqua-Mira.html

All of these methods take only 1/2 hour or less for common viruses and 4 hrs for cryptosporidium (not sure if this is a danger in India, but iodine does not protect against this).

solsurf

GSE purifies water and is totally natural, healthy, safe for longterm use.

some info on GSE:
grapefruit seed extract or GSE can be used for water purification.

it is of course great for stomach bugs as many people know. i've been recommended 2 to 4 tablets (or 25-60 drops of liquid) per day just to stay healthy. the liquid is better if you're ill. the tabs are o.k. for most of the time.

nutribiotic, a supplier, recommends 5-10 drops/glass 25-50/gallon for purifying water.

nutriteam.com has good prices.

this website talks about using it and other methods of purification
http://www.offpistemag.com/themag/medic/vol4/pure.html

"Lab tests indicate that GSE is effective against a wide range of pathogens, including viruses. Many medical practitioners have successfully used GSE to treat bacterial, protozoan, fungal, and viral infections"

i've just learned all this so i'm going on faith as of now.

Nick-H

GSE... never done much for me, though I've tried it on stomach bugs, bronchial bugs, mouth bugs...

__________________
.


Just one member of the IndiaMike Mod Team

xealot

I won't drink any water that hasn't been filtered using a combination of methods.

This is the process ...

Step 1. Buy bottled water. I can buy this in larger supplies than most as the goat (see step 3) can carry extra supplies.


to be continued

__________________
Laziness is not a real word! It's most literal translation is "Differing Priorities"

ploink

When I stayed in an organisation's field centre in the Thar, we filtered our water (from a tube well), and also had a taste of the tube well water there. The water had lots of minerals, though, and we soon had mineral crystals in our filtered water container. Travelling around, bottled water. (Purification tablets appear not to be very available in Finland.)

__________________
But rather, ten times rather, die in the surf, heralding the way to that new world, than stand idly on the shore! -Florence Nightingale

Sama

I am in Chennai right now, have been here for about a month. I and the other yoga students all drink bottled water, any bottled water. I have not tasted any "weird" taste in the bottled water anywhere (as someone mentioned) -- if I did, I wouldn't drink it. I check to see if the bottle cap is sealed. I'm not worried about pesticides or anything in bottled water here, as in the US I've drunk plenty of milk in my life with growth hormones and antibiotics (altho I usually buy organic milk)! Hey, teflon is in everyone's body anyway.... I even drank water from one of those water packets -- probably shouldn't have, but was extremely thirsty. Also rinse my toothbrush in the hotel tap water (but don't drink the tap water anywhere.)

Other than getting ill from lack of veg. protein and fried food (until I found out what I could eat here that does not involve frying), my digestive system has been great, no problems whatsoever. No "runs" at all. Maybe it's the probiotics I take, who knows? Maybe it's the lassis everyday, with ice and without. But I am totally fine here.

__________________
My India, 2005-2008

vistet

Had a meal wih friends on one of the terrace resaturants of Leh a couple of days ago - they bought mineral water that smelled undescribably foul. All water from Dzomsa after that experience.

katyrafi

I've been here a year now. I started off using iodine on the train from Mumbai in bought bottled water but quickly gave that up as it's such a lot of hassle, I don't like the taste even with the neutralising tablets and people stared at me like I was from Mars! Once in Kerala I drank the well water with no ill effects - as Mike says, it tastes so cool from an earthenware pot. I have occasionally had to boil water when the well has been dry or the pump not working and I do use a Britta Filter jug but that's mainly for convenience as it fits in the fridge door!

The problem with bottled water, apart from the obvious plastic pollution, is that many bottles are refilled over and over again and I think plastic is a bad harbourer of disease as it is so difficult to wash out properly.

The lemon/lime water from any chai or corner shop is heaven on a hot day and so cheap!