5 ms·

In Bali, Indonesia (and many developing countries) you have no choice. Drinking tap water is also health hazard in some countries.

Scoundreller 7y ago
Depending on what the hazard is, disinfection tablets can be effective and much cheaper than buying water. Or SODIS sunlight disinfection.
- thelittleone 7y ago
  Haven’t tried those tabs for many years but I recall them tasting terrible. Good for emergencies perhaps. Filtration systems are available but cost several thousand dollars and require core replacements every two years for around $300-400. On the other hand, a gallon of potable water from one of the few springs in Bali costs around $3.
  - Scoundreller 7y ago
    The NaDCC tablets leave no taste.
- Ayesh 7y ago
  Water purification tabs, straws, and bottles are not practical unless you are in an extreme environment to find clean water (hikes, for example). - They tested awful. Iodine tablets have an awful taste after. We often use orange flavored powder to hide it. - They are expensive in third world countries. You have to use one tablet per liter, and it costs about 10 cents USD per tablet. In comparison, you can buy a 1L plastic bottle of water for 30 cents. - it takes about half an hour to work, so you can't use them immediately. - Even if you buy those straws, they have a maximum lifetime before you have to replace the filter (about 1000l). You will need to replace about twice a year if you were to use as the daily drive.
  - Scoundreller 7y ago
    I couldn’t tell any taste with the NaDCC based chlorinating tablets. They’re not household bleach. Iodine is old tech, and has other issues. 10cents < 30cents. And don’t underestimate the logistics of transporting bottled water.
mastazi 7y ago
In Bali, Thailand and many other places in SE Asia, you can get water that comes from local treatment plants (it usually looks like this[1]) instead of "brand" bottled water (like these ones[2]), the former is almost always bottled locally (at the nearest water treatment plant, they are ubiquitous in SE Asia even in regional areas, sometimes they are subsidised by governments), as a result the water tends to stay in the bottle for a much shorter time whereas "brand" water is not sourced locally and it travels long distances after being bottled. In addition the employees of the local water treatment plant will often come and take back empty bottles to use them again, so in those cases you have nearly 100% recycling and very little plastic waste. I don't have any evidence that [1] contains less microplastics than [2] unfortunately, but I think it could be the case. (I have lived in Indonesia for about one year and part of my family is from Thailand). [1] http://www.nomad4ever.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/bottle_handling_at_bintang_supermarket_legian_bali2.jpg http://www.nomad4ever.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/bottle_... [2] https://www.bali.com/media/image/865/plastic-bottles-waste.jpg https://www.bali.com/media/image/865/plastic-bottles-waste.j...
- thelittleone 7y ago
  There’s also a system where Nestle gallon containers are filled by small merchants with local filtered bore water and recapped and sold (often as original).
  - mastazi 7y ago
    In many places in SE Asia, Nestle "gallon containers" are sold at a premium compared to locally purified water (often 3X - 4X the price), but I would be curious to see side-by-side water analysis results...
- fouc 7y ago
  The 18.9L/5 gallon water jugs are common even in Canada and US also, it's not unique to Asia. They do get washed and re-used also. It's an interesting question if they'd be at risk for microplastics as well.
- peteretep 7y ago
peteretep 7y ago
If you have money, you can buy a small water filtering unit for the house that gives you drinkable “tap water”. We had one in our fridge in the early 90s in Bangkok.

Scoundreller 7y ago

Depending on what the hazard is, disinfection tablets can be effective and much cheaper than buying water. Or SODIS sunlight disinfection.

thelittleone 7y ago
Haven’t tried those tabs for many years but I recall them tasting terrible. Good for emergencies perhaps. Filtration systems are available but cost several thousand dollars and require core replacements every two years for around $300-400. On the other hand, a gallon of potable water from one of the few springs in Bali costs around $3.
- Scoundreller 7y ago
  The NaDCC tablets leave no taste.
Ayesh 7y ago
Water purification tabs, straws, and bottles are not practical unless you are in an extreme environment to find clean water (hikes, for example). - They tested awful. Iodine tablets have an awful taste after. We often use orange flavored powder to hide it. - They are expensive in third world countries. You have to use one tablet per liter, and it costs about 10 cents USD per tablet. In comparison, you can buy a 1L plastic bottle of water for 30 cents. - it takes about half an hour to work, so you can't use them immediately. - Even if you buy those straws, they have a maximum lifetime before you have to replace the filter (about 1000l). You will need to replace about twice a year if you were to use as the daily drive.
- Scoundreller 7y ago
  I couldn’t tell any taste with the NaDCC based chlorinating tablets. They’re not household bleach. Iodine is old tech, and has other issues. 10cents < 30cents. And don’t underestimate the logistics of transporting bottled water.

mastazi 7y ago

In Bali, Thailand and many other places in SE Asia, you can get water that comes from local treatment plants (it usually looks like this[1]) instead of "brand" bottled water (like these ones[2]), the former is almost always bottled locally (at the nearest water treatment plant, they are ubiquitous in SE Asia even in regional areas, sometimes they are subsidised by governments), as a result the water tends to stay in the bottle for a much shorter time whereas "brand" water is not sourced locally and it travels long distances after being bottled. In addition the employees of the local water treatment plant will often come and take back empty bottles to use them again, so in those cases you have nearly 100% recycling and very little plastic waste. I don't have any evidence that [1] contains less microplastics than [2] unfortunately, but I think it could be the case. (I have lived in Indonesia for about one year and part of my family is from Thailand). [1] http://www.nomad4ever.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/bottle_handling_at_bintang_supermarket_legian_bali2.jpg http://www.nomad4ever.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/bottle_... [2] https://www.bali.com/media/image/865/plastic-bottles-waste.jpg https://www.bali.com/media/image/865/plastic-bottles-waste.j...

thelittleone 7y ago
There’s also a system where Nestle gallon containers are filled by small merchants with local filtered bore water and recapped and sold (often as original).
- mastazi 7y ago
  In many places in SE Asia, Nestle "gallon containers" are sold at a premium compared to locally purified water (often 3X - 4X the price), but I would be curious to see side-by-side water analysis results...
fouc 7y ago
The 18.9L/5 gallon water jugs are common even in Canada and US also, it's not unique to Asia. They do get washed and re-used also. It's an interesting question if they'd be at risk for microplastics as well.
peteretep 7y ago

peteretep 7y ago

If you have money, you can buy a small water filtering unit for the house that gives you drinkable “tap water”. We had one in our fridge in the early 90s in Bangkok.