I've read that Taipei tap water is safe to drink?

Taiwan Moving to Taiwan
1

Is this only for in Taipei or in whole Taiwan?

2

I believe only Taipei, and in Taipei the quality is also iffy. the water reaches your home OK to drink, but the state of the pipes and water tank varies from house to house.
I once saw the amounts of dirt and grime inside our rooftop water tank and wished I hadn’t …

3 Likes
3

I recommend both POE filters and POU RO systems for cooking and drinking.

1 Like
4

There’s good Taiwan research papers out there that discuss how boiling filtered water dramatically decreases harmful VOCs in the water. VOCs are originating from industrial groundwater pollution. I saw people boiling their filtered watered in Taiwan before drinking it and thought they were a little cuckoo until I read about the problem with Volatile Organic Compounds. I assumed they were holding onto an old habit from days when the water may have contained harmful pathogens and boiling the water was the only alternative for treating it.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9496647/#:~:text=VOC%20concentrations%20decreased%20significantly%20after,reduce%20the%20presence%20of%20VOCs.

1 Like
5

If you have chemicals in the water and you boil it, you end up with a chemical concentrate. Boiling concentrates the chemicals. It kills off pathogens, but it makes the amount of chemicals even worse

2 Likes
6

Carbon filtering removes, or at least significantly reduces THM and toluene, two of the VOCs mentioned in your cited article. The article only refers to the reduction due to boiling, not filtering and boiling.

7

Oh wow, I wish I’d known this earlier. I was filtering boiled water (after it had cooled down) while living in Taiwan for years. :grimacing:

8

Yeah…I boiled my water in Beijing. I’m sort of surprised I didn’t grow and extra limb or die of some rare cancer yet.

But now I know and I always filter my water with a Grayl bottle filter (bought in the US but REI does have free international shipping on orders over 150USD). I have much more confidence in filtered water that comes from a filter designed by people who wanted to do backcountry living than anything the Taiwan (or any other country’s) government tells me.

1 Like
9

We do this all the time. I’d better look into this further.

10

Filter your water wherever you are in the world; it’s just best practice and safest. Plus, it tastes better and doesn’t cost much (except, perhaps, initially). Go to Ikea and ask the filter people there - they’ll install it all for ya and give you good information.

1 Like
11

What is the mechanism whereby boiling water causes more chemicals? I can see how boiling water so long and hard that most of the liquid steams off could result in concentrated chemicals, but what if you boil for 10 minutes with the lid on? In that case, it’s probably fine.

I’d be interested to see the justification for the claim that simply boiling water results in chemical concentrate.

12

What’s a reasonable price for each of these, and any recommendations on where to get them?

13

Hmm, not so sure … seems some conflicting info:

Does boiling tap water remove chemicals? - I Forgot Its …

https://www.iforgotitswednesday.com › does-boiling-tap-water-remove-chemicals
Does boiling water kill chemicals in tap water? Boiling water can only remove solids and bacteria, meaning it will not remove harmful substances such as chlorine and lead from tap water. Furthermore, boiling tap water with lead actually concentrates this contaminant making it more dangerous than if left alone.

vs.

Does boiling tap water get rid of chemicals? - I’m cooking

https://solefoodkitchen.com › boiling › does-boiling-tap-water-get-rid-of-chemicals.html

Does Boiling Water Remove Chlorine? Yes, boiling water for 15 minutes is one way to release all the chlorine from tap water. At room temperature, chlorine gas weighs less than air and will naturally evaporate off without boiling. But heating up the water to a boil will speed up the chlorine removal process.

14

For some reason, both links lead to the same site for me. I’m going to think in terms of logic and say the top one (based on the few words of text that I can read) makes more sense. Think about anything else you boil on your stovetop and ask if anything is leaving your sauce or your taffy project except for water. For example, if I pour a cup of sugar into boiling water, there’s still the same amount of sugar after it’s been boiled, but there’s less water. Now pretend that sugar is lead and godknowswhatelse is in the water. Some of your water leaves the pot through steam, but what’s not leaving is the remaining heavy metals and chemicals.

Chlorine is different because it’ll go away on its own if you leave your glass of water on the table over night. So boiling might speed up the process. But chlorine is the least of your worries when it comes to chemicals in your water.

1 Like
15

I’ve heard just the opposite; you should remove the lid as it boils so the chlorine would evaporate. Also, keep your distance from the pot so you’re not inhaling the chlorine.

1 Like
16

Not sure why you have link go to same site. In any case, not exactly peer reviewed scientific papers. Does seem some chemicals like chlorine are addressed via boiling and others like lead not so. Thus good to both boil and filter.

2 Likes
17

that’s interesting, i guess it depends on the chemicals what will happen. so, lid off but don’t boil so long that a lot of water disappears, and it is probably better than not boiling at all

edit: i just use a filter

1 Like
18

they don’t for me, either, but you are right that they aren’t great sources

19

I’m searching for some information, but can’t find any.

20

Got it. Filter then boil. Roger that.