I finally got smart and have been getting my daily water from those water machines that you see all around town on. There is one basically next door to my house now, so for the past month. I am sure you have seen them around. It costs 5 dollars for about 5000cc’s of water and 10 dollars for 10,000cc’s. Anyway, my Taiwanese friend said to me that I still needed to boil that water. I asked him if the water is filtrated, and he said yes. He said he still boils that water though. I asked the girl that I am dating at the moment and she said the same thing. This water is great, fresh and not once have I felt sick from drinking it. I’m way too lazy to boil all my drinking water. What do you guys say, do I really need to boil it?
Also I can only find 5800cc water jugs. Where can I find something even bigger?
We get our water from this company hwaseng.com.tw/
NT$90 per bottle, but you’ll also have to get one of the dispensers, but they offer special deals on them.
Never used the filtration places, but you can just boil and then filter the tap water here and it’s drinkable.
Boiling kills bacteria while filtration is meant to take out heavy metals and some other crap.
[quote=“TheLostSwede”]
Boiling kills bacteria [/quote]
Not strictly true. And certainly not by simply taking it to 100 Celsius. May I quote The Smartest Man In The World?
[quote=“Cecil Adams”]Next question: killing bacteria. Alcohol will do the trick, which may lead pizza lovers to think: problem solved. Unfortunately, the alcohol concentration needed to kill bacteria will go a long way toward killing you. Sealing bacteria off from oxygen will suppress some, but anaerobic bacteria can do fine without.
The best method is heat. Milk, for example, is pasteurized by heating it to about 162 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 seconds. But even that’s not a sure thing — some bacteria thrive at temperatures up to 167 degrees, and certain bacterial spores, such as Clostridium botulinum (responsible for the deadly botulism toxin), can survive for hours at 212 degrees.[/quote]
I don’t remember seeing water machines in Taipei at all. I’ve seen 'em down south in Bumfucksville, sure, but damn! You wouldn’t wouldn’t even want the rainwater to touch your skin down there, let alone drink it!
I’ve drunk tapwater here in Xindian for the last 20 years and haven’t got sick off it. The wife filters and boils it, but I just suck it straight from the tap. No problem.
That’s my point. I asked all my students today and some of my co-workers the same question. They all said they boil the water even though it comes from a filtrated giant water machine. I asked then, why even buy water when you can boil tap water. Their logic is that the tap water is filthy, and the water machines water is only a little dirty. I don’t understand it? I have been using the machine now for a month and haven’t been sick. I am sure I have more of a chance of getting some kind of bacteria from night market food, then the water that is filtered.
The tap water here is actually not that bad, at least not when it exits the water treatment plant, but the pipes here are old and leaky and that’s meant to cause a lot of pollutants to enter the water in the pipes. This shouldn’t be as bad in newer areas with more recent water pipes, but who knows…
[quote=“sandman”]I don’t remember seeing water machines in Taipei at all. I’ve seen 'em down south in Bumfucksville, sure, but damn! You wouldn’t wouldn’t even want the rainwater to touch your skin down there, let alone drink it!
I’ve drunk tapwater here in Xindian for the last 20 years and haven’t got sick off it. The wife filters and boils it, but I just suck it straight from the tap. No problem.[/quote]
The water machines are in Taoyuan/Chongli, but you would think they would be in Taipei for sure. They are giant machines that play music when the water is pouring. I have been here for years and have never noticed them until recently. Now I see them everywhere.
I’ve drunk the water from water machines for a few years and have never gotten sick from it. Just make sure you toss the bottle and buy a new one every once in a while, because they can get a bit gross.
First - in regards to simply boiling the water from the tap and drinking it. I did this for awhile using a 2-3L electric hot water kettle and it didn’t take long for white silt to accumulate in the bottom of it. The white silt might be harmless but boiling doesn’t remove any particles in the water that might be harmful. So as far as tap goes i would filter and then boil it. buying the water at a water station eliminates the filtering step.
But with that being said I’ve been buying the water from the water stations for 6 months now and not boiling it. I do add some chlorine dioxide? (Aquamira from my camping kit) every 3-4 fills to prevent the water jugs from getting funky. Note - that I use a highly diluted ratio (like 2L of treatment to treat 20L) but it seems to be enough.