Water quality in Taiwan

From my own experience, I would used bottled water . Maybe Taipei is ok, but I am not convinced the rest of the Island has eliminated all of the chemicals that may contribute to illness .
3 Urologists I have seen ( at least in Taichung) . seem to think tap water may contribute to some nasty ailments from their empirical evidence .
I drank (boiled) tap water for 5 years , after being told it was ok.

I trust Taipeiā€™s water. I would probably have more concerns in other parts of Taiwan. Honestly some bacteria is probably good for you, heavy metals are another matter.

Anybody knows about the water quality in Kaohsiung?
I donā€™t have much reference but the tap water in my apartment has a really weird taste, even after RO filter and boiling, it has that nasty taste to it. Itā€™s probably safe to drink since I never got sick from the rare occasions I used it for cooking or making tea. But I canā€™t get that stuff down my throat, so I always buy those 5l bottles in the supermarket.

Whatā€™s acceptable are those big water dispensers usually found at schools or offices. Their water taste a little better but still not as clean as it probably should.

I found Taipeiā€™s tap water the best during my stays there. My relatives there donā€™t use RO filters, just boil it and it doesnā€™t have any weird taste. But hey thatā€™s Taipei, even billionaires need water, so that might be one reason

Boiling water only kills germs, it does not remove chemicals, or metals like lead, or pesticides, or other non germsā€¦

If you boil too long like over 1 minute, then you concentrate them even more.

Filtering water is much more important in Taiwan.

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If you live in a newer building, you may have less concerns. Thos eof us -the majority of Taipei and Taiwan - who live in decrepit gongwu with decrepit pipes, some still lead, most just not BPA free plastic, have a problem.

Water quality out the plant is good, not excellent -recall previosu incidents, check the news. But as said transportation is iffy, septic systmes and water systems interchange and mingle into disaster. Worse in other parts of Taiwan, especially Chiayi, with chemical plant runoffs, or even Taitung, with insecticide water.

It may have something to do with Taiwanā€™s unstable geography. Pipes could possibly develop small leaks/cracks after earthquakes, and sewage and water pipes lay side by side.

Heavy rain may exacerbate the problems underground.

And the rain carries chemical runoff.

If you knwo the pipes will be broken, how about some maintenance? Yet, I pass the same stinky sewers year after year.

Hasnā€™t the consensus always been that anywhere outside of Taipei and Taipei County (sorry, @Rocket donā€™t play that New Taipei BULLshit), tap water should, depending on where you are, be boiled and filtered, or, south of Taichung, never even go near your mouth, due to heavy concentrations of arsenic in the groundwater?
Thatā€™s why they have all those public water dispensers down there, innit?

I have just tested the TDS of my tap water and it reads 60 ppm.
I was expecting something over the 170 ppm mark.
just for info :grinning:

This news report has some info about Taiwan water. Discusses TDS (total dissolved solids) and conductivity. Big picture Taipei water is much better than central and southern Taiwan.

From WHO: The palatability of drinking- water has been rated by panels of tasters in relation to its TDS level as follows: excellent, less than 300 mg/litre; good, between 300 and 600 mg/litre; fair, between 600 and 900 mg/litre; poor, between 900 and 1200 mg/litre; and unacceptable, greater than 1200 mg/litre

Taipei TDS is 74.96.
Kaohsiung TDS is 246.76.

Changhua also has high conductivity (evidence of high iron) of 921 microseimens per cm. Not good for agriculture. 750 microseimens is the safe threshold.

https://youtu.be/BlqMWHu0-kc

I have a TDS tester, my water is around 40 out of Neihu, running it through Brita lowers to around 25 but now I use a water distiller and get fresh water at 0ppm.

Nerd alert

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May I inquire where did you get that tester? the quality of water in my humble abode is, to say the least, suspicious.

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there is a xiaomi water testerā€¦ I donā€™t know the quality.

Can you guys stop digging up all the crazy bullshit threads I wrote?

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I ordered it from Amazon for 15 USD, but Im sure you can get from PChome or Yahoo. Just search TDS meter or water tester, its the size of a fat marker. Really use to use, put it in the water and press a button.

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Roger that. Thank you.