The water is safe in many places, maybe just not the place where you happen to live. I’ve had mouthfuls of lake and river water in Taitung and Hualien and been fine after.
Off the top of my head:
- Water from the mains will contain some amount of sediment/particles, however small, which settles and builds up in tanks over time.
- The tanks by definition contain standing, non-sterile water, allowing microbial growth.
- The tanks probably aren’t 100% sealed, especially in old buildings, allowing debris, insects, and the odd pigeon etc. to get in.
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It doesn’t necessarily need to “get in” because drinking water isn’t sterile (you can google “drinking water CFU” or something).
But, if it needs to get in, it could get in through the imperfect seal on the tank lid, or cracks, especially for old tanks.
I’m also not sure how these tanks are normally designed, but as far as I know they’re not usually airtight (because air needs to enter to replace the water exiting the tank and exit when water enters the tank - they could plausibly have some kind of valve/filter arrangement, but I don’t think that’s standard and it could lead to contamination of the mains supply in the case of failure, so is presumably avoided). Hence, air would be another way that bacteria could enter.
Edit: was replying to someone else here, whose posts seem to have been deleted.
Yes, you can, but be careful when you climb up. The way up is often perilous. I remember a man who insisted on cleaning his own root top water tank died in it after he slipped, because he didn’t want to spend money on professional water tank cleaning service.
Well, beer is 95% water, so I guess i am partly guilty.
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Certainly solved the problem for him, but just gave everyone else in the building a new problem.
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Where did you get the shower filter? Was that Costco or you got any recommendations online?
People in Hsinchu are drinking nasty ass river water filled with water used to wash dead bodies, garbage dump and factory runoffs, and even heavy metal contaminants.
Also, if you do not live in the Taipei area, the rest of Taiwan have hard ass water. Most places have more than 130 ppm worth of Ca2+ and other ions in the water. It completely ruins your piping and any appliances that uses tap water.
I’m getting an ANOA filter for the entire house and a franke filter for drinking water.
Shinkong Mitsukoshi.
Got it. Thanks! Is this the kinda thing you are talking about?
There’s a 生活 store near me selling it
Nope, it is smaller and you can just screw it to the smaller hose.
I know someone who caught h pylori, probably from drinking unfiltered water or eating too much sushi. He shitted black poop for 4 days straight, lost half his blood and almost died. Apparently half the world has this bacteria and it cause stomach ulcers.
Well this filter is for heavy metals, not bacteria.
H pylori in bath…ayayayyyy…
I told you guys.
ANOA whole house is the way to go.
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Nope. I’ll try to put up a picture tomorrow.
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Why does it matter the water quality you shower with? It’s not like you’re drinking it. And I’m sure people in the old days bathe with water that you wouldn’t touch with a 10 foot pole today.
Those of us with sensitive skin…and the rest who prefer not to bathe in roach tea beg to differ.
There is a reason why people used to live to the ripe old age of 35… Or bathe every 6 months.
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After I exercise I often gulp water in the shower. 
Well if you want really safe water, get a large RO machine, and hook your entire water system to it.
Be prepared to pay a lot for electricity, filter change, etc., and you will need a tank to hold it as the machine wouldn’t produce the water you need in real time. The tank should have UV sterilization lamp too to prevent bad stuff from growing in it. Something similar to what they use in the army to provide drinking water. They have a very large RO machine for this so soldiers don’t get sick during training drinking tap water.