Bottled drinking water

[joekicker 53]

Since you seem to have the answers... How much lead, mercury and arsenic is in Pattaya tap water?

 

Same as bottled water.

 

Really. The real advantage of bottled water is convenience, not purity. If you're buying regular Thai bottled water, you're buying pretty safe tap water. Also the ice in your bar drinks.

 

.

[satyr 15]

Any progress on the bottled water front or is it still difficult to get? Do they sell bottled water in the bars and go-go,s at least?

[joekicker 53]

Any progress on the bottled water front or is it still difficult to get? Do they sell bottled water in the bars and go-go,s at least?

 

Supplies are starting to shake loose as floods go down in he warehouses, plus they imported 2.8 gillion bottles from Malaysia.

 

.

[CheshireTom 1,377]

Supplies are starting to shake loose as floods go down in he warehouses, plus they imported 2.8 gillion bottles from Malaysia.

 

 

I think the Malaysia thing was a bit of a cheap publicity stunt. The pallets of water were handed over to the Thais at Hat Yai ... not too far from the Coca Cola production facility that was (and still is) churning out Nam Thip 24 hours a day.

 

Coca Cola Haad Tip

 

 

As an aside, I was out and about taking some pics yesterday to make some then and now comparisons of the effects of last years floods down here. We had three Tops Supermarkets prior to the floods - all three were located in the basements of department stores - Central, Robinson and Diana. The one in Central has relocated to the fifth floor but the ones in Diana and Robinson have only just reopened in the last month or so. So, any thoughts that some folk have that that everything will be back to normal in a couple of weeks is stretching things a bit. On the flip side of the coin, it does give you the opportunity to make some long-needed improvements.

 

 

 

Edited November 5, 2011 by CheshireTom

[joekicker 53]

I think the Malaysia thing was a bit of a cheap publicity stunt. The pallets of water were handed over to the Thais at Hat Yai ... not too far from the Coca Cola production facility that was (and still is) churning out Nam Thip 24 hours a day.

 

I was trying to keep my tongue in my cheek. I should have included the eggs, speaking of PR.

 

The big difference (and I hasten to add "so far") with today's Bangkok and your Hat Yai floods is that a huge part of Bangkok -- and almost every commercially important part of Bangkok -- is dry. Bone dry. Not a water in sight. Paragon is HUMMING. Ikea had the grand opening of all grand openings a few days ago. My wife and daughter flew in last night and all the way from the airport they were horrified at what they were seeing -- WHERE'S these floods we keep hearing about, were you lying? The only water they've see is in the shower.

 

This is not to trivialise the horrible damage to physical buildings and to some commercial areas. It is terribly, agonisingly real, as real as Hat Yai was in your last TWO floods down there. Also, people in dry and wet areas alike in Bangkok are still on tenterhooks, because there is a huge amount of water still "above" the city and rolling slowly "down" on the city. Some errors in planning, some hooligans with dynamite.... it could get much worse.

 

But it's most likely Bangkok really will "return to normal" in so many ways the day after the waters go below knee level everywhere -- because so many of the commercial areas, malls, supermarkets and so on haven't been touched, literally have not been TOUCHED by floodwaters. Never say "never" but so far, one hell of a lot of Bangkok people still don't know what a flood is.

 

.

[CheshireTom 1,377]

I was trying to keep my tongue in my cheek. I should have included the eggs, speaking of PR.

 

The big difference (and I hasten to add "so far") with today's Bangkok and your Hat Yai floods is that a huge part of Bangkok -- and almost every commercially important part of Bangkok -- is dry. Bone dry. Not a water in sight. Paragon is HUMMING. Ikea had the grand opening of all grand openings a few days ago. My wife and daughter flew in last night and all the way from the airport they were horrified at what they were seeing -- WHERE'S these floods we keep hearing about, were you lying? The only water they've see is in the shower.

 

This is not to trivialise the horrible damage to physical buildings and to some commercial areas. It is terribly, agonisingly real, as real as Hat Yai was in your last TWO floods down there. Also, people in dry and wet areas alike in Bangkok are still on tenterhooks, because there is a huge amount of water still "above" the city and rolling slowly "down" on the city. Some errors in planning, some hooligans with dynamite.... it could get much worse.

 

But it's most likely Bangkok really will "return to normal" in so many ways the day after the waters go below knee level everywhere -- because so many of the commercial areas, malls, supermarkets and so on haven't been touched, literally have not been TOUCHED by floodwaters. Never say "never" but so far, one hell of a lot of Bangkok people still don't know what a flood is.

 

 

I hear Rangsit is going to be popular for Loy Krathong.

 

 

 

[joekicker 53]

I hear Rangsit is going to be popular for Loy Krathong.

 

Indeed.

 

Bear in mind that Rangsit (for example) is not in Bangkok. Most of these places we're heard of recently in The Fishwrap are not in Bangkok. They are in Nonthaburi province or Pathum Thani province, in general. A couple of districts in far northern Bangkok flooded, but they aren't really important - even Don Muang, site of the airport. Now, the recent floods in "western Bangkok" are actually in Bangkok, but they are in Thon Buri (west side of the Chao Phraya) and again are not all that important commercially - hardly any important malls there. heh

 

And additionally a lot of people don't get or don't care about the relationship between Bangkok government and the national government. The guy who runs Bangkok, he is fine with "suburban Bangkok" getting flooded, specifically because it is NOT Bangkok at all - it's Rangsit or Pathum Thani or... Well, if you were just driving around in more normal times, you'd think Bang Bua Thong and Pak Kret districts were part of Bangkok. But these poor, two-metre-deep districts are in Nonthaburi province - not Bangkok's worry.

 

And after that, it gets even dirtier, murkier and more complicated. But bottom line: An awful lot of things are going to be

back-to-normal on The Day After the Great Flood of 2554. Not everything. Not close to everything. But quite a lot.

 

.

[CheshireTom 1,377]

 

And after that, it gets even dirtier, murkier and more complicated. But bottom line: An awful lot of things are going to be

back-to-normal on The Day After the Great Flood of 2554. Not everything. Not close to everything. But quite a lot.

 

 

Agreed. And we shouldn't underestimate the resilience of the Thais. One of the everlasting memories of last year's floods (for me), was the clean-up operation afterwards. Not just that it happened, but the fact that the Thais still managed to keep smiling whilst they were doing it. I can think of a lot of places where the reaction would primarily have been finding someone to blame.

 

 

 

[lovedog100 1,372]

Water is still hard to get. Jane was in a 7-11 two days ago when there was w water delivery, so she bought the 6 bottles she was allowed, Then I went to family mart last night and was able to get 6 more bottles. Jane says the water I bought is from a fly by night place, not name brand water.. She won't drink it. I said, OK, we will use it in case of emergency, I could probably use it to make coffee.

 

City water has been on and off lately, and it's coming out nasty and dark. A few days ago I noticed that some of my neighbors were having water delivered. I checked my tank, I had about a foot of water in the tank, and it was so dirty looking that I couldn't see the bottom. I ordered water, and when the tank was full, it was really dirty, still couldn't see the bottom of the tank, and I could see black crap floating around in it. I added about 1/4 cup of bleach and checked it 5 hours later, it didn't look any better.

 

This morning I check the tank again. I have about 6" of water, still couldn't see the bottom, so I poured in some bleach, that kicked up sediment from the bottom, making a small patch where I could see the bottom. There is about 3/8 of an inch of sediment on the bottom of the tank. I have a plan. I took out the water filters, and ordered water. When the tank gets filled the sediment will start floating around, and I will open my hoses outside and run all the dirty water out of it, emptying the tank. Then I'll call for another tank full, put the filters back and see if it's any better. I'm not sure if it's worth changing the filters as dirty as the water is. I might take the second filter and put it in the first position, then put a new filter in the second position.

Edited November 5, 2011 by lovedog100

[joekicker 53]

Agreed. And we shouldn't underestimate the resilience of the Thais.

 

I've lived in Thailand a while, but that is the real deal. Frankly, Bangkok would be unliveable if it was filled with anything BUT Thais. Huge, packed, dirty by most standards, polluted ditto, traffic that cuts your appointments to two a day if you're lucky. Can you imagine Americans sitting placidly at a red light for 10 minutes, not a horn honked? Can you see British kids flocking to clean up the streets after a riot? Or anyone? AND keep smiling about it? You watch these people in something like this flood -- as victims or caregivers -- or you see them just FLOCK to the tsunami or the Chumphon typhoon or similar. It's really... I don't know, humbling in some ways.

 

First day of their holidays, wife and daughter are off to who-knows-where to find a soup kitchen where they can cook for flooded-out people. They are on holidays from their US restaurant ferpetsake, they are absolutely knackered from their jobs. But rolling up their sleeves, it's simply what they all do, no heroics and no whining about it either way. "Resilient" is the word but it almost falls short quite a lot.

 

Sorry if this comes off as Chamber of Commerce treacle to some, it's simply the truth as I've learned it in Thailand.

 

.

[jacko 8,942]

Water is still hard to get. Jane was in a 7-11 two days ago when there was w water delivery, so she bought the 6 bottles she was allowed, Then I went to family mart last night and was able to get 6 more bottles. Jane says the water I bought is from a fly by night place, not name brand water.. She won't drink it. I said, OK, we will use it in case of emergency, I could probably use it to make coffee.

 

City water has been on and off lately, and it's coming out nasty and dark. A few days ago I noticed that some of my neighbors were having water delivered. I checked my tank, I had about a foot of water in the tank, and it was so dirty looking that I couldn't see the bottom. I ordered water, and when the tank was full, it was really dirty, still couldn't see the bottom of the tank, and I could see black crap floating around in it. I added about 1/4 cup of bleach and checked it 5 hours later, it didn't look any better.

 

This morning I check the tank again. I have about 6" of water, still couldn't see the bottom, so I poured in some bleach, that kicked up sediment from the bottom, making a small patch where I could see the bottom. There is about 3/8 of an inch of sediment on the bottom of the tank. I have a plan. I took out the water filters, and ordered water. When the tank gets filled the sediment will start floating around, and I will open my hoses outside and run all the dirty water out of it, emptying the tank. Then I'll call for another tank full, put the filters back and see if it's any better. I'm not sure if it's worth changing the filters as dirty as the water is. I might take the second filter and put it in the first position, then put a new filter in the second position.

My little TGF actually got into my old tank .....left about 6 inch of water in there, she gave it a clean and I pulled the plug and we used a hose from the neighbour.

Mind you not much use if the incoming water is dirty... I suppose that is where the filter should be.

I had a lot of such issues at my old place on Soi Siam CC.

Edited November 6, 2011 by jacko