Does boiling the water make it safe to drink?

[Foreigner]

Boiled water is, IMO, better than bottled water though the latter is better for convenience.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

in places where tap water is unsafe or not recommended to drink, it is always safest to boil bottled water.

 

[trooper]

I've been to many places where drinking water is best limited to bottled water... at least when you are pretty sure the bottled water is OK!

..BUT.. I have never worried about ice (or what water plates were washed in, or eating salads) or any of that...

Never been sick from any of it... not identifiably anyway.. I rarely get "ill" anywhere anyway....

Must say I am both amazed and impressed that when in a foreign country folks are able to determine that they got sick specifically from ice in a drink, or having cleaned their teeth using tap water!!

One suspects they are assuming that because they had ice in their drink... and they got sick.. that it must be the ice. Isn't that reasoning one of the most common logical fallacies?

It's more likely the change in diet that might give me "the gyp"...

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I've been to many places where drinking water is best limited to bottled water...

..BUT.. I have never worried about ice (or what water plates were washed in, or eating salads) or any of that...

Never been sick from any of that... not identifiably anyway..

I am amazed and impressed that when in a foreign country folks are able to determine that they got sick specifically from ice in a drink, or having cleaned their teeth using tap water!!

It's more likely the change in diet that gives me "the gyp"...

It can be very easy to determine a specific instance that causes you to be sick - a serious case can be within 30 minutes of eating. But it might be herder to determine which part of the meal made you sick (salad, the ice, the ice cream or the curry). For the nasties with a longer incubation period it them becomes a case of 'what did I eat that you didn't?' scenario till it's whittled down to the most likely culprit.

Travelan is a good product that can prevent you frmo getting sick. Worked like a charm in two visits to India and two to Vietnam.

 

[oz_mark]

It can be very easy to determine a specific instance that causes you to be sick - a serious case can be within 30 minutes of eating. But it might be herder to determine which part of the meal made you sick (salad, the ice, the ice cream or the curry). For the nasties with a longer incubation period it them becomes a case of 'what did I eat that you didn't?' scenario till it's whittled down to the most likely culprit.

Maybe in some cases, but I once scored a dose of giardiasis overseas, and to be honest, I wouldn't be able to pinpoint the source. Several possbile sources during the days leading up to it (bottles of water, ice in drinks, unwashed vegetable somewhere)

 

[richie9x]

Boiling will kill most of the microbes. But it won't get rid of sediments and other contaminates in the water. I think the best option is to go for a reliable brand of bottled water that has been properly purified. In particular look for water that has gone through reverse osmosis and UV treatment. Nestle seem to offer bottled water in most countries, although under a variety of different brands, I normally go for those. Also make sure the seal on the bottle hasn't been broken. The you don't need to worry about boiling.

Although if tap water is all you have available then boiling is a smart choice.

If you were really paranoid or the water was very polluted you could distill the water. Or buy distilled water.

As for ice my rule of thumb is go for the tubular ice as it is almost always made in a factory. Of course if you get ice in a hotel or good restaurant it should be fine. If there is some guy on the side of the street breaking ice off a big block of ice I would generally avoid it.

 

[k_sheep]

One suspects they are assuming that because they had ice in their drink... and they got sick.. that it must be the ice. Isn't that reasoning one of the most common logical fallacies?

.

Much like when you've had a big night, wake up crook, and it's the dodgy kebab at 3am that's done you in. Not the 2 beer jugs, 8 spirits and uncounted shots. Definitely the kebab.

 

[Foreigner]

Much like when you've had a big night, wake up crook, and it's the dodgy kebab at 3am that's done you in. Not the 2 beer jugs, 8 spirits and uncounted shots. Definitely the kebab.

All that grog kills the bugs.

 

[samh004]

Failing those methods there is also the Bear technique for administering putrid water by enema.

I loved that episode!

But what's the topic here? I use ice from my fridge which is plumbed to the tap I suppose, but I also drink San Pellegrino at night...

And my copious quantities of tea are boiled tap water. Haven't progressed to boiling mineral water yet




 

[casanovawa]

After going on a two leg holiday in about '97 where me and a friend went to Bali for about a week and then to Singapore for about 5 days, and me falling sick on the first night in Singapore and being sick as a dog the whole time and losing about 10kg in that period and looking like death warmed up when i got back to Oz, I tend to be careful when travelling about what I eat/drink... I think it was probably from a salad i had in a buffet at a restaurant in Bali back when you were warned about salads and them being washed in tap water, but couldn't be 100% sure...

When i travel now, i always take one or two course of anti biotics with me, bought them a couple of trips ago and haven't had to use them yet and still in date, but the $30 or so i spent on them is good insurance to not have a $5000+ holiday spoiled, perhaps just a day or two of feeling not so great... I also take anti nausea tablets and some weak and strong pain killers so that i can stay relatively in control if i do get seriously ill, especially as i tend to travel alone and so don't have a friend that can look after me and go get me supplies etc... Staying in hostels you can sometimes rely on the goodness of other travellers, but still I would rather be in control as much as possible...

Bottled water can be a safe bet in most places... Also have one or two other strategies i tend to use, which may or may not actually work, but thankfully fingers crossed I have never been really ill on any trip since then and have even helped a few other travellers with some of my medicines when they have been in a bit of a bad way... So a little travel pack of medicines can be well worth it if worse comes to worse...