Water Quality

The water treatment system is good.  A friend who is an American Chemical engineer and knows the process visited one of Government water agency IDAAN water treatment plants and reviewed the treatment procedure.  His conclusion is that the water treatment is as good as anywhere.

We have been living here for some years and always drink the tap water. No issues. From time to time, there are problems with the water and the public is advised not to drink until further notice.  This procedure is the same as in North America.

We have lived in a number of other countries where the water was not suitable for drinking and there we used water purification devices.  You can buy them here too if you are not comfortable drinking the water, but most ex pats drink without treatment as far as I have found out.

Oldcameraman,

Thank you for your reply.  I appreciate your response.

I visited a friend in Mexico last summer.  In her house, she had several of the large bottles of water.  We filled our glasses and smaller water bottles out of the large bottle.  She did not have any of the water filter pitchers or other filter devices.

When we went out of the house, we each carried a small water bottle or bought water or other drinks where we went.  I didn't enjoy needing to carry a bottle with me, as I felt it took away the hand I carried it in.  So, not needing the to carry around a water bottle gives an extra point in my mind for Panama.

Is the water quality good in small towns and rural areas as well?  Or is that only for the larger cities?

Also, does the water pressure come from the water utility or from large tanks on the roof of your house?


David

I can only speak of where I have been and lived in Panama for 19 years.  I do not drink the tap water.  I have always had to filter the drinking water.  All the homes I have had relied on tanks to store water for times there was none.  The water was delivered to the home from the tank with a pump except in one place, very rural, where the tank was on a nearby, elevated area.  In Panama City the problem may not be the water treatment plant but the pipes that bring the water to you.

Last Oct i was on our Boquete Bocas  trip . With three days left my wife and i went out for dinner , i thought i might of heard something about a boil water warning. I did however have a glass of water with my meal.I woke up in Boquete with Travelers Diarhia wow i lost 20 pounds in 4 days 10 per cent of my body weight for the last two days of our trip I never left our room . The flight back to Canada was touch and go, i spent 2 days at home in bed . Immodium and gatorade, My doctor who is a bit of a comedian said that i was now at the ideal wait for my body size.If you are renting a car buy a case of water and leave it in there!!!

Yup!  Panama is sinking to new lows. 

Soon it could become just as bad as Canada (Walkerton, Ontario where 7 died of contaminated drinking water)  and Flint, Michigan (current news), not to mention a lot of other North American cities teetering on the verge of qualifying for 3rd world status.

It is true that the older water pipes are breaking down. The government is working hard to replace them.  Just like in Toronto where the much of the water supply pipes are over 60 years old and made with lead solder joints. So lead is leaching out into the water.  Some of the original supply lines are over 100 years old.

At least in Panama, virtually all the supply lines are PVC and so are considered reasonably safe.

So bottom line, if you're not comfortable drinking the tap water as do the vast majority of Panamanians and 1,000s of expats living here, there are water filter companies who will be happy to supply your needs.  I will say though that there are a LOT less water filter companies here than in the USA or Canada.

" I will say though that there are a LOT less water filter companies here than in the USA or Canada."

I think you're right.  I know of many in the USA who either have filters on their faucets or filtered pitchers.  Not because they need to because of water quality, but because they may not like the taste of their local water.

Personally, regular tap water works for me.  I may add some flavoring from time to time (lemon, Kool-Aide, etc), but it's still tap water.  About the only time I may drink bottled water is because I'm out somewhere where a drinking fountain may not be readily available.

David

Each to his own. I never drink tap water from anywhere, let alone in foreign lands. In part because I dislike water - unless it is carbonated. In part because why take a chance? I no longer trust water treatment protocols, water sources, water pipelines. I never drink water served at a restaurant from a pitcher. Outside of Canada I never order salad. Even at home I wash lettuce with Culligan filtered water (well, we are lake-source water, not well-sourced or municipal).

When in Panama I deal with water exactly as I do at home in Canada. Even where, like in ,y home, the water is filtered and UV-ed. Just because it's what we do.

All the supply pipes in Panama are not PVC.  I know this because 3 main water supply pipes, large ones, have burst near my apartment in Panama City.  One of these bursts took out a business parking lot and a very large tree.  These lines were all some type of metal.  Hard to say what type because they were taken out in pieces.  I am sure some places have good water but that has not been my experience.  Better safe than sorry.

Lapapuja:  That's why I said "Almost all"  because the older ones are not. As is all cities except the brand new designer cities, the older technology and materials are being changed for hopefully better, safer  and longer lasting materials.

As 20+ years living in Central America, the last 10+ have been here on a Finca in the middle of nowhere. We always had spring fed water that was the best I ever experienced. That was then...now with a 2 year drought, both my deep wells have almost dried up to the point that we need to load 2 large tanks-500 GALS- with water from a aquifer and bring it back to the Finca twice a week.

Both the aquifer and my well water is great tasting, crystal clear and odor free. We've had both tested at the lab and they are 99.999% pure. No contaminants !!!

We too don't drink strange water both here and back in the states, when we have to go. When we go anywhere here we bring 2 good sized coolers with our water to use as needed for drinking, even in hotels or restaurants. Also we avoid all outside ice. If it doesn't come from our machines we don't use it.

Right now we are waiting for MIDA to come and drill a new deep well for us. We'll see what happens being it's a gov't. agency and you know what that means... I know..they're Panamanians and we're gringos.

Good luck folks,
Jim