How is the drinking water in the Philippines?

In Santa, Ilocos Sur, we have electric pumped well water, no problems.

Bottled water only for us. Several 5 gal bottles a week from Nature Spring. The tap water is filtered in both places we have lived but for drinking we don't trust it.  Of course we cook and bathe with the tap water. We all have stainless bottles for when we're out and about - just fill from the Nature Spring dispenser.

Jackson4 wrote:

Do you trust tap water where you live?
Well water? Delivered 5 gallon filtered or purified water? Any GI issues from drinking the water? Back in the 90's, we would drink beer instead of water when we go the China or S. Korea. Bottled water in Saudi. We trust the water in other developed countries.

If you have a well in an urban area, chances are the water is not safe for drinking.  If you have a well in the province with no close neighbors polluting the ground water with septic tanks or other contaminants, you may be ok, though testing it first for bacteria or other chemicals or metals might be advisable.

The tap water supplied by local water companies is not to be trusted for drinking.  You can install an expensive filtration system (which requires maintenance) or buy bottled water or filtered water from a trusted local source who most often will deliver it. 
If you buy from a local source of filtered water, make sure there equipment is kept up to date and it is advisable to wash your containers yourself before having them refilled.

Drinking water/as well as the sad state of drainage systems here is a huge problem, even though our 'trusted' local supplier also supplies his filtered ground water to many major local hotel chains...I will always reboil part of whatever I get in those refilled blue 5 gallon bottles (yes always cleaned by ourselves prior refill) and only then consume it.
My partner/kids have had no issue thus far with the unboiled stuff but I'd rather be safe than sorry.
Local beer & Coke are stocked up for emergencies.

manwonder wrote:

Drinking water/as well as the sad state of drainage systems here is a huge problem, even though our 'trusted' local supplier also supplies his filtered ground water to many major local hotel chains...I will always reboil part of whatever I get in those refilled blue 5 gallon bottles (yes always cleaned by ourselves prior refill) and only then consume it.
My partner/kids have had no issue thus far with the unboiled stuff but I'd rather be safe than sorry.
Local beer & Coke are stocked up for emergencies.

The only tap water I drink is the coffee in my electric percolator. All other liquids for me are juices. (Grape, Orange, Tomato, Apple & Pineapple.) I also did this in the states.

All of my family, Filipinos, drink  water that we have delivered.

In regards to septic & well water. In my younger days I live in Lombard, Illinois. We had well & septic. The area was unincorporated so no city water or sewage available. The well was 60 feet deep (18 meters). Septic systems are near the surface. If the wells are deep here I don't think there would be any cross contamination. The well water in Lombard had a lot of iron & sulfur. Everything was stained with rust from the Iron.

Some years later I built a house in Warrenville, Illinois (Now part of Naperville, Illinois) again no city water or sewage available. The water was wonderful, it was explained to me it that the water was from an aquifer whose source was thousands of miles away.

manwonder wrote:

Drinking water/as well as the sad state of drainage systems here is a huge problem, even though our 'trusted' local supplier also supplies his filtered ground water to many major local hotel chains...I will always reboil part of whatever I get in those refilled blue 5 gallon bottles (yes always cleaned by ourselves prior refill) and only then consume it.
My partner/kids have had no issue thus far with the unboiled stuff but I'd rather be safe than sorry.
Local beer & Coke are stocked up for emergencies.

A local filtering station here was caught trying to substitute store bought bottled water for the water samples taken by the local inspector.
They had not done any maintenance to their filtration system for about five years. 

We just had a new well drilled and the water has no odor and is crystal clear.  We are sitting on a dead end road near a ridge with the closest neighbor being about two blocks away, then again that distance to the next one.
We are hoping that the water tests well and we can use it for drinking after filtering for sediment and boiling.

Here in my province...there is no such proper drainage system unlike anything that I've experienced that a developed country can provide.
E.g : We wash the plates in the sink & guess where that wash water goes?
Yup it goes through the pipes & out onto the open ground which is about 1ft fm my perimetered fence...everybody else here has the same system.
b) The wash water fm the toilet too goes conviniently through those same linked common pipes.
c) Last week we had a very heavy downpour for 2 days straight...that same 1ft away spot outside my fence flooded & flowed into the neighbours house (who had no land fill nor fence)...like every other neighbours place...I knew this was going to be a problem so I built one of the largest perimeter fences 5ft hollow block with 3ft cyclone wire on top which goes all around on top of my massive land fill *my (ahem : not officially mine but my partners) 500m2 plot of land.
The public water that comes to our taps that we get from the local public utilities comes with a shameful pressure (we get about 4m3-6m3/month) & we pay for 10m3 like thats the minimum charge.
So lets not talk about water here...its like comparing generic cola with classic coke :
Walter: So, it's grade-school T-ball versus the New York Yankees. Yours is just some tepid, off-brand, generic cola. What I'm making is Classic Coke.

mugtech wrote:

In Santa, Ilocos Sur, we have electric pumped well water, no problems.

Well (pardon the pun) done, nice to hear some well water is safe.

Cheers, Steve.

No town water here, only our deep well that we had tested 18 months ago and wasn't good, low levels of Ecoli, plenty of minerals etc but at the same time we shower, brush our teeth, washing machine, wash dishes and irrigate the garden with it, never sick, only the lime/calcium build up on the different surfaces that a once a week wipe down with white vinegar fixes and once a month the shower heads soaked in the same. We drink and cook including kettle only with purchased bottled water @ 20P for 5 gallons at the local store, several times we have not been able to buy as their plant is shut down for cleaning/disinfection, leave the containers and pick them up the next day, apparently every 3 to 4 weeks as the health inspector visits randomly to take tests. So it appears our local health people are all over the refill stations in our area/s here.

Our water here is hard so more soap for showers and detergent for washing machine and dishes, a far cry from our rain water tanks in Australia with soft water,,,,,,,,, we didn't drink that either, bird, tree frog and fruit bat droppings etc also gave low Ecoli levels and also purchased drinking water in Australia. We lived in a condo Manila for a year and always purchased our drinking water as the tap water stunk of chlorine one week and dirty water the next.

Any way what we have here we deal with unless we spend big bucks on a needless treatment plant that will require a lot of maintenance. Best to go with what the locals do.

OMO.

Cheers, Steve.

Any world without Classic Coke is no world of mine.

Ditto for JD but I'm not wealthy enough to shower in it and make the best of what's available that I won't drink.

Cheers, Steve.

mugtech wrote:

In Santa, Ilocos Sur, we have electric pumped well water, no problems.

We hoping for the same from our new deep well.  As soon as we complete the tests, with the bacteria test taking about 48 hours.   

One of our neighbors was here during the drilling and when it finally ran clear, he and the workers were drinking it.  That was about a week ago.  No reported illnesses yet.

TeeJay4103 wrote:

One of our neighbors was here during the drilling and when it finally ran clear, he and the workers were drinking it.  That was about a week ago.  No reported illnesses yet.

Don't compare yourself to the locals.  Their DNA over 20 generations gives them immunity  in  what they call water.

Your DNA is accustom to western standards. When it comes to water the two worlds collide.

Chalk up one for the third world.

Enzyte Bob wrote:

TeeJay4103 wrote:

One of our neighbors was here during the drilling and when it finally ran clear, he and the workers were drinking it.  That was about a week ago.  No reported illnesses yet.

Don't compare yourself to the locals.  Their DNA over 20 generations gives them immunity  in  what they call water.

Your DNA is accustom to western standards. When it comes to water the two worlds collide.

Chalk up one for the third world.

There was no comparison made between myself and the locals.  The reason for testing is to determine the quality and safety of the water for general use, not drinking.  If the tests results are negative for bacterial contaminants, heavy metals, etc., only then would it be considered safe with continued periodic testing for safe consumption.

I doubt that DNA has much to do with immunity, if so, returning Filipinos who grew up drinking the water, left the country for years and returned, would be able to resume drinking it without ill effects.  The DNA would not change according to geographical location. 

Why would I test the water if I compared myself to locals?  My Filipina wife will not drink it until it is considered safe for consumption.

Regards

I buy the smaller bottles of water that have minerals and such added, I had a friend of mine who was in the home delivery of bottled water tell me the process of purfying water is not healthy,after they are finished that water has no minerals or such and it takes 3 times the water to make one bottle, I did ask one time back in the USA why the water was expensive they said after it is filtered minerals are added

Why not use a filter system like pureit from unilever, works a treat on tap water, I change the filters once a year ,iv had for 8 years .

scouser59 wrote:

Why not use a filter system like pureit from unilever, works a treat on tap water, I change the filters once a year ,iv had for 8 years .

I watched a video about this unit and read a post from someone who said they purchased one from SM a few years ago for about 5k pesos.   The video states that the germ kill kit (UV battery operated light) needs to be replaced when the indicator tells you the battery is failing.  The poster stated that the cost was around 1,000 pesos.

My question is where do you buy it and the replacement UV battery operated germ kill kit. How much do you pay for the germ kill kit?

Unilever video:

https://youtu.be/I7vdUGBAPFc

I looked at a treatment plant for our home here (deep well) whole house,,,,, too expensive and too much maintenance so looked at kitchen sink only,,,,, I think 5 stage including 220V UV sterilisation,,,,, again it is so much cheaper to trust and buy your water  from a filling station after all I'm retired and have time, gets me out of the house.

Cheers, Steve.

We also looked at multi stage filtration systems for our home and they are extremely expensive and require ongoing maintenance.

I've seen in line electrically operated UV filters for your home at Lazada for around 2k pesos, though it would seem that just boiling the water would accomplish the same thing.

For our deep well, we installed a particulate filter on the incoming water line. It was inexpensive and the replacement filter is washable and cheap at the Wilcon near out home.

We use the pureit classic , no uv , no power ,gravity only, 1 cloth filter and 2 activated charcoal filters ,dirty water in the top clean out the tap ,simple .

it cost around 50 usd , replacement filter kit for 3000 litre  around 40 usd , lasts us around 1 year.

No hauling around plastic containers ,fine for us

Check online .

Check online

scouser59 wrote:

We use the pureit classic , no uv , no power ,gravity only, 1 cloth filter and 2 activated charcoal filters ,dirty water in the top clean out the tap ,simple .

it cost around 50 usd , replacement filter kit for 3000 litre  around 40 usd , lasts us around 1 year.

No hauling around plastic containers ,fine for us

Check online .

Check online

In the states I used the "Pur" filter multi stage system, it hooked up to the kitchen faucet with a switch to by pass the filter. After about a year, it started leaking. I sent an email to "Pur" complaining and they replacement it just on the strength of my email.

The internal replaceable filter was rated for 3,000 gallons. After 3,000 gallons the filters weight was noticeable  heaver. I see that Lazada sells the internal filter but not the dispenser, how dumb.

I liked it for my coffee, but my wife preferred to drink her Desani or Aquafina bought at Sam's Club.

I don't drink water except for my pills, otherwise I just drink juice.

Ground water quality/filtered water quality?...who does the spot sampling/lab analysis & are the results derived reliable?
I still have my reservations.
Omo

Our water refill station is tested monthly by an accredited lab, we had our water tested by the same laboratory. Trust? Perhaps 3 opinions?
Who monitors the water that goes into a bottle of Coke? Mind you all the sugar in it would kill most bugs.

OMO.

Cheers, Steve.

I trust the refilling station that currently delivers our filtered water. They are actually our second supplier. I stopped ordering from the first one because they sometimes used old containers, and some look like they had cracks which were sealed with some sort of sealant. The second one uses newer containers all the time.

We used to filter tap water for drinking with our Pure-It filter by Unilever. We bought it at True Value hardware store here in the Philippines. The container looks a bit  like a water dispenser with a modern black and white design. (Looked nice in my kitchen.) You fill the top with water, which passes through a replaceable filter, and out comes clean water through a spigot.

It worked well for years. Then it broke. The side cracked and leaked.

The issue I have with that filter is that after you just replaced the filter cartridge, you will need to pass the water through the filter several times until the chlorine smell disappears. Sometimes, it takes about 10-15 pitchers to clear the smell. But after that, water comes out really clean.

There's an indicator which tells you if when you need to replace the filter.  A price for filter cartridge replacement was, around 2 years ago, was around PhP1,000 and lasts for at least 3 months for us (5-6 people). The filters can be hard to find, so we keep 2 backups. We bought ours at Automatic Center.

We also have a small Brita filter pitcher for emergencies, like for lockdowns where there might be restrictions on deliveries. But we have not yet had the need to use it. The refilling station continued delivering water during ECQ.

Great thoughts and experience FAM, for us we own our 4 blue 5 gal containers and 1 x 4 gallon clear water bottle with our name on them and alternately disinfect with Milton solution every 3 to 4 weeks. Chlorine will do the same job.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton_sterilizing_fluid

At the end of the day like most, showering, brushing teeth etc with our well water has never seen any illness or side effects, we got used to the water? Immune? Doubt it as the right bugs and balances were already in our systems from Oz. because of the tank water there. A little E coli here or there is fine but I would never drink a glass of water from our well as I won't tempt fate.

Our water purchases @ 20 pesos x 3 per week over a year is negligible and the interaction at our local refill station gives friendships and knowledge from the other locals that frequent that establishment, mingling with the locals etc.

To the OP, the drinking water is fine as long as you buy it or you have a cast iron gut.

OMO.

Cheers, Steve.

Cast iron gut would be nice but........
So drinking water is safe so long as it is sourced from a reputable refillling stations. 👍

Well you never know Jackson, we are all different but I remember as a kid playing in the sand pit, my brother and I decided it would be good to see what it tasted like,,,,,,,, very crunchy for a 5 or 6 y/o, never got sick and never ventured there again. Yes to save angst buy your water from a reputable refilling station or spend 1 to 200,000K on a treatment plant that will rule your life,,,,,,,, been there in PH. and Australia with my work.
Buy your own containers @ 160 pesos each and then you are in control of making sure they are sanitised regularly, I think I mentioned that I sent 2 bottles of Milton in a balakbayan box but chlorine or bleach works just as well. Showering and cleaning teeth with our well water has no ill effects even with evidence of E coli and high mineral content.
So back to your OP yes we trust "our" tap water for showers, dish washing, clothes washing, teeth cleaning (don't swallow) and watering the veggie garden.

Wish you well with your choices.

Cheers, Steve.

Jackson4 wrote:

Do you trust tap water where you live?
Well water? Delivered 5 gallon filtered or purified water? Any GI issues from drinking the water? Back in the 90's, we would drink beer instead of water when we go the China or S. Korea. Bottled water in Saudi. We trust the water in other developed countries.

philippines is not monolith

water different in different places

one thing is tap water never good idea (same anywhere in the world with few exceptions)

local bottle water: be sure you trust them or else you may just get tap

make well for your self that may be best thing if it can be done where you are

I boil my tap water for drinking.  I stay in a condominium in Manila.

Be careful buying 5 gallon bottles of water from refilling stations. Have found larva swimming around in them before.

Jilly Ruby Jane wrote:

I installed a whole house water filter for my family. I bought the iSpring WGB21B a few months ago, but just installed this. My word. I wish I had done this sooner. I'm using well water and only have a basic spin-down filter. After installation, the water is very smooth and free of grit.

Hi Jilly, welcome firstly to the forum, hope you enjoy.
We have well water, tested in the labs 2 years ago, high in mineral content which we well knew, vinegar is the cure for cleaning and at times hydrochloric acid in the toilet bowls. E.coli and coliform levels were well over the acceptable limits/standards both here and western countries. Did you look at nasty bacterias?  Cast iron guts as another member mentioned. A filtration system to remove sediments and bacteria where we are was in order of PHP 150K + then the daily maintenance for a room full of filters (backwashing) pumps, UV light monitoring/replacement,,,,,, nope. The trusted water supplier for drinking water @ 20 pesos for 5 gallons, he/they do all the work, the well is fine for showers, washing and even cleaning teeth,,,,,,,,,, drink it no. spit it out and to date the little bacteria in the water has caused no problems. OMO but all your filtration system that you installed does is remove heavy particles, down to 5 microns? 1 micron? .5 micron? To remove pathogens you need at least a 5 micron filter system then radiate with UV. .5 micron with silver no UV sterilisation,,,,, expensive,,,,, go our local supplier that does it all for us. Australia, My home country, the town water is heavily chlorinated to kill these bacteria and save their behinds from being sued, nasty smelly tap water in Oz.

OMO.

Cheers, Steve.

I watched in you tube someone selling a reverse osmosis system. The water suppliers probably need this and I hope they have this instead of only filtration.

The bigger and more established ones do.

Enzyte Bob wrote:

Don't compare yourself to the locals.  Their DNA over 20 generations gives them immunity  in  what they call water..

My business partner got ill by drinking water he thought was ok. But he got ill only one and a halffday, while I suppouse foreigners would have gpt ill a month 

Many "well builders" in SE Asia dont know how tto build wells!!!
I have written the funny/crazy elsewhere how a big construction company first built it leting in water close to surface so it was even very muddy.  When the buyer complained, it was channged soit doidnt let any water in at all         During the customer tried - and failed . to make the conctruction boss understamnd , a clever worker took a drill machine and made holes where they were suppoused to be...
At Bohol it was a well built well for a foreiner but the builders screwed up very much when they tried to make it deeper, but luckilythe foreigner saw it in time to get it solved after his insructions.

Has anyone tried a filtration system with a UV light purifier? I'm thinking of ordering something like the one in the photo. It would be simple to hook up and I have a place for it under the sink with an electric outlet for the UV light but I don't know a good brand to buy.

I had a well drilled on the property but it's only 60 ft. deep. We have a proper septic system by Philippine standards and the overflow is piped to the nearest river. We only have one neighbor and I had the well drilled about 40 meters from their system. I'll have the water tested but would still like a RO filter with a UV purifier just for drinking water. Biliran is known for sweet water, whatever that means.

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We have been on a Barangy water well for years, no way you can drink it, bottle water only, but we are getting a new water source, from a river in the mountains, it is actually for Davao city water supply, it is a billion Paso system, water supply and hydro electric power, they have run 48 inch lines from there to Davao city, past our place, they have built 5 treatment  plants it is supposed to be ready by December

Moon Dog, obviously go with your heart,,,,,,,, but As a licensed Plumber with employees and experience for almost 20 years in Australia and then in logistics and building sites in many countries around the world in the film industry for 200 to 500 crew  members for 25 years reverse Osmosis plants, sewerage treatment sustainability plants were normal,,,,,, we still purchased bottled water for the crew, drinking water.

Living here? We buy our drinking water from the local refilling station, it's 20 pesos for 5 gallons or 25 pesos if they deliver. While it's not on tap? Welcome to a/an in theory third world country.

Facts for here. We are absolute beachfront and  we have a deep well at the back of the titled lot, some 110/120 from the high tide mark, about 28/30 ft deep, (below ocean level)  we had the data/samples  chemically analysed and  tested some 2 or 3 years ago with a reputable lab, the same lab that tests the sold drinking water here to the locals in 5 gallon containers. Lab tests: E coli not too bad, Colforms while high still acceptable by WHO standards. Lime and calcium content is high as is shown in toilet bowls/ showers,/S/S sinks and simply requires vinegar for S/S or as I'm an old plumber straight hydrochloric acid for china. Salinity around 500 parts million, a little under the 600 recommended parts per million but we don't drink it. Shower, teeth, washing the clothes and washing the car/bikes, watering the veggie garden we have never been sick etc.

Time will tell once you settle in and look at saving dollars. I will/do query?
Piping your septic overflow to the nearest river?????? Go throw all your plastic bags and waste motor oil in there as well. What is your builder and municipal hall thinking? What are you thinking? Sorry to be a hard ar@e but.
While I appreciate your informative  posts I see the ball has been dropped for our children and grand children. Pumping/pushing your shit into a river that people fish in, ends up in our oceans where even more people fish simply because the builder or your local municipal are too stupid to see the writing on the wall..... Not your fault Moon Dog but perhaps hold a few to account?

OMO.

Cheers, Steve.

I still re-boil/before drinking (my portion) of the water that I get from our local refilling station that come in those blue 5 gallon bottles.
Though I am a pretty good swimmer I still don't swim at our local sea beach even though my house sits hardly 50mtrs away (I have a dirty water phobia)...though my partner & kids still do.
Sadly I still only take full body dips in our 5m3 rain water collection trough.