Why does the water smell so bad?

The Creature · Sep 20, 2015

I just returned from Las Terrenas / Alisei and one of my complaints was the water from the bathroom faucet and showered smelled terrible... kind of like rotting broccoli. There were no signs telling you not to drink the water but I would not dare. Thankfully, there is a water cooler in every room with clean drinking water.

I also found that the water would make me feel like there some some kind of coating on my skin.

Does anyone know the source of the smell? Is it like that in all of LT? Is it some kind of treatment to make the water safer? Old pipes? Rot? Something more menacing?

HUG · Sep 20, 2015

Sometimes all the plumbing is sank into the same line. So your waste water will go into your sewage line. The smell from the sewage line can then come back up your waste water access and smell nasty.

windeguy · Sep 20, 2015

mongoose 777 said:
Also, the water isn't safe to drink anywhere in this country for gringos. Most Dominicans don't even drink it.

It isn't safe to drink the water from the tap. Period.

Wishing you well · Sep 20, 2015

Chances are the water is drawn from a "cisterna," which keeps water enclosed for long times w/o circulation or use and no fresh water being added to it, hence the smell.

POP Bad Boy · Sep 20, 2015

"There were no signs telling you not to drink the water but I would not dare. Thankfully, there is a water cooler in every room with clean drinking water."

WHY would you even think of drinking water anywhere in the Dominican Republic?

The Creature · Sep 20, 2015

I know better than to drink from it but I thought it was strange that there was no sign warning people not to. I guess it is just common knowledge.

Kipling333 · Sep 20, 2015

mongoose 777 said:
Also, the water isn't safe to drink anywhere in this country for gringos. Most Dominicans don't even drink it.

Really I know that you have been here for only a short time but you must learn things before you write . The water in the DR is not potable for anyone and you can see some of the hundreds of thousands of warnings that the government posted in shops, lavatories and on posts telling people during the cholera scare that they must only drink bottled water or boiled water .

ju10prd · Sep 20, 2015

Water in Las Terrenas generally comes from the INAPA facility at Coson where there is a large storage tank sited at elevation to supply the pressure. The source of the water is Rio Coson immediately after it emerges from it's subterranean source is in the limestone hills that form the spine of the Samana Peninsula. Whilst it is treated at the INAPA plant, don't drink it.

https://www.google.com.do/maps/plac...0x8eaef9a2a372e215:0xf772b0ef76f68a93!6m1!1e1

My only thought in regard to the OP is that either the Alisei owners are thinking 'eco' as is the case with many European establishments, and they use recycled grey water for flushing the toilet......but that doesn't explain the shower smell and I think it highly unlikely under any circumstances such water would be used as such. It is quite normal for grey water to be used for irrigation purposes as well these days and the recent drought may have prompted other water saving measures.......but in any case they should advise guests of such possible odours.

Drop them a line...they are good hotel owners.

windeguy · Sep 20, 2015

mongoose 777 said:
Kipling I know you have some problems and I will try to be patient with you, but please read and actually understand a posting before you comment. If you are having trouble concentrating on that day, don't post. Anyhow, a lot of poor Dominicans do drink water. In fact it has only been in the last few years that the majority have switched to bottled. They of course have an immunity to many things from being born here which we do not.

Nonsense. Utter nonsense. Humans do not develop an immunity to water born parasites.

http://www.indexmundi.com/dominican_republic/major_infectious_diseases.html

Kipling333 · Sep 20, 2015

Mongoose.. I simply do not believe you...noone who has lived here and been around would write the things you do and would ask about Fox cable after so much time and would no nothing about the immigration laws .. Water has NEVER been potable in the DR and all Dominicans know this ..All but the poorest of the very poor would risk death by drinking tap water .. and why when water can be bought for less than 50 cents for 5 or 6 gallons ,,what stupidity thinking that parasites grow only in the intestines of gringos

Kipling333 · Sep 20, 2015

The signs were here mainly for the sake of the Haitians ..you had better look at the casualty list from cholera by nationalities ...the problem here was magnified by a huge degree in areas habitated by Haitians

Eleutheria · Sep 20, 2015

ju10prd said:
Water in Las Terrenas generally comes from the INAPA facility at Coson where there is a large storage tank sited at elevation to supply the pressure. The source of the water is Rio Coson immediately after it emerges from it's subterranean source is in the limestone hills that form the spine of the Samana Peninsula. Whilst it is treated at the INAPA plant, don't drink it.

https://www.google.com.do/maps/plac...0x8eaef9a2a372e215:0xf772b0ef76f68a93!6m1!1e1

My only thought in regard to the OP is that either the Alisei owners are thinking 'eco' as is the case with many European establishments, and they use recycled grey water for flushing the toilet......but that doesn't explain the shower smell and I think it highly unlikely under any circumstances such water would be used as such. It is quite normal for grey water to be used for irrigation purposes as well these days and the recent drought may have prompted other water saving measures.......but in any case they should advise guests of such possible odours.

Drop them a line...they are good hotel owners.

I am thinking it might be coming from the drains. I have this problem where I live, I also thought the water smelled bad, but it is the water hitting the drain and the sewage smell creeping up due to incorrectly installed plumbing. A bottle of mistoline dumped down all the drains every few days keeps it at bay. Not an ideal solution but hey, I'm renting.

Kipling333 · Sep 20, 2015

However halitosis is caused by people brushing their teeth with the tap water ..it is a problem..

windeguy · Sep 20, 2015

Hepatitis E, Trypanosomiasis, Leptospirosis ,Schistosomiasis, and giardia are some of the things you risk if you drink tap water here. The locals do not have an immunity to any of these things.

windeguy · Sep 20, 2015

mongoose 777 said:
Are you being serious or simply trying to be contrarian? So you do not believe that indigenous populations have an immunity to their own water supplies which others do not? This is hardly a position worth discussing.

You are the one not worth considering. You are completely incorrect.

ju10prd · Sep 20, 2015

Eleutheria said:
I am thinking it might be coming from the drains. I have this problem where I live, I also thought the water smelled bad, but it is the water hitting the drain and the sewage smell creeping up due to incorrectly installed plumbing. A bottle of mistoline dumped down all the drains every few days keeps it at bay. Not an ideal solution but hey, I'm renting.

It is very common to find that plumbers install drains without 'U' traps, and even if they are installed within a bathroom area for spillages, those 'U' traps do dry out and it is good maintenance to 'wet' them periodically.

Kipling333 · Sep 20, 2015

Eleutheria ..yes you are spot on.. The bad smell is sometimes in my house here in SD because the water drains and the sewerage drains are common unless you have your own system.. The drains need constant flushing . You can find the same smell from the manholes in the streets when there has been little rain.. Well we are a poor country and sewerage drains have not been a priority

dv8 · Sep 20, 2015

houses, apartments and hotels normally have water storage system. so while city water may be cleanish individual households may be contaminated. faulty piping, sewage, storage.

the gorgon · Sep 20, 2015

mongoose 777 said:
Are you being serious or simply trying to be contrarian? So you do not believe that indigenous populations have an immunity to their own water supplies which others do not? This is hardly a position worth discussing.

again, mongoose exercising an opinion about a subject he does not seem to be familiar with. there are numerous different organisms in water sources, and while it may be true that native populations develop an immunity to some of the organisms, nobody develops an immunity to something like an amoeba. i have seen Dominicans get severely ill from said amoeba. that is not a subject for debate. it is a reality.

ju10prd · Sep 20, 2015

From someone who lived in deepest campo near many poor people for many a year .........locals know the water is dodgy and do not drink it full stop. If desperate they would boil it but with bottled water at 25rd for 5 gallons that is what they drink and most will use that to boil rice too. My ex-esposa used to drop those damn bleach tablets in the roof cistern and that made showering unpleasant at times.......that's how much they trust the water here.

That said Las Terrenas has a very good water source.......spring source comes out of a big subterranean cave......seen it in person.

Why does the water smell so bad?

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