Alternative to bottled water?

CFA123

Silver
May 29, 2004
3,512
413
83
Carrying botellones into the house gets rather tiresome after a while.

Anyone tried using a water buffalo instead?
Experiences - good/bad?
 

el forastero

Bronze
Oct 25, 2009
353
91
0
I always preferred tipping the kid from the colmado $20 for bringing 2 new botellones over and never touching the darn things myself, but then again, I was just a stupid gringo.
 

belgiank

Silver
Jun 13, 2009
3,251
103
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ecoligical water filters

The wife of the owner of Jamaca de Dios here in jarabacoa sells a kind of stone (ceramic, clay) waterfiltering system which works perfectly.

You fill the top half with tap-water, it filters down to the bottom half and you have perfectly drinkable water. Once every so often you have to clean the bottom of the tophalf to get rid of the residue...

Loads of people here use them, and they have recently started a factory of those in Haiti to help the local people there...

They sell them for around 800 pesos here, and it is worth the money...
 

jrhartley

Gold
Sep 10, 2008
8,190
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800 pesos for clean water ? maybe it starts out cleaner in jarabacoa - has anyone tested the water so to speak
 

RacerX

Banned
Nov 22, 2009
3,390
376
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in jarabacoa they get their water from the mountains. they have a spigot at the top of that waterfall salto de jimenoa that they turn to turn off the water in a rainstorm to prevent sediment from getting into peoples houses
 

bob saunders

Platinum
Jan 1, 2002
32,502
5,930
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dr1.com
in jarabacoa they get their water from the mountains. they have a spigot at the top of that waterfall salto de jimenoa that they turn to turn off the water in a rainstorm to prevent sediment from getting into peoples houses

Hogwash, Jarabacoa water comes from pinar quemado.
 

beeza

Silver
Nov 2, 2006
3,479
731
113
What about rainwater? That's what they do in New Zealand.

Collect it off the roof, filter it, boil it and you have pure drinking water.
 

Hillbilly

Moderator
Jan 1, 2002
18,948
514
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the ceramic filters do not filter biological baddies...It just gets the dirt and such. Clean polluted water is what you get if not careful.

HB
 

Ken

Platinum
Jan 1, 2002
13,884
495
83
I've been using Purrissima for 10 years to purify the water the comes out of the faucet.

For the 16 years that my wife and I lived on a cruising sailboat, we used clorox. Purrissima is more concentrated so don't need to use as much.

A Peace Corps manual that I saw said that clorox was a good way to purify water, more effective than boiling unless you let the water boil for 20 minutes or so.
 
May 29, 2006
10,265
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The wife of the owner of Jamaca de Dios here in jarabacoa sells a kind of stone (ceramic, clay) waterfiltering system which works perfectly.

You fill the top half with tap-water, it filters down to the bottom half and you have perfectly drinkable water. Once every so often you have to clean the bottom of the tophalf to get rid of the residue...

Loads of people here use them, and they have recently started a factory of those in Haiti to help the local people there...

They sell them for around 800 pesos here, and it is worth the money...

I heard about these and they have the potential to save millions and millions of lives. I think they use a small amount of silver in the mix which kills bacteria as it slowly passes through it. Lack of clean drinking water is one of the primary causes of childhood mortality in the world.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_666185.html
 

el forastero

Bronze
Oct 25, 2009
353
91
0
I've been using Purrissima for 10 years to purify the water the comes out of the faucet.

For the 16 years that my wife and I lived on a cruising sailboat, we used clorox. Purrissima is more concentrated so don't need to use as much.

A Peace Corps manual that I saw said that clorox was a good way to purify water, more effective than boiling unless you let the water boil for 20 minutes or so.
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Three relevant points to make:

1) it is not necessary to boil water in order to make it safe. Pasteurization is achieved at 65? C and uses a lot less fuel to do so than boiling it. It can be done with solar, which would certainly help those in rural DR and almost all of Haiti, but somehow doesn't get promoted in order to save the trees.

Source: A SUMMARY OF WATER PASTEURIZATION TECHNIQUES

2. The effectiveness of chlorine depends on many things: the water's pH, the temperature, the amount of time it is in the water, etc. As the pH goes up, it takes more and more chlorine to get the desired effect (see the charts attached). The last time I tested the water in my plant in Santo Domingo, the pH was in the 7.7 pH area. (relatively high pH coming straight out of the municipal water system)

Most people adding chlorine to a cistern use TOO MUCH. If you can smell the chlorine when the water is coming out of the tap, it is probably too much. Chlorine is a suspected carcinogen.

Bacteria in Drinking Water, Bulletin 795 - Chlorine

3) UV is another way to purify water. I used one of these units along with inline cartridge filters in my plant to assure that the water was indeed pure. I still have this commercial-sized unit along with a replacement UV bulb. The cost new was around US$750 for the unit and replacement bulbs were about $40, with a 3/4" supply line. PM me if you have any interest.
 

belgiank

Silver
Jun 13, 2009
3,251
103
0
they claim it has been tested... and i can only say i know of expats who have been using it for 2 years and more, and are absolutely satisfied...

will ask them about the tests next time I see them