Just how bad is the water?

PCMissionary

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Aug 5, 2011
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In doing some research for our upcoming move (me, wife and 5 kids), we've seen that the water problem is terrible in the DR - specifically around:

1. drinking water
2. shower water

What kinds of precautions are people taking in regards to drinking water? For example, from having lived in Africa in the past, we have a Berkey water filter which was fairly good. Anything more robust required?

Do people install filters on the shower and taps for basic everyday use? Is this practical and even possible?
 

Normal

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Oct 16, 2011
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Everyone I know buys water. Don't know of anyone with a shower filter. That said, I cook with tap water and will occasionally drink a handful of water out of the tap if I'm too lazy to get water from the bottle. Never had any adverse affects. I've sometimes wondered if there is some sort of mass hysteria when it comes to the water here. I live in Bavaro by the way.
 

Acira

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Sep 20, 2009
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We use bottled water to rinse raw vegetables and for water that has not to cook very long.
For all the rest, we cook with the tap water (well water), we shower with it and brush our teeth with it.
Living near Sosua.
 

belmont

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Oct 9, 2009
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We use bottled water to rinse raw vegetables and for water that has not to cook very long.
For all the rest, we cook with the tap water (well water), we shower with it and brush our teeth with it.
Living near Sosua.
Boiling is an effective means for treating micro-organisms in water, but is ineffective for contamination due to metals and organic chemicals. You should have the water checked for things like mercury, lead, arsenic PCBs and many other dangerous compounds. These compounds will accumulate in your body over a long period of time before they give the first symptom of poisoning or induce a cancer.
 

jrjrth

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Mar 24, 2011
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~Buy the bottled water, boil all water used in cooking....dont swallow when brushing....and breathe at your own risk while showering....lol....just kidding about the last one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:;)
 

Taino808

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Oct 10, 2010
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We use bottled water for drinking, use tap water for brushing teeth, cooking and bathing. We, my wife, two kids and myself live in Santiago and never had any illness do to water.
 

Doc T

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Dec 21, 2011
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^^Basically. That's the way of life.

A friend of mine did a survey on the tap water for her thesis in school....let's just say that the results were not surprisingly disgusting.
 

RV429

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Apr 3, 2011
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You can see that there are varying ways people deal with the water. Where you are makes a difference also. Water in a heavy urban area is vastly different than water in el campo.
Our neighborhood in Sosua Bella Vista Everyone drinks/uses tap water which I am told comes from a mountain source. In our campo there is no running water, everyone drinks/uses water from the river. I have been drinking the tap water in Sosua Bella Vista for years and aside from some normal hair loss have had zero ill effects. I do not drink water in the city or elsewhere but will shower/brush teeth/cook with it. Never had a problem.
 

Taino808

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Oct 10, 2010
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How do you go about checking the water in a city like Santiago?

What do you mean by checking? If by checking you mean actually having the water tested, then I must admit, I really wouldn't know who to direct you to, or how to go about doing such a thing.
 

Contango

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Dec 27, 2010
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I know a guy named kurtz who drank the water for about a year not listening to the folks.
Last time I saw him he was living in a cave up in the mountains and said to me oddly,

"You're an errand boy, sent by grocery clerks, to collect a bill"
 

Hillbilly

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Jan 1, 2002
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I will go with Taino on this one. And I have been there longer than the next three posters combined.

Fact: You go from New York to Chicago or Santiago to Logan, Utah and your stomach will get upset at the change in water.
Santiago water is good and the Water and Sewer Corporation does a good job, perhaps one of the best in Latin America.

Bring your filter for your kitchen tap, don't sweat the showers or brushing your teeth. Of course, if you live in the boonies or in some really marginal barrio, your water supply could be iffy due to the pipes or something like that, but generally speaking in most of the city we have very good water.

HB
 

Acira

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Sep 20, 2009
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Boiling is an effective means for treating micro-organisms in water, but is ineffective for contamination due to metals and organic chemicals. You should have the water checked for things like mercury, lead, arsenic PCBs and many other dangerous compounds. These compounds will accumulate in your body over a long period of time before they give the first symptom of poisoning or induce a cancer.

I am at the top of the food chain so I am allowed to be a bit poisoned.
 

belmont

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Oct 9, 2009
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I am at the top of the food chain so I am allowed to be a bit poisoned.
That's fine, but be sure no children are exposed. They are much more susceptable to the poisons. Even the lead from improperly soldered pipe fittings can cause mental retardation in a child under 6 years of age.
 
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Contaminated water is most likely the highest cause of childhood mortality in the DR. Tap water is fine for showers and cooking pasta, but don't use it for brushing your teeth, etc. Bottled water in 5 gallon jugs is readily available or you can get one of those terra cotta filter systems for $30. Also be careful going out because they may rinse produce at restaurants in the tap water. Tap water is fine for making coffee at home. Amoebic dysentery and Giardia are both a concern, but cholera cases are relatively rare. Contamination is typically regional and often caused by a loss of pressure in the water lines, which allows sewage to infiltrate the pipes. As in many third world countries, the septic and water lines are often laid in the same trenches. Some ex-pats install filtration and UV systems. The AguaPure system is somewhat new and has had good reviews.

AguaPure Filtros o Filtros Agua Pure proveen agua a los ms necesitados.Organizacin sin fines de lucro.
 

bob saunders

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Jan 1, 2002
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I have looked at death records for Jarabacoa from 1930-1985 and the most common killers were waterborne diseases. Jarabacoa has pretty clean water but I don't drink it. I shower in it though. Vegetables are washed in bottled water. The price of bottled water is quite cheap. Both my brother-in-law and my mother-in-law have had Amoebic dysentery in the past 5 years.