Drinking Water

LOL you are too funny!!!! No where in this country can you drink the water from the tap. we all buy drinking water - big 5 gallon bottles for about US 1 depending where you live a bit more or less.

Don't make coffee with tap water. Don't make anything that you boil for less then 13 minutes with tap water. That is my rule.  13 minutes is the magic number for killing "stuff".

Ha ha, I knew you would be first!  Thanks for the tip.  I expected as much.  That take a little getting used to as here in the states the water is great.  I will definitely use your rule for sure!

Damn I am much older and go to bed earlier in the night. But Planner is right.  We actually where we live have a community well and the water is actually potable but we do not drink it or even rinse our mouth after brushing our teeth with it.  We do cook with it.  As Planner said bottled water is very cheap. We pay 35 pesos (81 cents) for a 5 gallon bottle.
Once every 2 weeks I go to town and get 10 bottles of water.

Bob K

Thanks Bob!  I knew I could count on you two for a god answer.  Bottled water it is for most and boiling for others.  With the way we go through water, I should buy stock in the company, lol!

8 dollars every two weeks for my wife and I and 2.5 house staff is no big deal.  Heck in the US it would cost us over $70 for that amount.

Bob K

True.  That is not bad at all.  I am sure we may go through a little more than that with 3 people and 3 dogs and a cat b ut stilk very reasonable.  Thanks for all the great info.

I am assuming both of you also use the bottled water for your pets as well, correct?

Nope the dogs drink the tap water.

Bob K

Same for me.  Dogs and cats drink regular water - heck they drink out of puddles.....

Wow, unexpected reply.  I figured if it was bad for us it would be bad for them.

Nope they do fine.

Bob K

The tap water is not fit to drink and can make you ill unless you boil it or add chlorine to it. Most households buy a 40 litre bottle of drinking water for around 35-40 pesos. Colmados sell not just bottled water, but cold water in small bags for around 2 or 3 pesos. These have around 10 oz of water and the advantage that they contribute less to the litter problem.

Watch your dog or cat sometime and consider that their main pastime is doing things with their tongues that humans find both disgusting and acrobatically impossible. Pets and animals have better immune systems than humans do, obviously.

What about my pets? They have already drank the tab. Will it hurt them? Should I buy bottled water for them as well?

Welcome. I am very lucky. In almost 40 years living on various Island, I have always drunk the tap water, even here in Sosua. Some places had a high mineral content. I then used bottled water for my coffee & iced tea. That was when I lived in a particular apartment that had a well. I'm 77 now & still never had a problem with the water. As I said, I'm very lucky. I had restaurants & bars with nary a complaint.  Though of course My ice machine had a good filtration system.  My restaurant received international recognition.  Maybe because I grew up with well water.  However, follow the advice given by others.  You can always acclimate yourself by taking a few sips each day of the local water.  Relax, have a few librations & praise yourself for relocating to this wonderful island.  I used to post as  "gypsy 401" or the "tuba".

I run an animal rescue here and all of my dogs cats drink the regular faucet water and I have never had a problem. It's just not good for human consumption.

Would you start a thread and tell us about your animal rescue efforts? I am sure many will be interested!

I would be interested. 

Thank you for the reply. That is good to hear. Wanted to make sure i was not  giving them water to make them sick.    Glad to know.

I have had the water from my own well and the water from the well on a large apartment complex tested and the results were potable without treatment.  The point here is it is not treated, so you can not be sure it will be potable the next day.  We have had dogs drink the well water from my personal well for the past 15 years without any problems.

For the sake of convenience are there many people who have opted to install filtration systems or treatment systems for individual sinks or for an entire house to make the tap water potable?  Such as UV systems, chorinators or charcoal, etc.  Thanks.

No one does it.  Not reliable here and expensive to do and purified water in jugs is very cheap.  Currently we pay about 73 cents (US) a for a 5 gallon bottle

Bob K

Businesses will do it, clinics etc and pretty much no one else.

Thx for reply.