Tap water in Beijing

[xiaocai]

I bought a kettle with filter recently. There are two compartments, and the water filled in the top compartment is filtered into the bottom compartment by passing through an activated charcoal cartridge and then is boiled in there. It seems to remove much of the chlorine smell and metallic taste from normal tap water. The main disadvantages is, you have to replace the filter every now and then (an indicator fitted on the lid will give you a rough guide to when to replace), which is not cheap BTW. The good thing is I can make good tea now without using expensive bottled water, which is further proven to be a waste of energy as well by previous posts.

One thing I always have been wondering though is, should tap water be boiled first and then filtered or the other way around? Which method will give a better result in yielding more drinkable product? :blink:

[jbradfor]

Do not filter hot water! If you look at most/all (non-industrial) filters, they say for cold water only.

If you are willing to wait for the water to cool down, I'm not sure. I would guess that filter-first-boil-second (is that a chengyu?) is better, but I think you all owe us a test to determine.

[skylee]

filter-first-boil-second (is that a chengyu?)

Yes it is 先濾後燒 or 先濾後煮. The structure is the same as 先姦後殺 and 先斬後奏.

[jbradfor]

You scare me sometimes :o :o :o :o

[Holly]

Has anyone here ever bought a travel water filter?

[knadolny]

Has anyone here ever bought a travel water filter?

I've used filters made for camping plenty of times. We used it for purifying river water. They are small and light.

[Holly]

Where can you buy water filters? Do any brick and mortar stores have them? I'm leaving in less than a week, so it's a bit too late to order one online.

[Kenny同志]

I occasionally drink well water directly back home, but I am not brave enough to risk drinking tap water here in Hainan. Sometimes the tap water company would use a certain disinfectant which makes the water smelly. My worst experience with tap water was days ago when I went into a toilet in Hainan Provincial TCM Hospital to wash my hands. It was very hot that day and my face was sweaty, so I hold some water in my palm and splashed it on my face; then I found something’s not right; I turned on the faucet again and had a close look at the water; I couldn’t believe it, it was milky white! I almost felt throwing up at that moment.

[knadolny]

Where can you buy water filters?

Do you have REI by you or any other camping store? They will definitely have them. Other places I am not so sure.

[jmhcali]

You could also look at military surplus stores; they sometimes carry water filters.

[Holly]

We do have an REI and a Gander Mountain. Based on their webstores, they both carry filters. I definitely don't want to shell out $80+ on one, though. Are the cheaper ones still decent?

I'm kinda curious - is the water okay to bathe/shower in? I mean, I know it MUST be, but...that worries me a tad.

[Mandyding]

this week some workers of a private children English training school complained to me that foreign teachers they hired, two US young women in their late 20s, only drink bottled water/mineral water, they do not drink any boiled tap water, and never bring water their own to the classroom in the childrens pavilion. However, there are no shops nearby of this newly-built childrens pavilion, the boss of the two-class-school obviously dont want any extra expenses besides high salary and hotel fees. I do not know how they reslove this thereafter, it may not be a big issue, but do any foreingers think that chinas tap water is toxic even its boiled.

[doraemon]

@Mandyding:

Although their actions may seem overboard to an average Chinese, I can sympathise with their plight. I don't blame them for wanting to drink bottled water over boiled because tap water in China isn't renowned for being potable. The two U.S women most likely grew up drinking clean water and forcing them to switch to drinking China's tap water is easier said than done. Even when boiled, tap water in China may still be unsuitable for westerners and I think that the Chinese themselves are able to put up with it because they've been consuming it their entire lives so they're basically accustomed to drinking water of that quality. As I stated in a previous post, even my relatives in China like to take precautions by filtering and then boiling tap water before drinking it.

One thing I don't agree with though is spending the school's money to buy the bottled water. People consume large volumes of water everyday and bottled water runs out very quickly. The expenses will be very high. The two ladies should probably compromise a bit and spend their own money to buy their water (or at least chip in 50% or something).

[skylee]

I tend to agree with Doraemon. I don't drink tap water when I am in Mainland China. It is just that I have never spent enough time on the Mainland to feel sure that I won't get sick. Actually I don't drink tap water whenever I travel, just as a precautionary measure. But then I am not really that careful. I am quite sure tea / coffee / drinks in many restaurants are made of tap water and I don't think there is a problem drinking them. Strange behaviour.

As to the cost of buying water, I think as long as the school provides safe drinking water to its teachers (e.g clean boiled water), it has fulfilled its obligation and there is no need to pay extra to people who choose to drink bottled water.

[jbradfor]

@Mandyding, it wouldn't surprise me if these two people drank only bottled water back in the USA as well. It seems quite a few people here do that. [Personally, I think it's rather wasteful, but...]

I agree with the others. Expecting the school to provide bottled water is excessive.

If you really need some compromise (e.g. to save face on both ends), what if the school did the work to buy it and bring it in, and the teachers pay for it?

do any foreingers think that chinas tap water is toxic even its boiled

Out of the over 4 billion foreigners, I'm pretty sure at least one does B)