what water to trust?

[civic94]

i will be in china soon, so far I have planned to only buy bottled water, but now as i think of it, I guess some are fakes, such as a group of people getting contaminated water, and rebottle it and make the cap sealed.

so, what brands are the best? how can i tell if its a fake or not? and what else is even more safe?

[Shelley]

Boil everything you drink, cook with or even brush your teeth with.

[Demonic_Duck]

Pfft. Not sure what part of China you live/lived in Shelley, but I've been living in Beijing for over a year and I only boil water if it comes from the tap (I also certainly don't take the trouble to do so if I'm brushing my teeth). I buy water from street vendors, supermarkets, 烟酒店, wherever really, and I've never had any issues. With that said, I guess the rebottling thing happens in rare cases, but is it really at all widespread? I highly doubt it.

[Shelley]

The OP asked what bottle water brands to trust or was there something safer? Wherever you live the safest water is boiled. And yes even for brushing teeth

[Silent]

Wherever you live the safest water is boiled.

That may have been true a few hunderd years ago for most of the places. Not any more. Boiling water helps against microbes, it does little to nothing for pollutants. To get the purest water a good filter and/or destillation are the best affordable options. I have my doubts however or the purest and cleanest water would also be the healthiest water.

My advice would be not to worry too much. Chances the water is acutely dangerous are extremely small. The locals have to cope with the water their whole lifes, so why can't you for a few months? If you're still worried or paranoid. A good choice might be to NOT stick to one supposedly 'safe' brand but to use all kind of different brands. Pollutants specific to a certain brand due to source or production proces won't get a chance to build up if you switch brands continuously. Actually when travelling around there's a good chance you won't be able to get the same brand of bottled water everywhere unless you stick to large chain supermarkets for your watersupply.

[abcdefg]

i will be in china soon, so far I have planned to only buy bottled water, but now as i think of it, I guess some are fakes, such as a group of people getting contaminated water, and rebottle it and make the cap sealed.

Agree with the others above, it's not a significant problem.

Worry about something else. You have plenty from which to select.

[msittig]

My family is living here long-term so we've switched to filtered+boiled water, but for a short-term visit I think bottled water would be safe enough.

[tysond]

Suspect any fake water would just be tap water anyway.

However, any water source where you don't have to cross the road or drive probably has a considerable safety bonus.

As for boiling... whatever happened to 不干不净吃了没病。

[knickherboots]

We buy 18.9 liter jugs of water for use at home here in Beijing. It seems like some distributors are better than others. We switched from one distributor who consistently delivered water that didn't taste right. Even now, a certain percentage of the water delivered doesn't taste right. If it is very obvious, I return a partially used jug with a comment, though I haven't tried to get a refund. We have tried brands including 农夫山泉，怡宝，景泉，and 雀巢. None has been consistent. 农夫山泉 evidently was in the news recently for quality problems. Watson's is more reliable, I think because they control distribution much more closely, but it's more expensive and, last time I checked, was inconvenient to order.

Filtration systems for tap water are available, but the ones I've looked at require more installation effort than is practical at our rented apartment.

[ChTTay]

"农夫山泉 evidently was in the news recently for quality problems"

Speaking of which, this was interesting...

http://www.danwei.com/nongfu-spring-water-how-food-safety-scandals-affect-a-companys-image/

Unlike many other companies, which immediately admit wrongdoing and exhibit public repentance for food safety scandals, Nongfu called a defiant press conference and sued the Beijing Times for defamation[2]. Netizens who supported Nongfu saw the scandal as a case of “black PR:” after the press conference, it was revealed that Beijing Times actually owns a mineral water company[3]. Nongfu supporters immediately saw this connection as evidence of misrepresentation, conflicts of interest, and flat-out corruption on the part of Beijing Times. Whether or not there is truth to these claims, the online conversation indicates that what became known as Nongfu’s “Qualitygate” was more than just a typical food safety scandal.

[大肚男]

I completely agree with Demonic Duck, except for the part about brushing my teeth with tap water, but that is a comfort thing for me.

[WestTexas]

The cheapest bottled water seems to be 康师傅　1.5 liter bottles, which can be had in smaller towns and some stores in bigger cities for 2 yuan each. I buy either these or order the 18.9 liter jugs someone else mentioned.

Nongfu shanquan is more expensive, so considering possible quality problems, I'm not sure why you'd buy it.

[Johnny20270]

you know what though! I am convinced that a native Chinese person may have a higher tolerance to food and water bacteria that a western person doesn't have.

This has happened to me twice. I was with a Chinese person and we both ate the exact same thing over several days. I got a horrible dose of food poisoning and spend days on the toilet while she was fine! Coincidence? maybe!