Health and safety forum

Water Purifiers for 2 months in SE Asia

VanessaGold-
stein

newbie
Posts: 4

Hi folks,

We are traveling for two months doing Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam--in that order. What is a reasonable amount of water purifier/iodine tablets to bring with us?

Thanks! Vanessa

#1 Posted: 22/1/2010 - 03:16
somsai

som tam seller
Posts: 523
Located in:

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Still zero, if you don't want to contribute to air polution due to the burning of the bottles or landfill issues you can just drink what comes from the large bottles that everyone has delivered to homes and businesses. Even tiny roadside restaurants serve clean water that is delivered from a factory, no one drinks tap and no one will serve you tap water.

#2 Posted: 22/1/2010 - 07:46
Tilapia

under-employed
Posts: 1204
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Somsai is correct. You don't need to bring anything for purifying water for any of those countries, unless you are planning on doing a lot of wilderness camping.

#3 Posted: 22/1/2010 - 07:56
VanessaGold-
stein

newbie
Posts: 4

Thanks both! We will bring a little for the Gibbon Experience (any feedback on that?) but otherwise we will stick with the local solution.

Best, Vanessa

#4 Posted: 22/1/2010 - 10:31
MADMAC

mahout
Posts: 3999

"Still zero, if you don't want to contribute to air polution due to the burning of the bottles or landfill issues you can just drink what comes from the large bottles that everyone has delivered to homes and businesses."

Somsai
I can't speak for anywhere else, but plastic is recycled here. We have poor people who come around at night and collect it up from the garbage containers, streets, etc and deliver it to a collection point on the edge of town (I've been there). It's packaged there - not sure where it goes to from that point. My wife saves ours, and we sell them to this place. Not a lot of money, but definitely some. Nobody would be paying us to dump it in a landfill.

Same in Yasothon when I'm there.

#5 Posted: 7/2/2010 - 01:44

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Victory in Pattani
somsai

som tam seller
Posts: 523
Located in:

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The Gibbon Experience should have plenty of clean water. They've been doing the eco tourism thing for quite a while now. When I spend many days off the road I drink boiled just like the locals. It's not bad at all when you're thirsty.

Mac when I stay in Vientiane they come by and grab up the hard plastic but leave the soft. I've seen them picking the trash in Luang Prabang and doing the same. Mostly elsewhere it's landfill. I don't know about Thailand, Cambo, Vietnam, etc. I just tourist there now but I still drink from the regular pitchers of water on the table.

#6 Posted: 7/2/2010 - 04:54
apriljune

backpacker
Posts: 13

ows, is this really true?
i think i need to search first before going to any places to avoid such sickness back home.

#7 Posted: 1/6/2010 - 17:23
heddenswest

flashpacker
Posts: 32

I just bought the UV filter SteriPen Adventurer...
I can re-use my water bottle or stick it in a cup and filter anything.
If you're at all nervous and want to save the waste from buying plastic, perhaps something to consider.

#8 Posted: 19/5/2011 - 12:48
robinkipson

newbie
Posts: 1

Water filters remove all theimpurities and microorganism to make it safe and clean for drinking and cookingpurpose. I also want to install water filter to make water. Please suggestme best quality water filters.

#9 Posted: 27/6/2011 - 17:04
onefatmonkey

longtail driver
Posts: 6

Hi

Just to chip in about Gibbon Experience. Definitely go - it was one of the highlights of my trip last time. Just don't expect to see any gibbons... they're very rare.

On the question of water purification tablets I agree to an extent with most people here, but... when it comes to GE I would purify the water.

A couple of the people we did the GE with got ill (at least one ended up in hospital) straight after. I don't know the details as we'd parted straight after finishing up.

The people that got ill drank the water direct, my mate and I purified our water. Now it could be completely unrelated of course but that was my experience. So my advice would be if in doubt boil or purify the water first.

#10 Posted: 12/7/2011 - 02:30