# Drinking water in Mexico?



## Marian42 (Oct 22, 2020)

I finally got the Lonely Planet: Mexico book in the mail today. There is nothing in there about drinking water. Is bottled water always available? I do not drink pop or alcohol.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

yes, always .


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

Marian42 said:


> I finally got the Lonely Planet: Mexico book in the mail today. There is nothing in there about drinking water. Is bottled water always available? I do not drink pop or alcohol.





Marian42 said:


> I finally got the Lonely Planet: Mexico book in the mail today. There is nothing in there about drinking water. Is bottled water always available? I do not drink pop or alcohol.





Marian42 said:


> I finally got the Lonely Planet: Mexico book in the mail today. There is nothing in there about drinking water. Is bottled water always available? I do not drink pop or alcohol.


Since I moved to Mexico City in 2007, I have never drunk tap water, though I do use it to brush my teeth. Until a couple of years ago, I bought bottled water in big 4-6 liter jugs and carried them back to my apartment. After a few years, that became more physically difficult, so I invested in a great small water filtration system made by Nikken, an international Japanese company with branches all over Latin America. I just pour some tap water into the apparatus, and in a couple of minutes, it's ready to drink.


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## Marian42 (Oct 22, 2020)

Isla Verde said:


> Since I moved to Mexico City in 2007, I have never drunk tap water, though I do use it to brush my teeth. Until a couple of years ago, I bought bottled water in big 4-6 liter jugs and carried them back to my apartment. After a few years, that became more physically difficult, so I invested in a great small water filtration system made by Nikken, an international Japanese company with branches all over Latin America. I just pour some tap water into the apparatus, and in a couple of minutes, it's ready to drink.


Dear Isla Verde, this is excellent to hear! Thank you for your fine information. Where did you buy your Nikken filter system? How much does it cost?


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

The truth is that everyone who drinks tap water, lake water, bottled water, soda water, or anything else, eventually dies.


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## Marian42 (Oct 22, 2020)

Marian42 said:


> Dear Isla Verde, this is excellent to hear! Thank you for your fine information. Where did you buy your Nikken filter system? How much does it cost?





Marian42 said:


> Dear Isla Verde, this is excellent to hear! Thank you for your fine information. Where did you buy your Nikken filter system? How much does it cost?



Is this filter small enough for travelers to take along? Where do I buy one?


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

Dear Isla Verde, this is excellent to hear! Thank you for your fine information. Where did you buy your Nikken filter system? How much does it cost?
[/QUOTE]

I bought it from a friend here who is a sales agent for the company. I bought it several years ago and don't remember the exact cost. I think it was around 4000 pesos. Once a year my friend comes by my apartment to do maintenance work on the system, which involves an extra fee; it was around 1200 pesos last year. In two years, the price is bound to go up.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

Marian42 said:


> Is this filter small enough for travelers to take along? Where do I buy one?


It's not that kind of filter. It's meant to be located in your home. I have the small size: it's 18" high and 25" in circumference.


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## Stevenjb (Dec 10, 2017)

You may want to look at Berkey, they make similar filtration systems - including what they call a Travel Filter system.


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## Marian42 (Oct 22, 2020)

Isla Verde said:


> It's not that kind of filter. It's meant to be located in your home. I have the small size: it's 18" high and 25" in circumference.


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## Marian42 (Oct 22, 2020)

Stevenjb, this is great information for me to have. Thanks so much!


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

This discussion has tended to focus on filtering water, but really most people just buy purified water. It is readily available everywhere in containers from 600 ml (about 20 oz) to 2 liters, 5 liters, 10 liters and 20 liters. Most people have 20 liter (5 gal) bottles that they either refill or exchange. Every corner store has 20 liter bottles (garafons) for exchange and people will deliver them. There are lots of stands and gadgets for dispensing water from the garafons and they are everywhere in houses and offices. During visits of a week or two, you can just buy drinking water in water bottles at any corner store.

I use bottled water for drinking and making ice. I use tap water for washing clothes, dishes, hands and face etc. I brush my teeth and cook with tap water. I even wash fruits and vegetables in tap water, although I think many use a few drops of Microdyne or some other water purifier for things like washing salad greens. I just try not to drink tap water, but a few drops are harmless, and if it is heated, it is fine. So I use it for cooking rice, noodles, soups, baking, whatever.


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## Marian42 (Oct 22, 2020)

Thanks, TundraGreen,this is very useful information!


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

We have lived i Mexico for 20 years and have bought the 20liter bottles they sell everywhere.. no need to worry about fiktration unkess you have to haul these bottles up stairs or cannot put the i their support any longer. Bottle water n smaller bottles can be bought in any abarote. WHen you travel nost hotel provde bottle water in the rooms bo beed to fret about it..


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## surabi (Jan 1, 2017)

Please travel with your own refillable water bottle. Hopefully most places you stay will have jugs of purified water that you can refill your water bottle from or a filtration system which renders the tap water safe to drink. My Airbnb guests in the private room I rent in my home certainly do that, just refill their own water bottle before going out for the day. 

Those individual plastic water bottles are an environmental disaster.


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## Marian42 (Oct 22, 2020)

Yes, I knew that the individual plastic bottles are an environmental disaster! Thanks for this comment, surabi. I have a metal refillable water bottle that doesn't leak.


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## hyracer (Aug 14, 2011)

Ice cubes can also be a problem if you happen to drink beverages in out-of-the way places that are not frequented by a lot of expats/tourists. Only drink bottled beverages when in areas considered remote or off the beaten path.


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## Marian42 (Oct 22, 2020)

Good points!


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

They used to be a problem whn ice was delivered in large block and broken up.. I saw them 30years ago break the block in Merida, dropping it on the floor and using the ice, !.. Now most ice is pretty safe.. I have yet to get sick from ice here and in out of the way places where I go , no one has ice or use it so it makes it pretty simple


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

citlali said:


> They used to be a problem whn ice was delivered in large block and broken up.. I saw them 30years ago break the block in Merida, dropping it on the floor and using the ice, !.. Now most ice is pretty safe.. I have yet to get sick from ice here and in out of the way places where I go , no one has ice or use it so it makes it pretty simple


In general, Mexicans seem not to like ice in their drinks. In cafés and restaurants where they don't know me, they often assume that I want ice in my beverage since I am obviously not Mexican. Unless it's a very hot day, I prefer my drinks now "sin hielo".


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## alan-in-mesicali (Apr 26, 2018)

Finally... a real QUESTION that I can easily answer... MOST of the water in Mexico is so bad that this is where Christ came to learn to walk on water! ONE year and an expensive kitchen sink faucet unit develops pin holes and leaks from be DISSOLVED BY CITY WATER... I now live on a ranch with it's own well.... agricultural activities have made the water dangerous due to pesticide/chemicals that have percolated into aquifer....in the laundry it turns my "tiddy whites" YELLOW and the water stinks! BUT we have a large tank and have purified water delivered from a local water company at a cost of about a 10 cents a gallon.... While I lived in the city, I used 5 gallon refillable bottles of water that were delivered to my door... IF I was not home, the water guy carried it into the house for my wife....


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## Marian42 (Oct 22, 2020)

Thanks for this information. Wow.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

alan-in-mesicali said:


> Finally... a real QUESTION that I can easily answer... MOST of the water in Mexico is so bad that this is where Christ came to learn to walk on water! ONE year and an expensive kitchen sink faucet unit develops pin holes and leaks from be DISSOLVED BY CITY WATER... I now live on a ranch with it's own well.... agricultural activities have made the water dangerous due to pesticide/chemicals that have percolated into aquifer....in the laundry it turns my "tiddy whites" YELLOW and the water stinks! BUT we have a large tank and have purified water delivered from a local water company at a cost of about a 10 cents a gallon.... While I lived in the city, I used 5 gallon refillable bottles of water that were delivered to my door... IF I was not home, the water guy carried it into the house for my wife....


I love your tale about Christ learning to walk on water in Mexico! Things aren't that bad in Mexico City, at least not in my colonia.


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## alan-in-mesicali (Apr 26, 2018)

Would you believe that I am in the process of installing a "water filtration and purification" system invented in Thailand by a University of Colorado professor? Have to add a separate filter to take out the iron [what turns the whites "yellow"... and the smell....This system will cost me under $1,000 completely finished and operational... and less than $200 a year to "recharge" - it is that iron filter.... takes all the farm induced toxins out of the water, and leaves it crystal clear!


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

you are speaking in pesos or dollars?


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## alan-in-mesicali (Apr 26, 2018)

Dollars and cents... the peso just bounces to much right now...


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## DiverSailor123 (Sep 17, 2016)

Might it be wise to buy from a Major outlet in Mexico? Home Depot or Walmart or Sams?


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## alan-in-mesicali (Apr 26, 2018)

One of my brother-in-laws is a lab specialist for the Water Commission.. part of his job is to check all independent "drinking water sales' dealers for the purity of their water - he issues a Notification of Purity which must be posted and never more than 30 days old... he also check ALL machines which make "ice for sale" - you know the bagged ice... along with the huge blocks that are also available... he had our well check... results came back DEADLY....It is my opinion that drinking water from a local water distributor is most likely safer than factory bottled water - this is based on problems I have read about from "private brand water" in the USA.


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## surabi (Jan 1, 2017)

alan-in-mesicali said:


> One of my brother-in-laws is a lab specialist for the Water Commission.. part of his job is to check all independent "drinking water sales' dealers for the purity of their water - he issues a Notification of Purity which must be posted and never more than 30 days old... he also check ALL machines which make "ice for sale" - you know the bagged ice... along with the huge blocks that are also available... he had our well check... results came back DEADLY....It is my opinion that drinking water from a local water distributor is most likely safer than factory bottled water - this is based on problems I have read about from "private brand water" in the USA.


Nope, not where I live- I used to get water from the local bottler, and my stomach was always a bit off. I have a clear glass water container I pour the garafons into- the water from the local plant developed a green scum in the bottom of the container in the summer after only a couple of days. I switched to Ciel water and my stomach righted itself and their water stays clear.
There may be inspections where you live, but there most certainly aren't everywhere.


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## alan-in-mesicali (Apr 26, 2018)

surabi said:


> Nope, not where I live- I used to get water from the local bottler, and my stomach was always a bit off. I have a clear glass water container I pour the garafons into- the water from the local plant developed a green scum in the bottom of the container in the summer after only a couple of days. I switched to Ciel water and my stomach righted itself and their water stays clear.
> There may be inspections where you live, but there most certainly aren't everywhere.


I do not know where you live in Mexico.. but I would highly suggest you report this vendor to the Water Commission as soon as possible...IF you have someone who can read/write Spanish you can do it online...


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

surabi said:


> Nope, not where I live- I used to get water from the local bottler, and my stomach was always a bit off. I have a clear glass water container I pour the garafons into- the water from the local plant developed a green scum in the bottom of the container in the summer after only a couple of days. I switched to Ciel water and my stomach righted itself and their water stays clear.
> There may be inspections where you live, but there most certainly aren't everywhere.


Out of curiosity, did you treat your bottles with Clorarex (bleach) in between fillings. I was getting mine refilled at one place and started having a similar problem. I switched to a different refiller that was more careful about cleaning them before refilling. And from the second place, I also learned to rinse them out with Cloralex before getting them refilled. I haven't had any problems since then.

I also keep water in a couple of pitchers in the refrigerator. Those used to get a scummy feel once in awhile if they hadn't been cleaned for a few cycles. That doesn't happen anymore, and I just realized now that it is probably because I am keeping the garafons cleaner.


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## surabi (Jan 1, 2017)

TundraGreen said:


> Out of curiosity, did you treat your bottles with Clorarex (bleach) in between fillings.


That isn't possible when you have garafons delivered- You don't get the empty garafon refilled- you trade it for a full one. And anyway, no, cleaning the garafons had nothing to do with it. In the hard summer rains I put my garafons under my water spout off the roof, it fills with rain water and I drink that. I don't bleach out the garafons first and I've never had that water develop any green scum. It's the water from the local water plant that isn't okay.



alan-in-mesicali said:


> I do not know where you live in Mexico.. but I would highly suggest you report this vendor to the Water Commission as soon as possible...IF you have someone who can read/write Spanish you can do it online...


I'm not sure why you make the automatic assumption that I would need someone who can read and write Spanish- some of us can do that, believe it or not.

I live north of PV. What Water Commission? And things are really corrupt around here. Owner of the water plant is big man about town- he and his brothers own about 10 businesses here and are one of the original local families. They can intimidate or bribe whoever comes along. Or the inspector is their cousin or something.


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## Trad+Cath+2022 (Jan 2, 2022)

Isla Verde said:


> Since I moved to Mexico City in 2007, I have never drunk tap water, though I do use it to brush my teeth. Until a couple of years ago, I bought bottled water in big 4-6 liter jugs and carried them back to my apartment. After a few years, that became more physically difficult, so I invested in a great small water filtration system made by Nikken, an international Japanese company with branches all over Latin America. I just pour some tap water into the apparatus, and in a couple of minutes, it's ready to drink.


Skip filter systems and go straight to countertop electric water distillers that collect in glass or steel containers. Zero PPM every time and no filters to replace. Remember, all cistern rain water is distilled water.


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