# Water in Mexico



## AlanR (Aug 17, 2010)

I have heard about the problem with piped water in Mexico, and the suggestion to purchase bottled water. Am I correct in assuming this caution applies to drinking water only, and not to bathing or cooking?

Thanks,
AlanR


----------



## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Most expats simply install a pair of 20" filters and an ultraviolet light in their water system, if they don't want to buy the large, heavy bottles (garafones) of water, which are treated in exactly that way. We've had that system in our home for about a decade and drink it right out of the tap.
Without such a system, you may certainly shower, wash, cook, make coffee, etc. with untreated tap water. You can actually drink it, if you use two drops of Clorox or one drop of Microdyne per liter and wait half an hour.


----------



## moisheh (Jun 14, 2009)

The world standard for drinking water from the tap is that it must be chlorinated. I guess in the Chapala area it is different as I have never encountered an expat who did not use garafons for drinking. They are relitevely inexpensive and the compamies deliver right to your house or RV. It also depends where you live. In some areas water is treated and is decent. In others it is fit for the pigs and nothing else. We bathe and cook with our faucet water. I have had it tested for E coli and it was good. If I wanted to teart the water I would use a UV steup as well as reverse osmosis. Most filters only remove particles not contaminants. Some areas of Mexico have arsenic in the water. It occurs naturally. I would dream of using that water.


----------



## Guest (Aug 26, 2010)

I use tapwater for everything except drinking and have never had a problem. For about US$2 for 5 gallons of bottled water, delivered to my kitchen, I won't bother with a filtration system either. Our local tapwater is high in calcium, so the only other thing I need to do is to clean the showerheads about every two months with vinegar, but that's it.


----------



## pannyzero (Aug 26, 2010)

I was in Tamaulipas, Mexico for 2 years and never had any problem with their water(, I use for cooking like boiling my veggie too, not for drinking though). 

RGVRINGO,
I heard about Clorox but I was not brave enough to try. Does it really work?


----------



## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

Clorox works. I had a recent demonstration of it. 

I have an outside double sink in the typical Mexican style where one sink drains and one has no drain. I had a green/black stain growing in the non-draining sink even though I am careful to keep it empty so it is not a place for mosquitoes to breed. Recently, I wiped it down with a clorox solution. One treatment and all of the green/black growth is gone.

Will


----------

