You know, if you travel to Mexico and drink the water there, a lot of times you will come down with an ailment known as “Montezuma’s Revenge”. The effect of Montezuma’s Revenge is that you will be spending a fair amount of time on the toilet with stomach problems, diarrhea and such. It’s not something that you want to get. Well, there’s no Montezuma’s Revenge in the Philippines, I guess it should be called “Lapu Lapu’s Revenge” here instead, or something of the nature. It is a fact, though, that if you drink the tap water in most places in the Philippines, you will be spending a lot of your day staying close to the bathroom!
Here in Davao, where I live, we are quite lucky, the tap water is safe to drink here, even for somebody who is just visiting for a short time. Davao City has water treatment facilities, and the water here is as good as the water in Washington State where I came from. But, I know of no other cities in the Philippines where that is true, and I’ve spent more than my fair share of times needing to stay near to the bathroom due to drinking the water. In General Santos, where I used to live, the water was not drinkable. There, they get their water from shallow wells, and it not only can’t be consumed, it even stinks much of the time!
So, what is the solution to this problem? Drink mineral water (bottled water). There are many brands of bottled water on the market, and it is inexpensive. For our home use of water, we have water delivered in big 5 gallon bottles, and placed in a dispenser in our house, which dispenses cold or hot water. This water costs only about $1 for 5 gallons. We just use this for cooking and drinking. A lot of people in Davao don’t use bottled water at all, since our water here is good. But, we just prefer to use the bottled water to avoid any problems. The company that we purchase water from delivers to our house once per week.
Of course, the longer you stay, the more you will be able to tolerate the tap water, as your body will grow accustomed to the germs that are present in the water. But, my advice would be to stick with bottled water, and be safe.
Can you name the brands of bottled water which you find reputable? Which brand is your favorite? And why?
Hi Frank, honestly, i don't have a preference. I drink whatever is handy. Sometimes in a remote area you can only find brands that you haven't heard of, and they even work fine. I guess if I had to name a favorite it would be H2Zero, but I don't even know why!
Thanks, Bob 🙂
Bob, this is excellent advice, I note you know about Montezuma's Revenege, I can back you up on that, since when I served in the British Army in Belize during 1980-1981 we used to get Montezuma's revenge regularly, when I arrived for the 1st time in the Philippines I had my own name for the problems with local water, I called it "Gloria's Revenge" as it seemed appropriate to call it that. I was constantly on the thunder box almost every hour, and woe betide me if we went out to lunch or breakfast, it was back to the bathroom yet again, your advice as always is spot on, drink bottled water, then you get less chances of being glued to the thunder box.
Hi Peter – Thanks for the comment! When you come and visit me in Davao, you can drink the water all you want. Gloria has not gotten into our water supply down here yet!
hi bob,
its reassuring to know that we can leave our glue and thunderboxes behind when we visit davao ! that will free us up to do more appealing actvities ! keep gloria out please…….
Many people get a short case of the 'trots' even when changing water districts in the USA, so some adjestmetn is sometimes all that is needed. Cagayan de Oro has good water. I would be more concerned about agricultural pollution than parasites.. and Gingoog City has excellent spring water that tastes great! Butuan has terrible water, never touch the stuff, or brush your teeth with it. Butuan water also tastes nasty, even when filtered, due to the proximity to the ocean, I guess.
After leving in Gingoog for 12 years, we got bottled water when we moved to CDO just because we were used to better tasting water (and I do worry about the chemicals). We advise visitors to drink bottled water all during their stay, just to be on the safe side, but people who live here need to be able to branch out a bit, especially if they are in an area with potable water.
Thanks for the great tips, AmericanLola! 😆
Hi Bob,
I have first hand experience of this problem, big time!
Even after we got the water cooler/fountain, I couldn't understand why I still had the problem, until I saw the water being changed one day. A member of my wifes family removed the bottle and simply filled it up with tap water, I had thought that someone from the shop had been replacing the bottles! Thanks a lot!
I even brush my teeth with bottled water now!
Once we stayed in hundred island, the water came from wells there, after 2 days I had to wash my hair because I was stinking! There were frogs in the well, and I smelled even worse after washing with that water. But it was funny.
Phil
Ha ha… Better watch out, Phil… some of the dis-reputable water vendors fill the bottles from the tap too! 😆
Hello Bob, hahaha, good point again about bottled water, interestingly enough I don't k now if you ever heard about this, but an offshoot company of the Coca Cola brand, got caught in UK filling their mineral water products with tap water in the county of Kent, of course the company went down, if it happens in Western Countries, it can happen certainly happen in the Philippines although I suspect the genuine ones as you say are best.
I took your advice on arrival and we had Mount Kanlaon mineral water delivered in the 5 gallon bottles, as you say it puts any fears to rest, then I filtered it back in the water cooler to be extra sure, the funny thing is, I also spent my fair share of time on the thunder box again on this trip, I dont know what it is, still cant avoid being on it, oh well….par for the course woulodnt you say Bob ?
Hi Pete – Yes, I heard about that incident! Maybe they got training in the Philippines!
Hi Bob- I have not had a lot of problems with drinking local water in the Phil's maybe due to the fact for the first ten years of visiting I was living in Nigeria. We were always warned to boil water before drinking and to leave ice alone if you did not know the source of the water it was made from. Since having our own house I bought a water filter (Domestic Size) and we use it all the time when there.We do use bottled water however when we travel around.
Hi Jim – I drink tap water here in Davao, but if I go out of town, I go for mineral water too. I think it's just the safe way to go! It ensures that you will be able to more fully enjoy your trip! 😆
Hi,
Just came by this thread. It's interesting to know that as a last resort, if commercial bottled water is not available, then sun-purified water will/should get you by. It's been endorsed by WHO.
Check out this link: http://www.sodis.ch/Text2002/T-Application.htm
I read from another forum that this was heavily advocated to the Reming-devastated province of Albay at the height of their crisis late last year when disease was breaking out due to water contamination.
I remember a volunteer from Switzerland brought it to their attention.
Hi Angie – Thanks for sharing that! It might be useful for some!
You know the biggest culprit for montezuma's revenge is E.Coli infection. Over here in the PI though I have heard the biggest cuprits are Girardia Lambia and Amoebic Dysintery. I had intermittent Girardisis since coming over here and just nothing would get rid of it, until the maid made a tea of Guava leaves. That tea smelled and tasted horrible but it cleared me up in one dose and I haven't had problems since.
Hi Louis – Being cleared up is a good thing! 😆 I speak from experience!
i have been to Gensan three times and will go again in october. i always drink the local water and never have had a problem.
Hi Robert – I used to live in GenSan, and I can definitely say that I could not handle the water there. Not only did it make me sick, it also smelled terrible. Now, though….. General Santos has no city water, their water is from shallow wells, so the water quality can vary greatly from one location to another.
nice having you in davao bob. what is your favorite fruit since you are in davao and all.
Thank you butch. My favorite fruit? It’s a tossup between Pomelo and Mangosteen.