The tap water here seems fine. I boil it for five
minutes and drink it, use it for cooking and brushing my teeth and I haven’t
gotten sick or died (yet).
I stopped using bottled water when I realized a) it’s absurd
to buy water in such large quantities! What did they build water pipes for
then? b) I can’t lug 5L bottles of water home all the time from the
supermarket. I walk everywhere here. c) those large plastic jugs seem awfully
wasteful. I don’t know whether there’s any kind of recycling system in place
for them, so I figure I won’t even put any into the system.
I know lots of expats who don’t even bother boiling the tap
water before using it to drink or cook or brush their teeth. One day if I’m
feeling especially fearless I will brush my teeth with water straight from the
tap. For now, I’m a big kuku (chicken).
