Back in 1985 I spent a week in a downtown Cozumel hotel off the town square. Nice place, they had 5 gallon bottled water for the guest. The morning of Day 5, the bottle was empty and I asked the maid to replace it with a full one. While waiting, I walked out to the garden and she was filling the bottle from a water hose. I kept drinking the water anyway and never got sick.
I recently moved to Baja sur California my wife's family is from here and none of them use the water drinking or cooking. We are having a new home being built and have a whole house water filtration system with UV being put in. The system will save our pipes and appliances and will be drinkable, system is about 1500 us dollars and in my opinion we'll worth it
@@slackerman333 what curious, both countries citizens looking to become economical refugies by different reasons but economical refugies any way. Each more USA citizens are thinking about come to live at Mexico.
While in Mexico I usually wash my veggies and fruits first with tap water, then boiled tap water, then with bottled water and on top, spraying with vodka. I feel happy all day long.
My Mexican wife got typhoid fever from brushing her teeth with sink water in Chiapas last month. I saw her doing that and practically knocked the brush out of her hand. Another suggestion regarding food/water borne illnesses in Mexico. When eating at a restaurant do a quick look at the kitchen to check for cleanliness of the staff, etc. Oh, and I never eat raw vegetables at any less than outstanding restaurant. That led to three days in the hospital with shigella.
Is the same here in the USA, The report ranked which states are polluting U.S. waterways the most. The top 10, starting with the highest amount of toxic releases: Indiana, Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Virginia, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio.
@@qroo it depends were you lived in Mexico im from Uruapan, Michoacan and mostly all the water comes from the Rio cupatitzio. All my families drinks from the faucet the only thing we do is boil the water. Not all cities have a river run thru like Uruapan. Check a video about this city Parque Nacional de Uruapan the water comes out of the earth.
Wow. I’ve lived in Mexico most of my life (in CDMX nine years now) and have never seen that effect when boiling water. I use tap water when brushing my teeth, though I don’t drink it, and we’ve always used boiled water for drinking, and just tap water for cooking without any problem at all that I’ve noticed. I guess there must be a lot of differences on the quality of water depending where you live and where your water comes from. I just wouldn’t generalize it to all of Mexico.
The tap water in CDMX is quite clean, which also was confirmed by a friend of mine who works in a chemical lab. However, I don't feel comfortable to drink it either. We've installed a water filter to save all the hassle with the bottles, got the water tested by the same friend I mentioned - and all is well!
My first trip for work in Mexico in 1989, I drank the city tap water, like a *fish.* I also got Montezuma's Revenge (dysentery) and almost DIED. I stayed sick for two years, and when I visited Mexico again i was very very cautious. I also take antiparasitics once every 4 months, timing it with my wife and my dogs. We don't use tap water for even boiling pasta. Washing only. The rooftop tank gets a liter of bleach every month, and emptied, cleaned thoroughly once a year. Never can be too careful.
I don't live in Mexico, but love it there. i go five times a year to Puerto Vallarta. I still go the way of bottled water, even when i brush my teeth. Love the video, Great information for all to heed.
It really does depend on what city and neighborhood you're in. I'm in Centro in Mazatlán and I feel fine brushing my teeth and doing dishes with the tap water. I have a filter on the kitchen sink and use it for drinking and cooking (not a UV disinfecting setup, just a filter system from Home Depot - it was inexpensive and I don't have to haul a garafone up my 35 steps). My tinaco is filled from a line on the street and I have a filter for that too. Clean the tinaco every January, and anytime the water decides to smell strange.
I've never seen a Rotoplas that was filled from a truck. But to all the other things in their water, yep, it is gross. I am very glad that I have an RO machine. The other thing I can't do with MX water is wash my solar panels, the Sarro (that white stuff you saw when you boiled it) builds up on the panel and lowers the efficiency of the panels
I remember one time in my city in Mexico they announce they were going to make the service of water good to drink. The thing is that for it to work the price of the service was going to increase like 10 or 15 dollars. There were protest not huge ones, but the people weren't happy, and they didn't do it. I understand the reason, because you can buy the garrafón of 20 L for 11 or 8 pesos, in a month i spend like 5 dollars in water. I would pay for it to be drinkable just for the convenience, but it wasn't destinate to be. (My receipt for water here in Mexico is 5 dollars a month so it was Doble o triple for water)
I live in Morelia and while I don't drink the tap I do coffee and cook with it, with no residu. For drinking water I take my ePura 20l garrafon on a pullcart 2 blocks away to fill it at the Water Zone for around 30 pesos. We also have fresh spring water at the falls outside of Morelia. Cheers😀
We live in Nuevo Vallarta on the Pacific Coast. The area has a treatment plant for the water so we can drink from the tap and cook with it. Now, if they could just upgrade their septic treatment plant to keep up with all the new hotels and condo complexes we would be happy.
My GF is Mexican ( Tampico) and every time I go to visit, she tapes a do not drink message on the faucet. I always forget how bad it is. Thanks for the videos. Btw-We stayed a few months back at Sea side and while driving around ,think I recognized the entrance to your casa.
I have always boiled tap water from South East Asia to Western Africa, including US. Recently, I have kept my boiled drinking water (tepid temperature) in pure copper bottle for at least a couple of hours and not more than 16 hours. That provides me with the essential mineral and not excessively. Copper also has anti bacterial and fungal properties.
SeaPal in Puerto Vallarta produces some good agua, at least in my neighborhood (Centro). They have a good informational website with alerts, and are seemingly transparent and well run. Vallarta of course benefits from a strong foreign and domestic tourism economy, which helps fund and prioritize quality large water systems and sewage. Our neighborhood has had new pipes installed withing the last 5 years. We have an under sink 6 stage filter including UV and we drink the water with confidence and so do our guests that stay when we are not in our condo. We've used the jugs for years and they work great. Having clean tap water is convenient as this means I don't have to whistle down the agua truck in a frenzy, or haul a jug from the mini-super. I still whistle them down for my case or 2 of Topo Chico. This also gives me all the focus I need to remember to go down to the calle at 10 pm for the sweet bread truck on Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays, or sprint for the steam whistle sweet potato cart when I hear it!
Agreed, we cook and drink the tap water in PV with no problem whatsoever. I've boiled the water many times and have never seen the goup Paul showed. But, we're lucky and it would be easy to get complacent or forget when we travel elsewhere in Mexico, so great video.
The landlord at our airbnb in Merida provided us with a rechargeable (USB) screw-on pump for our garrafones so they can just be put on the floor or a counter. No dispenser (or, as they say in the U.S. northeast "bubblah") necessary! First time I'd ever even heard of such a thing....
We have the same thing, it cost under $10USD and pumps a few weeks before it needs recharging. Sure beats the hand operated pump we had before. And we don't have to turn a 45 pound garrafon upside down in the dispenser type thing.
Another issue is the plastic itself, the jugs are plastic and no matter what "they" say, plastic is made from petroleum and it is not safe to drink that water long term. The plastic does leach into the water.
Great intel as always. 👍 I remember my first trip to Cancun and seeing an advertisement for the local utility company, featuring " Electrically Purified," water. Ya right! 🤣 Stuck with the bottled water on that trip, and the trip after, and so on... 😁
@@terrycavender And you didn't become immune to the local bacteria in a few days either. .. Like you did when your Mom first let you drink raw tap water wherever you lived. And maybe you wouldn't have gotten sick because any electrification would have killed the alleged bad guys. But by all means support big corporations if you want. I'm sure they have our best interest at heart. See P.T. Barnum.
To add a little bit more context to the water in Mexico, it depends on where you are in Mexico. My girlfriend's friend got Salmonella one time from the drinking water but that doesn't mean that all places in Mexico are like that. Supposedly, there is a lot of Chlorine in the Water in Pachuca de Soto, Hidalgo. This would make one think that there isn't too much living in the water due to chlorine. Another problem that exists there, is the ''Tinaco''. In Mexico, tinacos are very common. Sometimes the material used in the inside surface of the tinaco has asbestos(if it's an old one). If you are in Mexico, and have a new, antimicrobial surface on the inside surface of the tinaco(yes, that is common in Mexico) and if you had a carbon filter(filtering out the chlorine), in theory, you should be fine to drink the tap water in Pachuca de Soto, Hidalgo. However, I've read about how some of those antimicrobial surfaces not working like they should. I don't know what to make of that. Maybe problems with quality control???
Our tinaco is cleaned every 6 months or so. We pay only $15 per garrafon plus a flat $15 delivery fee no matter how many garrafones we need. The water in our area of Yucatan state has a very high calcium content, so we don't give it to our cats either, don't want to risk kidney stones. Another good video. - Anne
My hometown a city of one million, Saltillo, Coahuila, has a certification for safe drinking water. The neighboring city of Monterrey also has had this certification for many years. Many cities in the northern states of México have it because they are higher income cities and have much better infrastructure than states in the southern Mexico.
That's interesting! If I were specifically looking to spend 6 months in MX, and I wanted to look only in cities with that cert, how would I go about finding that info?
Are there any other popular cities with these certifications in northern MX that you know of? How could we find out which other cities might have this?
@@Katy32344 you have to research the city water company website for that particular city. I know of others cities because I've been there and have family who live there, cities like Monclova, Chihuahua, Tijuana, Aguascalientes have safe drinking water. But the best city to live in would be Monterrey, it is the most modern and "americanized " city in Mexico
I live in San Antonio, Texas by the way and supposedly we have very clean water, but I don't know of anyone who drinks it because it tastes terrible. If you boil it you will get the same result as you saw in this video.
I was getting very bad gas pains in my gut, and diarrhea as well, back in the mid 1980's while in Puerta Vallarta Mexico. I decided to stop these, I'd drink Corona Beer ( low alcohol content) and eat only fish, that was caught fresh. Well it did solve my stomach and diarrhea problem, but I lost about 12 lbs in 2 weeks. I'd do somewhat of the same if I went back there. I'd also bring antibiotics, ( Cepro/ Amoxi) I believe all alcohol is made with distilled water -- so it works.
I lived in a small town Mezcala Jalisco, we drank the tap water there it was safe but it tasted like crap because of the cleaning agent used there. So I drank tap water while in town, but when we went to work at dads ranch we always filled out decanters with spring water in a relatives property.
I enjoy your videos. I'm a permanent resident from the US; I live in the sierra norte de Oaxaca. We can drink the tap-water here; it's clean, sweet, delicious. That said, in el centro de Oaxaca I won't even bathe in it. I wondered after you shared the boiled water if you and Linda felt slim on your skin after showering in that water? I know of a couple of hotels in el centro de Oaxaca which have filtration systems. These are the only places I stay when in town and wanting a shower. I hate that slimy feeling on my skin and hair. I rented a place in el centro a couple years ago and paid for half of the water filtration system. It cost me $17,000MP and my landlord paid for the other half. It was worth it for the time I lived there. muchimas gracias
A water filtration system is something we considered, but we're both thrifty when it comes to those household expenditures and we decided to spend the money on vacations instead...lol. We recently sold that condo but we may install a filtration system in our next place.
@@qroo I was surprised with how affordable the filtration system was here in Oaxaca. My landlord at the time was a retired Prof of Arquetectura. He was familiar with the system and had family members (claro que si!) do the installation saving some money. It was worth the $850USD from me. He paid the other half. His place rents for more now, too. The solar hot water systems here are also affordable. I have a 10-tube system that I've been able to install in every home I've rented. Now I'm getting ready to build a little casita and the calintedor will have a permanent home... Curious, have you looked at Oaxaca as a possible place to find or build a house? Since you mentioned it a couple of times. I'm the only gringo in my village but el centro de Oaxaca, and the coast, Hualtuco, Puerto Escondido have thriving gringo communities. Looking fwd to what's next on your list of informative videos. nos vemos 🙂
Montazumas revenge! It does not just come from the water. You must wash fruits and vegetables. I do not even brush my teeth with the water. However the weight loss is spectacular if you do end up with it. lol
Hey, greatings from Denmark. Just love your videos, very informative and to the point. amazing that you in the US can retire after only 25 years on the job. I have been working since i was 15, now im 52 and must go on to im 69 years. Love your killer intro, how did you make it????
Hello! My father is from Copenhagen. Thanks for the kind words about the intro but I didn't do much to make it. It was a template I got Envato and then I just popped the photos in. I added the percussion beat because it is not copywriteable and I thought it fit it well. :)
Not everyone in the United States is able to retire after 25 years of work. What gets most of us is the health insurance. I had to continue to work until age 60 for the insurance, even after my 'retirement' from an auto factory that closed. From 60-62 I had no health insurance. At 62 I was able to collect social security on top of my meager pension. At 65 I will be eligible for Medicare, which will cost me $350 per month and will not cover 100% of all costs. And I am one of the lucky ones because of my husband owning a house.
VimasViking--Denmark has national Health care for all, unreal high speed transit systems and tyoe of N.Socialist structure that benefits society - country, as the pathetic Gulag States of funding more evil wars, will never have !
Oh nice reminder but a bit too late Just came to CDMX to spend Christmas with family and 2day ago I got 1/2 liter water (not bottled) and still in bed with nausea cramps and back pain even brushing theeeth at night I had to wake up middle to rinse again with bottled water That solve the rinsing but not my stomach thanks x this vid,
I live in Hawaii right now and don't even drink the tap water here let alone in Mexico. I'll be in Puerto Vallarta at the end of this month though and I'm looking forward to my entire cost of living being roughly what I pay in rent right now in Waikiki.
@@alohastateofmind3565 I love Hawaii and always will but the cost of living is getting insane and it isn't just rent either. I spend in a week on groceries what I'll most likely spend in a month in Mexico. I decided to move because my lease is up on the 1st, my landlord wants to jack up my rent and I couldn't find anything affordable near where I want to live. I did a bunch of research and ended up settling on Puerto Vallarta because of low crime and extremely affordable cost of living relative to Hawaii. With what I get from the VA I can survive in Hawaii but I can thrive in Mexico
@@crypticnomad Yeah I understand. The transistion won't be to hard weather wise. In my opinion the food in PV is mo bettah den Hawaii. Plenty of options and the aloha spirit is alive in Mexico. Mexican people are very friendly and welcoming. No go home haole you flew here we grew here mentality.
I lived all my life (40+ years) in Mexico, (lower) mid class... the only people I know that drinks from the tap, are people that can afford filtering systems. Even in poor neighbourhoods they buy big jugs, the difference is that in rich neighbourhoods maybe they buy Ciel Water, while the rest probably go for a cheaper option, even refilled ones.
LOL Such a great video. I know literally NO ONE, NUNCA, NADA, ZIPO, ZERO, ZILCHO, Mexicans who use the tap water for anything but showers and washing. Bottled water for everything and anything that may or will pass your lips. Paul, kudos for being so calm and politically correct, always willing to acknowledge there are some who will not head your wise advice, LOL!!
I bought a highly rated 6 stage water filtration system after moving to Zapopan. Still haven’t installed it because I don’t believe it removes bacteria. After 4 years, I’m used to using bottled water. Biggest pain is making a big batch of pasta for ready made meals and not being able to cool off with cold tap water. I still haven’t met anyone here that hesitates to brush their teeth with tap water, I do the same and have had no issues.
Reverse osmosis with filtration and passing through ultra violet light system to kill bacteria (sometimes called electronic cleaning) would be the cleanest. But far too often the other problem is that it becomes "too" clean to where the water has no micro minerals (not suitable for drinking) and then dehydrate the body.
@@dodgeplow not true. Depends on who you are and what activities and level of activities. Many people eat once or twice a day. If they do hard fasted cardio and run low on minerals. Ultra marathon runners, iron man competitors, motocross riders, tour de France riders,....many examples
@@DrAJ_LatinAmerica Sweating significantly from exercise would require more sodium than what is usually found in typical water, especially if only eating once a day. But that is an exceptional case. Otherwise, my statement is completely accurate. I'm not discussing a 10K race followed by fasting until nightfall. That is a ridiculous example.
@@dodgeplow but not ridiculous. Lots and lots of weekend warriors not eating correctly and then going out on weekends to race dirt bikes, ride dirt bikes, work on the farm in the hot sun while trying to diet. Death rates from bad diets, heat stroke in the sun, dehydration at the beach, young adults on spring break there are literally thousands of examples that happen every day !!! Lots of my medical friends work at or have worked at hospitals near the beaches. Again so many examples. Young kids die every year from too much water not enough electrolytes...... I have worked in sports nutrition, private practice health care for many years. Seen some crazy things.
It varies from community to community. The tap water here in the part of Chapala where we are is good enough for cooking. But we don’t drink it - it occasionally has things in it that need to be boiled.
Yeah saw a lot of bottled water use in both MX TH and in mainland china also. Tinacos get treated with chlorine pills to go into the home but its used for washing maybe cooking etc. But typically boiled. At least my well water is.
I was in Merida recently. I was very careful with boiling tap water and making sure I didn't ingest any in the shower. I had bottled water etc. I got sick anyway. I have always wondered why the Mexicans don't chlorinate the water. It isn't that expensive to do that.
I live in San Carlos, Sonora half the year. I do drink a bit of the water almost every day. Swallowing pills, brushing teeth, rinsing mouth. We do cook with the tap water. But.....Just as Paul says the mineral content is very high. The water comes from wells 140 meters deep. It has a lot of Calcium, Magnesium, and some Sodium. There are almost zero sulfates - which cause the water to taste bad. Carbonates, Bicarbonates, and Chlorides predominate. Everyone who has taken a sample north for analysis comes back with the same report: safe, better than some municipal water systems in the USA - but very hard water. Even though it is safe where I live, I have garafones filled at 15 pesos for drinking water, coffee, SodaStream, etc. The water in Mexico differs. It is even different between San Carlos, Sonora and Guaymas, Sonora - a distance of 15 kilometers. I will not drink the water in Guaymas. The infrastructure is constantly breaking and the source is way different. Do empty, clean, and super-chlorinate your tinacos yearly. Keep the cover on also. We have our tinacos serviced in late September or early October before most of us return to Mexico.
I've had one of those stomach viruses before and trust me, you do not want that. Liquid was exploding out of me like 6 times an hour for 20 hours straight. It was torture.
I inadvertently used the Mexican tap water to make coffee in an apartment in Cancun Malecon rentals for the first 3 days I was there. I was fine and didn’t notice anything. However I moved to bottled water once I realised it was No-no.
@@MagaMonkeysMovetoRussia Not necessarily. There are things in water, including heavy metals, and pesticide residues, that will not be removed by boiling. I don’t even drink the tap water here in the US unless I have no choice! And I didn’t even bring up fluoride.
Just remember that water must be boiled for a certain amount of time to be effectively decontaminated for microorganisms. It depends on your altitude because that changes the temperature of boiling. Water in a coffee machine just boils briefly as far as I can tell. That may not be sufficient.
You of course are correct, always be extremely careful with any wat situations in Mexico. Whether it be salads or even ice cubes. Ice cubes with a hole in the middle generally come from purified water, just saying.
Calcium in water is not a problem, I drink a lot of tea during the day at work and we have bottled water there but it has such a calcium concentration that my tea comes with literally little stones. And it's one of the most expensive spanish bottled water, Solan de Cabras. I agree it is not great but it is not dangerous except for stones on the long term.
There is a reason Thailand tops the list as it is simply verboten in all regards. We "showered" with bottled water from our second or third trip there and a friend caught E Coli while not using any water outside of his shower (which is even rougher when your trips are all for boxing and are training 8 hours a day. India as well. Possibly even worse as I have never seen filthier rivers. They dump all their dead bodies and trash in the same rivers used for bathing and drinking
The only water I drink from the Tap in America is when I'm in NY City. I don't drink the tap water in any other state. I've lived in NJ, CA, WVA, VA, CT, and Florida and other State I never drink the water.
You'll be fine...until you're not, I like that...kinda like back up until it sounds expensive. Seriously though, I don't even drink the tap water in the States
Just as safe as it is here generally. Mexicans get "Montezuma's revenge" when they drink our tap water or when abroad. Go to a different U.S. city and you might get the runs.. Different bacteria everywhere, nothing to get upset or worried over.
Fear porn sells bottled water. I drink mainly distilled water for reasons, however I'm not "afraid" of tap water and bottled water is always of dubious origin. Demineralization is nonsense. Go talk to fluoride about that.
I'm not too far from you in a rural area near Merida.... There they only charge 10 pesos per bottle. They just drive through the village at a certain time every day other than Sunday, honk the horn, and it's done. But you're definitely correct when you say that tap water and also well water (via tinaco) are not for drinking unless your filter it. At 10 pesos per bottle of purified water a filtration system makes little sense.....
You can drink the water in San Carlos, Sonora, but it tastes terrible, I mean really terrible, so nobody does. All the pipes are in the process of being replaced due to decades of bad leaks so that might be a detractor, too, in the realm of who knows what’s in there just now.
Nice video Paul, thanks for your input. I realize you aren't interested in a "system" at the house/condo but do you know if there are any that actually do take care of the bacteria and all the other issues? Personal interest only, here. Thanks.
Mexico in general, has the same rule's, regulation's and various local, state and federal rule's, regulation's and law's the U.S.A. has in place. The one thing that set's Mexico apart from the U.S.A. is the enforcement of those various local, state and federal rule's, regulation's and law's. The ability of obtaining clean water is only truely available by either one haveing an osmos's system, which mean's constantly having to replace expensive filter's. OR purchase bottled water from one of the extremely few water bottling companies. Which in the long run, unless one can well afford to purchase the filter's; Considerably cheaper. But that takes one having to go to the various places that actually sell the bottled water, which is time consuming. The majority of citizen simply purchase their bottled water from any one of the vast and numerious trucks that are available almost 24/7/365. Which state they get their bottled water from the numerious local bottled water companies which by law are required to change their osmosis filter's based on the number of gallon aka liter's they bottle each and every day. Which if and when done as regulated, is extremely expensive when they need to be replaced based on the regulations every day. I live next door to such a bussiness in which numerious pickup trucks for the 18 hours a day the bussiness is open. Bring empty bottle's and exchange them for full one's, and then proceed to drive around the various barrio's and sell them for a slight profit. And as such have watched aka observed them at all times of they being open, and rarely over the year's of my observation, do I ever see them change the filter's. One can simply count the number of filter's they dispose of IF and when they do. Then there's the issue of having ice in one drink any where other than purchasing it from the various stores that sell it. The ice machines at any and all of the avilible resturants and hotel's. Depend on their changing the filter's also. Which is also rarely done based on the number of gallon's aka liter's they utilize when making the ice that is in your drink. The issue isn't with the local, state water being originally supplied. It's with the intrastuctor's in which it gets to where it needs to be utilized. The newest of housing developments have new intrastuctor's that brings water to it. But the intrastructor that provides the water to the new intrastructor is the same as it is to old communities. So unless one can afford to replace their expensive osmosis water filter's based on the number of gallon's aka liter's they utilize religiously. Only purchase water via the various large generally available almost every where. Those companies that are large enough to be Corporations. Meaning a OXXO, a KIOSKO etc. etc. etc. I utilize because the water being fed to my tinaco from the city is sparatic, two 1100 liter tinaco's. And have not one but four filter's in place prior to the water entering then. Two of which are carbon, two are the conventional white ones one generally only utilizes. And I replaced all of them on a month bases. Though there is only my wife and I which utilizes the water and only for bathing and the washing of clothes. Though the water is considerably cheaper than it is in the U.S.A. when it comes from your tap. It's no where to the N-th degree as a safe as it is in the U.S.A.
I did an all inclusive vacation in Playa del Carmen. I wad told not to drink the tap water but I made the mistake of using the water from the sink to brush my teeth. On my sixth day I got the infamous Montezuma’s Revenge. I don’t know if people get used to that. What’s the point of having a sink with water that can’t be used safely for personal hygiene. I imagine one can get it by merely washing his face through their eyes.
Merida,Yucatan water is the cleanest in all of Mexico. We brush our teeth with it and wash our vegetables. Have never seen brown water come out of the tap.
Thanks! I'm a hiker and will bring a Sawyer filter anyway. And eColi, if they adapted so can I, in a pinch. Giardia, ect, been there, not interested, but who is? The locals can't adapt to parasites either. But the minerals, wow. I had no idea. And boiling water to sterility anyway? I know most inland cities are at least as high as Denver, with lower boiling points, so boiling water is less hot, kills bugs slower. Bottled, thanks
Thanks for the video. I've really enjoyed watching much of what you produce, but I'm wondering if there is a way to contact you with some specific questions about living in Mexico, as my wife and I are strongly considering "snowbirding" in the Baja Peninsula area starting in the fall of 2022. I would be grateful for you experienced advice on a couple of issues that aren't addressed in your videos. Thanks!!
Hi Tim. If you join our Patreon page, you can attend our live Q&A sessions on our private Facebook group amd ask us questions through that group. There is an option that will give you a private email address to contact us directly: www.patreon.com/qroo
Every place in Mexico is different. When I visit Mexico (Jalisco State), I fill my garrafones from the line before it goes into the tinacos and me and my family drink it and never get sick.
I have nearly ruined two of my last vacations from the revenge. Next time I visit I must visit the supermarket and prepare most of my food in my room. The first time it struck I was on a bus, the next-a boat tour. 😵💫
@David Wang strange response. But i just got back from Mérida, and my host family's washing machine took forever to fill because it was clogged with saltpeter. Anyway, the point is, boiling does not fix every kind of contamination.
Hi Paul and Linda🤓 Thank you so much for all of your super informative videos! We are moving to Mexico quite soon and you're always very helpful. I am curious about showering and/or bathing water though. Do you guys use your tap water for that from a tinaca(sic?), and if so do you get that grody looking film everywhere? What happens if you open your mouth in the shower lol?
We use tap water to shower. The hard water covers the walls and shower doors with a film, but the cleaning lady take sit off with vinegar and water. DON'T DRINK THE SHOWER WATER! Just keep your mouth shut like you're at a public pool and everything will be fine.
@@qroo but then you have that film all over you? What's kissing or more like when a couple gets together? Not trying to be rude, just really interested.
@@qroo Thanks again for the info, but what about that film you were talking about? Is it on your skin and hair or do you not notice that? On another topic, do you have suggestions regarding shipping stuff to Mexico from Canada (in our case)? That's one thing that's become a major stumbling block! We don't want to take much but certain things, yes for sure. Any info would be so appreciated! Thanks again.
@@gustavoperez5480 it's sad if you don't have natural springs where you live. That was the best tasting water, I don't get those where I live now in the USA.
HARD WATER? Those minerals make some industrial grade rings in all my toilets, ALL my faucets, and the shower floor. I use a LOT of CLR, and not a Pumice Stone in the whole city.
@@qroo Easier than replacing them and certainly cheaper would be to occasionally remove the head and soak it in vinegar, say, overnight. Most of the buildup will disappear or become softer and easier to remove with very little elbow grease.
5:00: Yeah, I had a boil water advisory in Canada a few years ago, and man does that fuck up the taste... IN CANADA. In BC, not like Toronto or something.
Yes in Mexico we buy filter water always... And I still do buy filter water here in USA especially after what happened in Flint. And after seeing the sedement on the shower head, it might taste ok but healthy is not.
No es un problema de México en general, depende de la región, acá en el norte es seguro tomar el agua y aún hirviendola no quedan esos residuos, esos problemas son más que nada del sur y centro.
No, yo tengo casa en San Felipe Baja y el agua no es buena. Hasta mis perros se enfermaron con diarrhea por darles agua de la llave. Ahora es solo agua de botella para todos.
Great questions! I went to the water treatment facility near our condo to check it out. Everything looked very sanitary but I still boiled the water to see if it was tap water. It did not have any of the mineral residue associated with tap water. I feel better about it.
@@qroo I have lived in Texas, Illinois and New Mexico and when I boiled tap water I always got the residue on the spoon. I also noticed a high degree of bubbles from detergent left in the city water. I drink bottled water most of the time now.
Here in Mexico it can come from many sources depending on the brand. Most start as municipal / city water and then processed by the water bottler. Some have strict standards and others do not. Buyer beware. A good source is water produced by Pepsico, Coca-Cola or Nestlé. For example Ciel is a brand of water owned by coke. It is the same quality level they use for making coke products. Gerber baby water (yes the same baby food company) is one of the highest quality waters in Mexico for the price.
@@DrAJ_LatinAmerica I use E-Pura brand usually if the truck comes around often enough as I think it tastes better, but otherwise, I try to get Ciel. Good call out.
I have lived in Puerto Vallarta since around 1996. PV is one of two cities that have received certifications regarding the purity of the drinking water for the past 20 years. However, as pointed out in this video, the water may leave the plant completely pure but depending on where you are in the city, what comes out of the tap is not so good. I bathe and wash my teeth using water from the tap. I have never had an issue. I use tap water to cook food and never noticed pasta or rice tasting off or tasting funny. The hubs has said that using tap water makes coffee taste horrible but he is Italian and what he calls coffee would kill most US citizens. I do not drink coffee so I cannot say one way or another. That being said, our drinking water comes in gargarrafón but unlike in this video, the water truck comes along the street a couple times a week announcing its presence with a loudspeaker playing a catchy little number followed by announcing "agua" loudly [as opposed to loudly announcing "aguas" being yelled loudly which means something entirely different in Mexico]. This is the water I use for drinking or to prepare any food that will be eaten uncooked. As someone else mentioned, it very much depends on where you are in Mexico [or anywhere] as to the safety of the tap water. Newcomers here always ask about the water and it is a valid question. I tell them what I do and have done for years. I also tell people that they should do what they feel they need to do depending on their situation.
Good video ! We the mexicans balance the loose weight with tortillas ., kidding when i was kid i use to drink it but was long time ago with much much less population idk now but my mom always use the garrafon and is all good .
Complete waste of money in the US. Would never waste money on bottled water but it has become a trendy elitist thing for a while now to buy bottled water. Have been drinking tap for 55 years and never had a problem. Don't even find bottled water tastier and much of it is the same water as tap anyway. Scientific studies show no improvement in safety or even taste in blind taste tests. Mexico, however, is a different story.
@@TheScientificSkeptic tap water might be “safer” in the U.S. but it’s still contaminated with some bacteria and saturated with nasty chemicals to make it clean, not to mention all the contamination from pipes…u sure are making you’re kidneys and liver work extra hard by not drinking filtered or bottled water…don’t ever trust the drinking water in USA just ask people from Michigan
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Where does it come from tho lake,river,well
Back in 1985 I spent a week in a downtown Cozumel hotel off the town square. Nice place, they had 5 gallon bottled water for the guest. The morning of Day 5, the bottle was empty and I asked the maid to replace it with a full one. While waiting, I walked out to the garden and she was filling the bottle from a water hose. I kept drinking the water anyway and never got sick.
I recently moved to Baja sur California my wife's family is from here and none of them use the water drinking or cooking. We are having a new home being built and have a whole house water filtration system with UV being put in. The system will save our pipes and appliances and will be drinkable, system is about 1500 us dollars and in my opinion we'll worth it
All that stuff with 1500 dollars,😂😂😂
@@gustavoperez5480 cheaper than the cost back home in the 🇺🇸
@@slackerman333 what curious, both countries citizens looking to become economical refugies by different reasons but economical refugies any way. Each more USA citizens are thinking about come to live at Mexico.
@@gustavoperez5480 considering my wife is a mexican citizen I have every right too be in Mexico
@@slackerman333 I'm not talking about you.
While in Mexico I usually wash my veggies and fruits first with tap water, then boiled tap water, then with bottled water and on top, spraying with vodka. I feel happy all day long.
My Mexican wife got typhoid fever from brushing her teeth with sink water in Chiapas last month. I saw her doing that and practically knocked the brush out of her hand. Another suggestion regarding food/water borne illnesses in Mexico. When eating at a restaurant do a quick look at the kitchen to check for cleanliness of the staff, etc. Oh, and I never eat raw vegetables at any less than outstanding restaurant. That led to three days in the hospital with shigella.
Boy. Why you just don't stay at the USA, you Will be very safe and protected at your home at your country. It is what it is.
Yikes! Thanks for the heads up. I’ve always heard the same thing and now I know why. Thank you for enlightening us😳
You are so welcome! Thanks for watching. :)
Is the same here in the USA,
The report ranked which states are polluting U.S. waterways the most. The top 10, starting with the highest amount of toxic releases: Indiana, Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Virginia, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio.
@@qroo it depends were you lived in Mexico im from Uruapan, Michoacan and mostly all the water comes from the Rio cupatitzio. All my families drinks from the faucet the only thing we do is boil the water. Not all cities have a river run thru like Uruapan. Check a video about this city Parque Nacional de Uruapan the water comes out of the earth.
Wow. I’ve lived in Mexico most of my life (in CDMX nine years now) and have never seen that effect when boiling water. I use tap water when brushing my teeth, though I don’t drink it, and we’ve always used boiled water for drinking, and just tap water for cooking without any problem at all that I’ve noticed. I guess there must be a lot of differences on the quality of water depending where you live and where your water comes from. I just wouldn’t generalize it to all of Mexico.
CDMX tap water is generally on the safe side in the newer neighborhood; I'm living in Morelia now and the water here is terrible.
You speak English well
Ive been to mexico more than i got fingers and toes since 1984, DO NOT DRINK THE WATER....PERIOD.
@@nicholasking1018 u joking right
The tap water in CDMX is quite clean, which also was confirmed by a friend of mine who works in a chemical lab. However, I don't feel comfortable to drink it either. We've installed a water filter to save all the hassle with the bottles, got the water tested by the same friend I mentioned - and all is well!
My first trip for work in Mexico in 1989, I drank the city tap water, like a *fish.* I also got Montezuma's Revenge (dysentery) and almost DIED. I stayed sick for two years, and when I visited Mexico again i was very very cautious. I also take antiparasitics once every 4 months, timing it with my wife and my dogs. We don't use tap water for even boiling pasta. Washing only. The rooftop tank gets a liter of bleach every month, and emptied, cleaned thoroughly once a year. Never can be too careful.
I think I have had the same thing for a while now, what anti parasites meds do you take?
I don't live in Mexico, but love it there. i go five times a year to Puerto Vallarta. I still go the way of bottled water, even when i brush my teeth. Love the
video, Great information for all to heed.
You are extremely ridiculous.
It really does depend on what city and neighborhood you're in. I'm in Centro in Mazatlán and I feel fine brushing my teeth and doing dishes with the tap water. I have a filter on the kitchen sink and use it for drinking and cooking (not a UV disinfecting setup, just a filter system from Home Depot - it was inexpensive and I don't have to haul a garafone up my 35 steps). My tinaco is filled from a line on the street and I have a filter for that too. Clean the tinaco every January, and anytime the water decides to smell strange.
Yes it does
Have lived in Thailand, Philippines and Mexico; I've always drunk bottled water😎
I've never seen a Rotoplas that was filled from a truck. But to all the other things in their water, yep, it is gross. I am very glad that I have an RO machine. The other thing I can't do with MX water is wash my solar panels, the Sarro (that white stuff you saw when you boiled it) builds up on the panel and lowers the efficiency of the panels
Calcium? You might be able to neutralize that before you spray it on the panel(?)
I remember one time in my city in Mexico they announce they were going to make the service of water good to drink. The thing is that for it to work the price of the service was going to increase like 10 or 15 dollars. There were protest not huge ones, but the people weren't happy, and they didn't do it. I understand the reason, because you can buy the garrafón of 20 L for 11 or 8 pesos, in a month i spend like 5 dollars in water. I would pay for it to be drinkable just for the convenience, but it wasn't destinate to be. (My receipt for water here in Mexico is 5 dollars a month so it was Doble o triple for water)
I live in Morelia and while I don't drink the tap I do coffee and cook with it, with no residu. For drinking water I take my ePura 20l garrafon on a pullcart 2 blocks away to fill it at the Water Zone for around 30 pesos. We also have fresh spring water at the falls outside of Morelia. Cheers😀
We live in Nuevo Vallarta on the Pacific Coast. The area has a treatment plant for the water so we can drink from the tap and cook with it. Now, if they could just upgrade their septic treatment plant to keep up with all the new hotels and condo complexes we would be happy.
That's great!
The advert that popped up before your video played was for Aguakan 😂 oh the irony lol. Great vlog !!
Big brother is watching....lol.
My GF is Mexican ( Tampico) and every time I go to visit, she tapes a do not drink message on the faucet. I always forget how bad it is. Thanks for the videos. Btw-We stayed a few months back at Sea side and while driving around ,think I recognized the entrance to your casa.
I have always boiled tap water from South East Asia to Western Africa, including US. Recently, I have kept my boiled drinking water (tepid temperature) in pure copper bottle for at least a couple of hours and not more than 16 hours. That provides me with the essential mineral and not excessively. Copper also has anti bacterial and fungal properties.
Outstanding info Q! Loved the visual with the boiled water. YUK!
Thanks!
SeaPal in Puerto Vallarta produces some good agua, at least in my neighborhood (Centro). They have a good informational website with alerts, and are seemingly transparent and well run. Vallarta of course benefits from a strong foreign and domestic tourism economy, which helps fund and prioritize quality large water systems and sewage. Our neighborhood has had new pipes installed withing the last 5 years. We have an under sink 6 stage filter including UV and we drink the water with confidence and so do our guests that stay when we are not in our condo.
We've used the jugs for years and they work great. Having clean tap water is convenient as this means I don't have to whistle down the agua truck in a frenzy, or haul a jug from the mini-super. I still whistle them down for my case or 2 of Topo Chico. This also gives me all the focus I need to remember to go down to the calle at 10 pm for the sweet bread truck on Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays, or sprint for the steam whistle sweet potato cart when I hear it!
Agreed, we cook and drink the tap water in PV with no problem whatsoever. I've boiled the water many times and have never seen the goup Paul showed. But, we're lucky and it would be easy to get complacent or forget when we travel elsewhere in Mexico, so great video.
@@waynejared9506 goop = pipe scale (calcium and the like)
The landlord at our airbnb in Merida provided us with a rechargeable (USB) screw-on pump for our garrafones so they can just be put on the floor or a counter. No dispenser (or, as they say in the U.S. northeast "bubblah") necessary! First time I'd ever even heard of such a thing....
We have the same thing, it cost under $10USD and pumps a few weeks before it needs recharging. Sure beats the hand operated pump we had before. And we don't have to turn a 45 pound garrafon upside down in the dispenser type thing.
Another issue is the plastic itself, the jugs are plastic and no matter what "they" say, plastic is made from petroleum and it is not safe to drink that water long term. The plastic does leach into the water.
Great intel as always. 👍 I remember my first trip to Cancun and seeing an advertisement for the local utility company, featuring " Electrically Purified," water. Ya right! 🤣 Stuck with the bottled water on that trip, and the trip after, and so on... 😁
Electrically purified? That sounds interesting...lol.
@@qroo yep, if I read it right, that's what it said.
Electrical purification would work great.
@@scottmerrow7617 still didn't drink the water.... 🙄
@@terrycavender And you didn't become immune to the local bacteria in a few days either. .. Like you did when your Mom first let you drink raw tap water wherever you lived. And maybe you wouldn't have gotten sick because any electrification would have killed the alleged bad guys. But by all means support big corporations if you want. I'm sure they have our best interest at heart. See P.T. Barnum.
To add a little bit more context to the water in Mexico, it depends on where you are in Mexico. My girlfriend's friend got Salmonella one time from the drinking water but that doesn't mean that all places in Mexico are like that. Supposedly, there is a lot of Chlorine in the Water in Pachuca de Soto, Hidalgo. This would make one think that there isn't too much living in the water due to chlorine. Another problem that exists there, is the ''Tinaco''. In Mexico, tinacos are very common. Sometimes the material used in the inside surface of the tinaco has asbestos(if it's an old one). If you are in Mexico, and have a new, antimicrobial surface on the inside surface of the tinaco(yes, that is common in Mexico) and if you had a carbon filter(filtering out the chlorine), in theory, you should be fine to drink the tap water in Pachuca de Soto, Hidalgo. However, I've read about how some of those antimicrobial surfaces not working like they should. I don't know what to make of that. Maybe problems with quality control???
Thank you for taking the time to share that.
Our tinaco is cleaned every 6 months or so. We pay only $15 per garrafon plus a flat $15 delivery fee no matter how many garrafones we need. The water in our area of Yucatan state has a very high calcium content, so we don't give it to our cats either, don't want to risk kidney stones. Another good video. - Anne
@David Wang yes, kidney stones. I know a few people here who use tap water to cook some food items. I know nobody, locals included, who drinks it.
My hometown a city of one million, Saltillo, Coahuila, has a certification for safe drinking water. The neighboring city of Monterrey also has had this certification for many years. Many cities in the northern states of México have it because they are higher income cities and have much better infrastructure than states in the southern Mexico.
Thanks for sharing that information. :)
That's interesting! If I were specifically looking to spend 6 months in MX, and I wanted to look only in cities with that cert, how would I go about finding that info?
Are there any other popular cities with these certifications in northern MX that you know of? How could we find out which other cities might have this?
@@Katy32344 you have to research the city water company website for that particular city. I know of others cities because I've been there and have family who live there, cities like Monclova, Chihuahua, Tijuana, Aguascalientes have safe drinking water. But the best city to live in would be Monterrey, it is the most modern and "americanized " city in Mexico
I live in San Antonio, Texas by the way and supposedly we have very clean water, but I don't know of anyone who drinks it because it tastes terrible. If you boil it you will get the same result as you saw in this video.
I was getting very bad gas pains in my gut, and diarrhea as well, back in the mid
1980's while in Puerta Vallarta Mexico. I decided to stop these, I'd drink Corona
Beer ( low alcohol content) and eat only fish, that was caught fresh. Well it did
solve my stomach and diarrhea problem, but I lost about 12 lbs in 2 weeks. I'd do
somewhat of the same if I went back there. I'd also bring antibiotics, ( Cepro/ Amoxi)
I believe all alcohol is made with distilled water -- so it works.
I lived in a small town Mezcala Jalisco, we drank the tap water there it was safe but it tasted like crap because of the cleaning agent used there. So I drank tap water while in town, but when we went to work at dads ranch we always filled out decanters with spring water in a relatives property.
I live in Jocotepec, Jalisco
The water quality depends on where you are in Mexico and most hotels have filtration systems.
I enjoy your videos. I'm a permanent resident from the US; I live in the sierra norte de Oaxaca. We can drink the tap-water here; it's clean, sweet, delicious. That said, in el centro de Oaxaca I won't even bathe in it. I wondered after you shared the boiled water if you and Linda felt slim on your skin after showering in that water? I know of a couple of hotels in el centro de Oaxaca which have filtration systems. These are the only places I stay when in town and wanting a shower. I hate that slimy feeling on my skin and hair. I rented a place in el centro a couple years ago and paid for half of the water filtration system. It cost me $17,000MP and my landlord paid for the other half. It was worth it for the time I lived there. muchimas gracias
A water filtration system is something we considered, but we're both thrifty when it comes to those household expenditures and we decided to spend the money on vacations instead...lol. We recently sold that condo but we may install a filtration system in our next place.
@@qroo I was surprised with how affordable the filtration system was here in Oaxaca. My landlord at the time was a retired Prof of Arquetectura. He was familiar with the system and had family members (claro que si!) do the installation saving some money. It was worth the $850USD from me. He paid the other half. His place rents for more now, too. The solar hot water systems here are also affordable. I have a 10-tube system that I've been able to install in every home I've rented. Now I'm getting ready to build a little casita and the calintedor will have a permanent home... Curious, have you looked at Oaxaca as a possible place to find or build a house? Since you mentioned it a couple of times. I'm the only gringo in my village but el centro de Oaxaca, and the coast, Hualtuco, Puerto Escondido have thriving gringo communities. Looking fwd to what's next on your list of informative videos. nos vemos 🙂
Saw that title and said, "oh man, I gotta watch that." I usually hear that quote in my mind with a Spanish accent.
Montazumas revenge! It does not just come from the water. You must wash fruits and vegetables. I do not even brush my teeth with the water. However the weight loss is spectacular if you do end up with it. lol
Moctezuma
Hey, greatings from Denmark. Just love your videos, very informative and to the point. amazing that you in the US can retire after only 25 years on the job. I have been working since i was 15, now im 52 and must go on to im 69 years. Love your killer intro, how did you make it????
Hello! My father is from Copenhagen. Thanks for the kind words about the intro but I didn't do much to make it. It was a template I got Envato and then I just popped the photos in. I added the percussion beat because it is not copywriteable and I thought it fit it well. :)
Not everyone in the United States is able to retire after 25 years of work. What gets most of us is the health insurance. I had to continue to work until age 60 for the insurance, even after my 'retirement' from an auto factory that closed. From 60-62 I had no health insurance. At 62 I was able to collect social security on top of my meager pension. At 65 I will be eligible for Medicare, which will cost me $350 per month and will not cover 100% of all costs. And I am one of the lucky ones because of my husband owning a house.
VimasViking--Denmark has national Health care for all, unreal high speed transit systems and tyoe of N.Socialist structure that benefits society - country, as the pathetic Gulag States of funding more evil wars, will never have !
Here in Haultulco. 25 pesos. A cheap way to stay heathy.
Awesome info
Thanks for taking the time to make this video Paul
Cheers 🍻
Thanks for watching! Cheers!
Oh nice reminder but a bit too late
Just came to CDMX to spend Christmas with family and 2day ago I got 1/2 liter water (not bottled) and still in bed with nausea cramps and back pain even brushing theeeth at night I had to wake up middle to rinse again with bottled water
That solve the rinsing but not my stomach thanks x this vid,
I'm sorry to hear that. I hope you get well soon.
If you take a shower from the city source in mexico. The water while you shower in getting into your body by way of your skin.
I live in Hawaii right now and don't even drink the tap water here let alone in Mexico. I'll be in Puerto Vallarta at the end of this month though and I'm looking forward to my entire cost of living being roughly what I pay in rent right now in Waikiki.
Right.... Did you see where the US ranked on that chart?
Might be following in your footsteps one day.
@@alohastateofmind3565 I love Hawaii and always will but the cost of living is getting insane and it isn't just rent either. I spend in a week on groceries what I'll most likely spend in a month in Mexico. I decided to move because my lease is up on the 1st, my landlord wants to jack up my rent and I couldn't find anything affordable near where I want to live. I did a bunch of research and ended up settling on Puerto Vallarta because of low crime and extremely affordable cost of living relative to Hawaii. With what I get from the VA I can survive in Hawaii but I can thrive in Mexico
@@rcleveland7643 That chart was per capita consumption of bottled water.
@@crypticnomad Yeah I understand. The transistion won't be to hard weather wise. In my opinion the food in PV is mo bettah den Hawaii. Plenty of options and the aloha spirit is alive in Mexico. Mexican people are very friendly and welcoming. No go home haole you flew here we grew here mentality.
I lived all my life (40+ years) in Mexico, (lower) mid class... the only people I know that drinks from the tap, are people that can afford filtering systems. Even in poor neighbourhoods they buy big jugs, the difference is that in rich neighbourhoods maybe they buy Ciel Water, while the rest probably go for a cheaper option, even refilled ones.
LOL Such a great video. I know literally NO ONE, NUNCA, NADA, ZIPO, ZERO, ZILCHO, Mexicans who use the tap water for anything but showers and washing. Bottled water for everything and anything that may or will pass your lips. Paul, kudos for being so calm and politically correct, always willing to acknowledge there are some who will not head your wise advice, LOL!!
I have a little pump that takes water from the garrafón and supplies the fridge water dispenser. Very convenient.
That would be convenient.
Good job, Paul, and good info. Right on point ! Thanks.
Thanks for watching!
What about bathing in this water
A dollar fifty is very cheap for the 5-gallon water. Poland Spring charges $10 in the United States
I bought a highly rated 6 stage water filtration system after moving to Zapopan. Still haven’t installed it because I don’t believe it removes bacteria.
After 4 years, I’m used to using bottled water. Biggest pain is making a big batch of pasta for ready made meals and not being able to cool off with cold tap water.
I still haven’t met anyone here that hesitates to brush their teeth with tap water, I do the same and have had no issues.
Reverse osmosis with filtration and passing through ultra violet light system to kill bacteria (sometimes called electronic cleaning) would be the cleanest. But far too often the other problem is that it becomes "too" clean to where the water has no micro minerals (not suitable for drinking) and then dehydrate the body.
@@DrAJ_LatinAmerica If you eat food you don't need the micro minerals in water
@@dodgeplow not true. Depends on who you are and what activities and level of activities. Many people eat once or twice a day. If they do hard fasted cardio and run low on minerals. Ultra marathon runners, iron man competitors, motocross riders, tour de France riders,....many examples
@@DrAJ_LatinAmerica Sweating significantly from exercise would require more sodium than what is usually found in typical water, especially if only eating once a day. But that is an exceptional case. Otherwise, my statement is completely accurate. I'm not discussing a 10K race followed by fasting until nightfall. That is a ridiculous example.
@@dodgeplow but not ridiculous. Lots and lots of weekend warriors not eating correctly and then going out on weekends to race dirt bikes, ride dirt bikes, work on the farm in the hot sun while trying to diet. Death rates from bad diets, heat stroke in the sun, dehydration at the beach, young adults on spring break there are literally thousands of examples that happen every day !!! Lots of my medical friends work at or have worked at hospitals near the beaches. Again so many examples. Young kids die every year from too much water not enough electrolytes...... I have worked in sports nutrition, private practice health care for many years. Seen some crazy things.
It varies from community to community. The tap water here in the part of Chapala where we are is good enough for cooking. But we don’t drink it - it occasionally has things in it that need to be boiled.
You are right. I've lived in Ajijic for two years and have never had a problem cooking with boiled water. I examined it and didn't notice any residue.
Yeah saw a lot of bottled water use in both MX TH and in mainland china also. Tinacos get treated with chlorine pills to go into the home but its used for washing maybe cooking etc. But typically boiled. At least my well water is.
I was in Merida recently. I was very careful with boiling tap water and making sure I didn't ingest any in the shower. I had bottled water etc. I got sick anyway. I have always wondered why the Mexicans don't chlorinate the water. It isn't that expensive to do that.
I live in San Carlos, Sonora half the year. I do drink a bit of the water almost every day. Swallowing pills, brushing teeth, rinsing mouth. We do cook with the tap water. But.....Just as Paul says the mineral content is very high. The water comes from wells 140 meters deep. It has a lot of Calcium, Magnesium, and some Sodium. There are almost zero sulfates - which cause the water to taste bad. Carbonates, Bicarbonates, and Chlorides predominate. Everyone who has taken a sample north for analysis comes back with the same report: safe, better than some municipal water systems in the USA - but very hard water. Even though it is safe where I live, I have garafones filled at 15 pesos for drinking water, coffee, SodaStream, etc.
The water in Mexico differs. It is even different between San Carlos, Sonora and Guaymas, Sonora - a distance of 15 kilometers. I will not drink the water in Guaymas. The infrastructure is constantly breaking and the source is way different.
Do empty, clean, and super-chlorinate your tinacos yearly. Keep the cover on also. We have our tinacos serviced in late September or early October before most of us return to Mexico.
I've had one of those stomach viruses before and trust me, you do not want that. Liquid was exploding out of me like 6 times an hour for 20 hours straight. It was torture.
I inadvertently used the Mexican tap water to make coffee in an apartment in Cancun Malecon rentals for the first 3 days I was there.
I was fine and didn’t notice anything. However I moved to bottled water once I realised it was No-no.
@@MagaMonkeysMovetoRussia Not necessarily. There are things in water, including heavy metals, and pesticide residues, that will not be removed by boiling. I don’t even drink the tap water here in the US unless I have no choice! And I didn’t even bring up fluoride.
So, after 3 days you realized you were out side from your country.
Just remember that water must be boiled for a certain amount of time to be effectively decontaminated for microorganisms. It depends on your altitude because that changes the temperature of boiling. Water in a coffee machine just boils briefly as far as I can tell. That may not be sufficient.
@@floatingmoon5778 Even here in the us 🇺🇸 tap water tastes like crap.
You of course are correct, always be extremely careful with any wat situations in Mexico. Whether it be salads or even ice cubes. Ice cubes with a hole in the middle generally come from purified water, just saying.
Calcium in water is not a problem, I drink a lot of tea during the day at work and we have bottled water there but it has such a calcium concentration that my tea comes with literally little stones. And it's one of the most expensive spanish bottled water, Solan de Cabras. I agree it is not great but it is not dangerous except for stones on the long term.
There is a reason Thailand tops the list as it is simply verboten in all regards. We "showered" with bottled water from our second or third trip there and a friend caught E Coli while not using any water outside of his shower (which is even rougher when your trips are all for boxing and are training 8 hours a day.
India as well. Possibly even worse as I have never seen filthier rivers. They dump all their dead bodies and trash in the same rivers used for bathing and drinking
The only water I drink from the Tap in America is when I'm in NY City. I don't drink the tap water in any other state. I've lived in NJ, CA, WVA, VA, CT, and Florida and other State I never drink the water.
I’ve gotten sick and even my dogs got diarrhea drinking tap water, now is bottle water for all and for cooking. Thanks for the video.
Sorry to hear that you and your dogs got sick, Carmen. Ever since I got sick drinking the water in Colombia, I have been super careful.
Looks like Indianapolis water. Lol My sister tested our tap water to bottled water. Exactly the same.
You'll be fine...until you're not, I like that...kinda like back up until it sounds expensive. Seriously though, I don't even drink the tap water in the States
Just as safe as it is here generally. Mexicans get "Montezuma's revenge" when they drink our tap water or when abroad. Go to a different U.S. city and you might get the runs.. Different bacteria everywhere, nothing to get upset or worried over.
Fear porn sells bottled water. I drink mainly distilled water for reasons, however I'm not "afraid" of tap water and bottled water is always of dubious origin. Demineralization is nonsense. Go talk to fluoride about that.
I'm not too far from you in a rural area near Merida.... There they only charge 10 pesos per bottle. They just drive through the village at a certain time every day other than Sunday, honk the horn, and it's done. But you're definitely correct when you say that tap water and also well water (via tinaco) are not for drinking unless your filter it. At 10 pesos per bottle of purified water a filtration system makes little sense.....
10 pesos is super cheap!
You can drink the water in San Carlos, Sonora, but it tastes terrible, I mean really terrible, so nobody does. All the pipes are in the process of being replaced due to decades of bad leaks so that might be a detractor, too, in the realm of who knows what’s in there just now.
Nice video Paul, thanks for your input. I realize you aren't interested in a "system" at the house/condo but do you know if there are any that actually do take care of the bacteria and all the other issues? Personal interest only, here. Thanks.
Thank you Sir. Hasta luego.
You're welcome. Hasta luego.
What do you brush your teeth and wash your produce with. Is it safe to drink the water served at a restaurant? What is used at the dentist office?
Mexico in general, has the same rule's, regulation's and various local, state and federal rule's, regulation's and law's the U.S.A. has in place. The one thing that set's Mexico apart from the U.S.A. is the enforcement of those various local, state and federal rule's, regulation's and law's.
The ability of obtaining clean water is only truely available by either one haveing an osmos's system, which mean's constantly having to replace expensive filter's. OR purchase bottled water from one of the extremely few water bottling companies. Which in the long run, unless one can well afford to purchase the filter's; Considerably cheaper.
But that takes one having to go to the various places that actually sell the bottled water, which is time consuming. The majority of citizen simply purchase their bottled water from any one of the vast and numerious trucks that are available almost 24/7/365. Which state they get their bottled water from the numerious local bottled water companies which by law are required to change their osmosis filter's based on the number of gallon aka liter's they bottle each and every day. Which if and when done as regulated, is extremely expensive when they need to be replaced based on the regulations every day.
I live next door to such a bussiness in which numerious pickup trucks for the 18 hours a day the bussiness is open. Bring empty bottle's and exchange them for full one's, and then proceed to drive around the various barrio's and sell them for a slight profit.
And as such have watched aka observed them at all times of they being open, and rarely over the year's of my observation, do I ever see them change the filter's. One can simply count the number of filter's they dispose of IF and when they do. Then there's the issue of having ice in one drink any where other than purchasing it from the various stores that sell it. The ice machines at any and all of the avilible resturants and hotel's. Depend on their changing the filter's also. Which is also rarely done based on the number of gallon's aka liter's they utilize when making the ice that is in your drink.
The issue isn't with the local, state water being originally supplied. It's with the intrastuctor's in which it gets to where it needs to be utilized. The newest of housing developments have new intrastuctor's that brings water to it. But the intrastructor that provides the water to the new intrastructor is the same as it is to old communities.
So unless one can afford to replace their expensive osmosis water filter's based on the number of gallon's aka liter's they utilize religiously. Only purchase water via the various large generally available almost every where. Those companies that are large enough to be Corporations. Meaning a OXXO, a KIOSKO etc. etc. etc.
I utilize because the water being fed to my tinaco from the city is sparatic, two 1100 liter tinaco's. And have not one but four filter's in place prior to the water entering then. Two of which are carbon, two are the conventional white ones one generally only utilizes. And I replaced all of them on a month bases. Though there is only my wife and I which utilizes the water and only for bathing and the washing of clothes.
Though the water is considerably cheaper than it is in the U.S.A. when it comes from your tap. It's no where to the N-th degree as a safe as it is in the U.S.A.
I did an all inclusive vacation in Playa del Carmen. I wad told not to drink the tap water but I made the mistake of using the water from the sink to brush my teeth. On my sixth day I got the infamous Montezuma’s Revenge. I don’t know if people get used to that. What’s the point of having a sink with water that can’t be used safely for personal hygiene. I imagine one can get it by merely washing his face through their eyes.
Thanks for sharing information.
Merida,Yucatan water is the cleanest in all of Mexico. We brush our teeth with it and wash our vegetables. Have never seen brown water come out of the tap.
Thanks!
I'm a hiker and will bring a Sawyer filter anyway.
And eColi, if they adapted so can I, in a pinch. Giardia, ect, been there, not interested, but who is? The locals can't adapt to parasites either.
But the minerals, wow.
I had no idea.
And boiling water to sterility anyway? I know most inland cities are at least as high as Denver, with lower boiling points, so boiling water is less hot, kills bugs slower.
Bottled, thanks
Thanks for the video. I've really enjoyed watching much of what you produce, but I'm wondering if there is a way to contact you with some specific questions about living in Mexico, as my wife and I are strongly considering "snowbirding" in the Baja Peninsula area starting in the fall of 2022. I would be grateful for you experienced advice on a couple of issues that aren't addressed in your videos.
Thanks!!
Hi Tim. If you join our Patreon page, you can attend our live Q&A sessions on our private Facebook group amd ask us questions through that group. There is an option that will give you a private email address to contact us directly: www.patreon.com/qroo
Every place in Mexico is different. When I visit Mexico (Jalisco State), I fill my garrafones from the line before it goes into the tinacos and me and my family drink it and never get sick.
I have nearly ruined two of my last vacations from the revenge. Next time I visit I must visit the supermarket and prepare most of my food in my room. The first time it struck I was on a bus, the next-a boat tour. 😵💫
Many places in Mexico, Mérida for sure, has saltpeter in the water. Boiling does not help that...it just concentrates it.
@David Wang strange response. But i just got back from Mérida, and my host family's washing machine took forever to fill because it was clogged with saltpeter.
Anyway, the point is, boiling does not fix every kind of contamination.
Thanks, Paul!!! Always great videos!!!! Is it safe to shower with tap water? Thanks
Yes, it's safe. Just resist the temptation to open your mouth and take a big gulp.. lol
@@qroo thank you!!!
In Mexico, they do not put fluoride in public water…
Hi Paul and Linda🤓 Thank you so much for all of your super informative videos! We are moving to Mexico quite soon and you're always very helpful. I am curious about showering and/or bathing water though. Do you guys use your tap water for that from a tinaca(sic?), and if so do you get that grody looking film everywhere? What happens if you open your mouth in the shower lol?
We use tap water to shower. The hard water covers the walls and shower doors with a film, but the cleaning lady take sit off with vinegar and water. DON'T DRINK THE SHOWER WATER! Just keep your mouth shut like you're at a public pool and everything will be fine.
@@qroo but then you have that film all over you? What's kissing or more like when a couple gets together? Not trying to be rude, just really interested.
@@qroo Thanks again for the info, but what about that film you were talking about? Is it on your skin and hair or do you not notice that?
On another topic, do you have suggestions regarding shipping stuff to Mexico from Canada (in our case)? That's one thing that's become a major stumbling block! We don't want to take much but certain things, yes for sure. Any info would be so appreciated! Thanks again.
I've always trusted the ice served with drinks in most Mexican restaurants, I've never gotten sick...but now I'm a little curious.
Most of the restaurants we go to buy bags of ice made of purified water.
Should we avoid Ice too?
So what water prurifier bottle to take when traveling to Mexico?
Qroo, Curious can we get a boots on the ground report about droughts in Mexico? Thanks for considering!
Higher end restaurants usually have tap water that’s ok. I guess it’s filtered.
I was always under the impression that Mexican tap water was dangerous only to foreigners but not to native born Mexicans.
Is a cultural issue, Mexicans use bottled water to cook and consumption, tap water for something else. Welcome to the world.
@@gustavoperez5480 it's sad if you don't have natural springs where you live. That was the best tasting water, I don't get those where I live now in the USA.
@@gustavoperez5480 Mi esposa es dominicana y ella rehúsa tomar el agua del grifo aquí en Estados Unidos.
HARD WATER? Those minerals make some industrial grade rings in all my toilets, ALL my faucets, and the shower floor. I use a LOT of CLR, and not a Pumice Stone in the whole city.
We have to replace shower heads about once a year because they are shooting in 100 different directions.
@@qroo Easier than replacing them and certainly cheaper would be to occasionally remove the head and soak it in vinegar, say, overnight. Most of the buildup will disappear or become softer and easier to remove with very little elbow grease.
What about showers 🚿 or laundry 🧺?
Is it safe to wash dishes and hands in the tap water? What about brushing your teeth using tap water? What do you recommend?
Great video thank you!
Glad you liked it!
Drank it once by mistake, it was in the 80's , but will tell you I'll never drink it again.....
That looks like the water in the Dayton, Ohio area.
5:00: Yeah, I had a boil water advisory in Canada a few years ago, and man does that fuck up the taste... IN CANADA. In BC, not like Toronto or something.
So are the Restaurants using the tap?
Yes in Mexico we buy filter water always... And I still do buy filter water here in USA especially after what happened in Flint. And after seeing the sedement on the shower head, it might taste ok but healthy is not.
Just telling my wife last night that we need to get back out to Isla Mujeres!
No es un problema de México en general, depende de la región, acá en el norte es seguro tomar el agua y aún hirviendola no quedan esos residuos, esos problemas son más que nada del sur y centro.
same in jalisco, never seen that before
No, yo tengo casa en San Felipe Baja y el agua no es buena. Hasta mis perros se enfermaron con diarrhea por darles agua de la llave. Ahora es solo agua de botella para todos.
oh oh...what about washing your veggies and other greens with? Bottled water too??? ay yay yay!!! we''ll go through a garafon everyday!!!!
You can use the tap water if you add some microdyne.
Pasta story was funny
If I drilled my own well, would it yield clean water? or is that messed up as well?
Paul :
Where is the bottle water comes from?
HOW is that water bottle sanitize?
ARE the empty bottles sanitize prior to fill them with water?
Thanks
Great questions! I went to the water treatment facility near our condo to check it out. Everything looked very sanitary but I still boiled the water to see if it was tap water. It did not have any of the mineral residue associated with tap water. I feel better about it.
@@qroo I have lived in Texas, Illinois and New Mexico and when I boiled tap water I always got the residue on the spoon. I also noticed a high degree of bubbles from detergent left in the city water. I drink bottled water most of the time now.
Here in Mexico it can come from many sources depending on the brand. Most start as municipal / city water and then processed by the water bottler. Some have strict standards and others do not. Buyer beware. A good source is water produced by Pepsico, Coca-Cola or Nestlé. For example Ciel is a brand of water owned by coke. It is the same quality level they use for making coke products. Gerber baby water (yes the same baby food company) is one of the highest quality waters in Mexico for the price.
@@DrAJ_LatinAmerica I use E-Pura brand usually if the truck comes around often enough as I think it tastes better, but otherwise, I try to get Ciel. Good call out.
I have lived in Puerto Vallarta since around 1996. PV is one of two cities that have received certifications regarding the purity of the drinking water for the past 20 years. However, as pointed out in this video, the water may leave the plant completely pure but depending on where you are in the city, what comes out of the tap is not so good. I bathe and wash my teeth using water from the tap. I have never had an issue. I use tap water to cook food and never noticed pasta or rice tasting off or tasting funny. The hubs has said that using tap water makes coffee taste horrible but he is Italian and what he calls coffee would kill most US citizens. I do not drink coffee so I cannot say one way or another.
That being said, our drinking water comes in gargarrafón but unlike in this video, the water truck comes along the street a couple times a week announcing its presence with a loudspeaker playing a catchy little number followed by announcing "agua" loudly [as opposed to loudly announcing "aguas" being yelled loudly which means something entirely different in Mexico]. This is the water I use for drinking or to prepare any food that will be eaten uncooked.
As someone else mentioned, it very much depends on where you are in Mexico [or anywhere] as to the safety of the tap water. Newcomers here always ask about the water and it is a valid question. I tell them what I do and have done for years. I also tell people that they should do what they feel they need to do depending on their situation.
Good video ! We the mexicans balance the loose weight with tortillas ., kidding when i was kid i use to drink it but was long time ago with much much less population idk now but my mom always use the garrafon and is all good .
I don’t even drink or personally know a lot of people that drink tap water in USA, always buy bottled water
Complete waste of money in the US. Would never waste money on bottled water but it has become a trendy elitist thing for a while now to buy bottled water. Have been drinking tap for 55 years and never had a problem. Don't even find bottled water tastier and much of it is the same water as tap anyway. Scientific studies show no improvement in safety or even taste in blind taste tests. Mexico, however, is a different story.
@@TheScientificSkeptic tap water might be “safer” in the U.S. but it’s still contaminated with some bacteria and saturated with nasty chemicals to make it clean, not to mention all the contamination from pipes…u sure are making you’re kidneys and liver work extra hard by not drinking filtered or bottled water…don’t ever trust the drinking water in USA just ask people from Michigan
Unfortunately for older people or people with back injuries, it is difficult for those people to lift 5 gallon jugs, so what are these people to do?
get a water distiller