Drink the water!

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June 14, 2012 by farbolino

When traveling to a foreign country, generally one of the first pieces of advice someone gives you is “Don’t drink the water!” and you think “Of course I won’t, that would be stupid!”

The reality is that it’s actually unsafe to drink tap water in very few countries these days, especially in capital cities. Most people would probably think that the tap water in a country like Bolivia is completely undrinkable, which is untrue.  Unlike some it’s more developed neighbors like Chile or Argentina, it isn’t drinkable everywhere, but is drinkable in the Capital of La Paz, where the water is filtered and chlorine is added (which might not be the healthiest thing) but you certainly won’t get sick from drinking it.  Also take a look at your surroundings. Are you in the Andes mountains in a small village?  Likely the water supply is drinkable because it’s melted snow running down from the peaks. In fact, this water is some of the purest available and beats drinking tap water from any major city in the USA or Europe.

This isn’t even mentioning the fact that you’re saving a plastic bottle from going into a landfill somewhere, or perhaps even being burned in a field somewhere in the poorer countries.  Generally in a hot climate, you need to drink 2-3 liters a day, which over the course of a year of travel is saving over 1000 plastic bottles from swing discarded somewhere.

Did I mention when you drink tap water you don’t have to buy water either?  Just a little tip to help save a dollar or two a day, and help keep the earth the beautiful place it is.   Happy travels.