.: Drinking water

One of the most critical situations one faces in the first time in India is the drinking water usage. Here please be careful not to divert from the common rules, like only sealed bottle water from reputed brands, avoid open water, ice cubes from unknown source, salad, which is not washed with bottled water, and so on. One reason for stomach problems can be dirty water in the sense of chemical and the other can be batteries, to

which our body is not used, because of “dead” water in the western world. Also Indians coming back from a long stay abroad face such issues. After been in India for a while you can relax a bit, but don’t get careless.

For expats we recommend to stick during their stay to bottled water from the big brands. It is no marketing slogan sponsored by some water seller, only good meant advice. The water will be delivered beside the normal bottle size of half liter, 1l or 2l also in 20l gallons, which is also delivered to your house. We recommend having at least two of such big bottles at home if one gets empty there is enough time to get a refill. Sometimes we faced availability problem and had to wait some days. We live outside of city limits and have 5 gallons, to be prepared for the delivery shortage. Those gallons are normally placed on holders or water suspenders with extra cooling and heating system. Considering the summer temperatures it is best to consume room temperature water and you will appreciate it. If you buy such gallons the first time you pay for the bottle (2010 – 150INR), later you bring the empty bottle back and get a new one, here the water cost is (around 60INR for 20l).

In some houses or flats you find water guards or purifier. Here the tap water will be cleaned extra. We consider it good to wash you vegetable and fruits but drinking we still avoid. First you never know if the small systems work proper and on the other side is the pipe water running through some sump system in the house which can be dirty already. The big companies also use the some water sources and purifying technic, but here I trust the size and maintenance and at the end the quality procedures behind it. In 2004 we had once an issue that in the Coca Cola water were higher pesticide values and the press made a big story out of it and the company was fast in rectifying.

In restaurants they offer also purified water as regular water or open water, be careful, and if doubted take the water bottle, even if you pay for it.

For drinking purpose there are also all the other thinks or drinks like juices, lemonades and fancy drinks available, here the international companies make good marketing, plus local brand have made comparable drinks. But at the end it is sweet and the pure water will quench your thirst best.

Little tip try tender coconut water, fresh cut and direct from the coconut, is known as isotonic and helps if the stomach started rebelling.