To those who have gone south into/past mexico...question about drinking water...

[Everymanalion]

Lets say you are in mexico, no money and you are thirsty as all hell, you cannot drink the "local" water without getting sick from the pipes or protozoa or whatever is in the water, so what has worked for you? flying a sign that asks for agua? theft? water is my main concern down there when i finally leave again.

 

[Kim Chee]

I was there for weeks traveling and drank that shit and didn't get sick. Bottled water is for pretentious pussies and the weak.
I can't imagine how the locals would react if you asked for bottled water down there.
Shit, I'd drink from an unflushed toilet in the right circumstances.

 

[bicycle]

you could cook the water and use tablets if you are concerned I suppose.

 

[wildboy860]

or go to a camping supply store and get a water purifier.

 

[Cardboard]

I have lived/traveled in Mexico several times, and I second what Michael said. Sometimes I had problems with the water, but if I drink tap water anywhere sometimes I have problems. After a week that will pass, and your wallet will thank you.

 

[Everymanalion]

See the few times ive went ive stayed in random peoples houses/huts mostly and even the locals i met advised against drinking the water and before i went everyone was saying how cheap bottled water was down there and how you can get clean water in abundance for next to nothing then i get there and yea, its cheaper by maybe 20 cents than the U.S. bottled water,not much, and well, i dont wanna waste my money on bottled water just to be in mexico when i could stay in the U.S. and fill my bottle up at someones tap outside their house, a rest stop bathroom or anywhere else convient.

So no one here ever got Motezumas Revenge from the water down there? If its all a fluke then why do people who are not part of the media still report themselves getting sick from the water there? misconception on whats cause their sickness?

 

[Cardboard]

you can for sure get some diarrhea, I wouldnt deny that. But that can happen anywhere. I think a lot of people get scared off from getting diarrhea though, when it could be the water, could be the food, could be anything. Traveling in less developed countries, I would for sure ask the locals whats up. If people live there for years and still cant drink it, sure, its fucked. If a guy went to tiajuana, ate a bunch of cheap food, drank a bunch of drinks with ice (dirty hands are bad news), and drank a glass of tapwater, then got diarrhea, there are enough reasons to doubt.
I said it before though, if you get a little stomach upset, just keep up drinking it, and if you dont have a totally weak stomach, chances are you will adjust.
I have eaten out of the dumpsters for a lot of years, drank tap water in lots of poor countries, and yeah, I get diarrhea sometimes. But fuck I drink a pot of coffee every morning, and shit water once a day anyways. Whatever, better than constipation.

 

[Kim Chee]

So no one here ever got Motezumas Revenge from the water down there? If its all a fluke then why do people who are not part of the media still report themselves getting sick from the water there? misconception on whats cause their sickness?

I'm sure there's cases of Montezuma's Revenge coming from the drinking water there. I would tend to blame the food from unscrupulous restaurants before casting suspicion on the water. I worked in 3 different restaurants while I was there (yes, I was an illegal) and each of them had plenty of cleaning that needed to be done a long time ago. I'm sure that when a person's vacation is spoiled by diarrhea that the story is told over and over and nobody wants to admit they ate shit so they say something like, "I was thirsty... blah blah."

 

[iamwhatiam]

thats why you only drink the beer in mexico

 

[landpirate]

When I was in Mexico I drank the tap water, it tasted weird but didn't make me sick. My Mexican friend said the reason they don't drink the water was because it has high levels of arsenic in it. I guess if you drank it for a long time, i suppose over years then that could really build up in your system. If you can afford bottled water then buy it as its a way of ruling out one possible cause of a bad stomach but drinking the tap water sometimes will be ok.

 

[Dan Keizer]

Anybody who is rambling around squatting should have the means to boil water on them anyways, so there would be no need to worry about that water there.

But a word about diahrea in the first place- People usually say it's best to drink a lot of water to stay hydrated if you have the runs, I say it's bullshit. When I get the first hint of flu-like symptoms, I completely stop eating or drinking and just go on with my life as normal. If you don't 'feed' your flu with water and food, you will not throw up or shit out anything and you won't dehydrate. Over the years I have caught bugs where people I knew were pissing out of their asses for days, I had maybe one BM and I was fine because I didn't chug a bunch of water to just shit out 20 minutes later.

If you get the runs for any reason, just begin fasting and you will be fine within 24 hours later. I guarantee it. Let your stomach tell you when it is OK to eat and drink again. Take TINY sips of water throughout the day if you are worried about staying hydrated.

 

[wizehop]

I shit myself in a public park in Honduras 8 years back. Had to use the little clothing I had on me to clean myself off..buck ass naked in a public park downtown Tegucigalpa, while truck loads of good folks drove to work. I scored a few whistles (hotter in my younger years) and to be honest not much embareses me after that ordeal.
All that to say I had been backpacking for 3 month and by that point and I got cocky with the water situation. There is no guarantee you'll avoid the shits by drinking bottled water anyhow, as there is always other shit that can get to you. However it pays to play it smart when you can.

 

[scatwomb]

I think it depends how long you're going to be there. If you'll be there for month than 2 or 3 months, I say drink the water and get your body accustomed to all the pathogens in the water. If you'll only be there for a few weeks, just drink bottled, boiled, or iodined water.

But yeah, water borne pathogens will be in street food and vegetables. And, missing out on street food isn't worth it, in my opinion.

Although, people say that street food increases the chances of food poisoning

 

[iamwhatiam]

ive been drinking almost soley tap water here in costa rica and nicaragua, and havent gotten sick yet. i have a water purifier if i really need to use. got mine for only 10 bucks used, new its 150.

 

[Bizarre Odor]

I used to live in Chiapas, I just used to boil my water for around 10 minutes before cooking or drinking.

 

[outskirts]

I shit myself in a public park in Honduras 8 years back. Had to use the little clothing I had on me to clean myself off..buck ass naked in a public park downtown Tegucigalpa, while truck loads of good folks drove to work. I scored a few whistles (hotter in my younger years) and to be honest not much embareses me after that ordeal.
All that to say I had been backpacking for 3 month and by that point and I got cocky with the water situation. There is no guarantee you'll avoid the shits by drinking bottled water anyhow, as there is always other shit that can get to you. However it pays to play it smart when you can.

Fucking Honduras, lol! I got the worst shits of my life in Roatan as I was leaving. I was careful with the water the whole time I was there except one time that I brushed my teeth with the tap water, but I think it was the avocados that I ate before I left that got me, I forgot to wash them before cutting them open. Yeah, in the tropics you're bound to get sick from something. While on Roatan some of the expats living there told me that staph infections were common on that part of the island.
Interesting side note: One of the native inhabitants that I became friends with started telling me about the local plant foods and medicines. A curious one that I learned about was this whitish-grey brain looking fruit called Noni, it was growing everywhere.
They taste and smell like... OH GOD! They are putrid! But he told me, and others swore by it, that it had powerful medicinal qualities
but the taste is the biggest obstacle. They all agreed it was good for fighting infections, some even claimed it was used for cancer.
Had I eaten some It may have well taken tare of my bacterial infection, but I'll never know, I just couldn't bring myself to eat something that smelled like someone puked up beer with rancid parmesan cheese!

 

[wizehop]

They taste and smell like... OH GOD! They are putrid! But he told me, and others swore by it, that it had powerful medicinal qualities

Its always the nastiest shit that seems to be the best for you..not sure if thats some universal law or what

 

[iamwhatiam]

best to make juice out of noni...put in glass jars and let sit covered for a week or two while all the juices drain out the fruit. then you take a shot glass full everyday...no more that 2 or 3 a day tho.

 

[Everymanalion]

What is noni supposed to help with exactly? Or what has it helped you guys with?

 

[outskirts]

What is noni supposed to help with exactly? Or what has it helped you guys with?

Traditionally used by many cultures for everything from... diabetes, liver diseases, tumors, infections, etc.
It may give some relief if sick from drinking the water?