Korean Job Discussion Forums

[kiwiduncan]

During my time in Korea I pretty much always drank straight from the tap. Sometimes it didn't taste too great but I'm pretty confident that fears about Korean tap water are exagerated.

You'll probably do more long-term harm to your health and well-being by driving a car everywhere and eating too many hamburgers.

So, what are your water drinking habits, and why? Tap water? Bottled? Yaksuteo (약수터)?

[Cerriowen]

I prefer to get my heavy-metal poisoning back home, where I feel more comfortable with the available medical care.

So I drink bottled water.

[Insidejohnmalkovich]

My school has one of those water dispensers that filters the tap water. I fill up my water bottles there every day. The filters are changed often enough that the water is fine. Not as good as bottled water though if you leave it sitting out in a cup.

[Janny]

I drink bottled water or water-dispenser water mostly because of how wretched the tap water tastes. By now I can immediately tell if I'm drinking straight tap water from the taste. And...that's usually when I'm in a restaurant and they bring a jug to the table. Tap water, people.

However, I'm not sure the tap water is that harmful in the short term. Long term...? Hey, something's gonna kill ya, right? Can't be scared.

I make big jugs of home-made iced tea in my old water bottles, using just tap water. Boil, brew a big batch on the stove in a big pot, different tea bags, a little spice, lemon juice and sugar. Cool, fill bottle. Better than that super-sugared store-brand stuff. Great to chug in the mornings.

[Real Reality]

39 people arrested for polluting Seoul`s reservoir
by Joo Sang-min, The Korea Herald (November 4, 2002)
old link: http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2002/11/04/200211040039.asp
http://news.naver.com/main/read.nhn?mode=LSD&mid=sec&sid1=108&oid=044&aid=0000035582

[caniff]

I've got a water-filtering gizmo. A random Korean shows up every 2-3 months to change the filters.

Is it worth it? Who knows, as your guess is probably as good as mine.

[catycat]

I don't drink the tap water here, but just the other day, a guy from Seoul Arisu (must be the water board) came to my place and tested the water. I didn't ask him to, but he went to all the homes in the building. Anyhow, he told me that it's safe to drink and even put a "Good to drink Seoul Arisu" sticker on the wall behind the tap.

Still haven't tried it though.

[PeteJB]

I boil it for tea and meals, but whenever I drink plain water I have bottled.

[SHANE02]

I have a Coway device with 7 different filters in it. The water is the best I ever had. NEVER drink the tap water in Seoul.

[technique]

I'm not in Korea yet, but I have a question; for those of you who use water bottles only, are you reusing the bottles the bottled water you bought came in? Studies have shown (no, I didn't search for a link) that most of these bottles leak toxins over time. So, if you're going to drink only bottled, buy something lexan or similar. You won't be throwing away bottles or getting toxins that way.

[PeteJB]

No, I buy new bottles each time. And so I end up with a factory built from plastic bottles every month, but that's ok...

[KOREAN_MAN]

In the U.S., there are more regulations for tap water than for bottled water. I really have no clue what people are expecting when they pay money to buy water. (Probably not true, but I remember somebody mentioning how bottled water can be more expensive per gallon than gasoline.) And the water is stored in plastic, not in glass. Also not good.

The tap water in Korea is "supposedly" safe. But when it leaves the filter tanks and travels all the way to your faucet, it has gone through lengthy pipes and only god knows what came with the pipes. So I use Brita filters before drinking it. I've seen many cases of what 'bad water' can do to a human body both in the U.S. and in S.K. Not a pretty sight.

[curlyhoward]

[cruisemonkey]

I drink the tap water, but I live in a small city with good water that comes from a national park. If I lived in Seoul, Daegu (or any other large city), I'd drink bottled water.

[sobriquet]