Korean Job Discussion Forums

[burgartown]

I've heard from people and I think I read it somewhere, that I need to boil my drinking water. But I am wondering if I need to boil my water that I use in my coffee maker in the morning?

[Ultimo Hombre]

You're drinking it aint ya?
Smart money is on yes.

[John_ESL_White]

Korean chemical CEO says no, but, he also tells me that he only drinks bottled water even though his company supplies the chems to treat 75% of the drinking water in S. korea.


So... boil, or use bottled. be safe.

[cruisemonkey]

It depends where you live.

I've never bought bottled water or boiled the tap water in over three years here... but both places I've lived (not big cities) have good water.

[nobbyken]

Seoul, or at least the South side/Gangnam area seems to be fine to drink.

[ciccone_youth]

I'm sure it's not "dangerous" to drink- I drank it straight from the tap a few times accidentally when I first got here and never got sick.

I always boil it now, for coffee. I sometimes use the bottled water for my coffee.

[burgartown]

I'm living in Daegu currently so maybe it would be fine to drink it, but I think I will just be safe instead.

Thanks everyone

[egrog1717]

I've heard (probably just speculation mind you...) that the water in Seoul is full of heavy metal (and not the good mind-blowing, face melting 1980's kind either... lol)

Doubt boiling would get rid of mercury, lead, etc etc...

I just don't drink it because it tastes terrible, lol...

[blade]

[orosee]

Don't like the taste of the tap water, so for coffee and tea I use bottled. Not for soups, salad rinsing etc. though, so it better be clean.

Does anybody know what water is used by Starbucks, Tom'n'Tom and the other coffee shops?

Anyway I wouldn't be too paranoid about the water quality here.

[moosehead]

when I went for my med check back in the U.S. the dr told me not to drink the water here - and I refuse to - don't even cook with it except to boil pasta. tea, soup, etc., I use bottled.

there are heavy metals which will build up in your system over time. you won't feel the effects until much later - and if they are carcinogens, you won't even know until it's too late.

better safe than sorry.

[yetanotherSarah]

When I first came to Korea, I boiled my water. But after about 2 months of that, I started breaking out terribly. I had really deep acne that would take weeks to surface and was impossible to treat. I was told that the water was fine to drink since I live in the sticks, so I thought perhaps it was the radical change in diet or air pollution. After a few months of desperately trying to find a decent band-aid solution, I decided to just drink bottled water for a week and see what would happen. My skin immediately got better. Its been about eight months since I got my filtration system installed and my skin is much better, not as good as when I lived in Canada, but definitely close.

I wouldn't drink the water without a filtration system if I were you. You might not be as noticeably sensitive to it as I am, but we are drinking the same water so what caused my skin problems is still going to have some sort of effect on you. Invest in your long term health and just get a filtration system.

[wings]

just yesterday two ladies came to my apartment and tested my water. They took some samples and ran them through some little machines, and mixed them will little chemicals that made the water change colour.

They told me that the tap water is perfectly fine to drink, but said that I should let it run for 30 seconds first to get rid of the water that has been sitting in the pipes. Then they put a sticker above my tap showing that the water has been tested and is safe.

I live near Itaewon.

[greekvvedge]

[I_Am_The_Kiwi]