Must water be boiled prior to consumption?

[Kelpie]

Hi all,

 

My family has this habit of 1st boiling the tap water before consumption. Is this an outdated practice or there is a specific reason behind this?

 

Contemplating to fill up water flask directly with tap water and chill it in the fridge.

 

Please feedback.

 

Thank you very much.

 

Regards,

[Chewbacca]

SG water is supposed to be fit for consumption.

 

Back in JB, I boil my water.

 

Over here....I drink from the toilet bowl.

 

WOOF WOOF

 

[Babyt]

ya tot sg water, even flushing water is clean?

 

u didnt go army before? tot we have been drinking directly from tap?

[Tianmo]

In SG, as far as I am concern, fit to drink from the tap, have being drinking unboiled water for the past 7-8 years liao, but I do filter the water tho........

 

remember the water from jelly can during NS days, from tap to can to water bottle to mouth.

 

and the ice cubes, you think coffee shop use boiled water to make those cubes?

 

but outside SG, i wouldn't do it, once I did it in China and OMG a few days man,really clean up my system!

[Sosaria]

Boiling is not just for decontaminating the water.

 

In some countries' water supply, there is relatively a lot of dissolved minerals, e.g. calcium. If you drink this water unboiled, after a long while, unless you're used to it, the calcium starts to accumulate and solidify in your kidneys, giving you stones and other urinary problems.

 

For this reason, you still have to boil the water, and let it cool and settle down for a few hours. You'll see that the bottom layer has a milky looking sediment - this is the stuff that you should not be drinking... And your kettle also will accumulate a yellowish-white thin layer of limestone after prolonged use - this is another sign.

 

But thank goodness this is not a problem in SG.

Edited September 14, 2010 by Sosaria

[Redstorm]

The boiling of water for drinking is a good habit dated back many generations at a time when the water was not fit consumption straight from the tap. Well, today our water standard is very high and it is perfectly safe to drink straight from the tap without boiling it. It is a habit that has been passed down from our parents and to them from their parents and so it is very difficult to do away.

[Tianmo]

sorry bro, didn't know you did not serve NS.

 

my bad!

[Sgnick]

In NS we don't get chance to boil water, we all drink water direct from tap for 2+ years, and we are all still here today

[SimonTan]

Cna boil away many chemicals...like chlorine.

Also can kill the bacteria in the water.

[Altivo]

me and wifey drink directly from the tap... but for my baby, it's cool-boiled water

[Ender]

I still boil my water for the family. For myself, direct from the tap is ok, but family, I go the extra to boil it.. We're staying in HDB, water comes from the storage tank, and when there's is tank, there'll be some form of stagnation of water, especially during the nite where water consumption is minimal. Stagnant water breeds bacteria, while boiling water kills bacteria. Just think, how many of us will feed unboiled water to babies?

[Babyt]

Cna boil away many chemicals...like chlorine.

Also can kill the bacteria in the water.

 

these chemicals r added to make the drinking water safe...

 

flourine is also added for our teeth although we eat more acidic food than the water can help to cleanse it.

 

its a blessing we get drinking water straight from tap. it is very troublesome to visit countries when u need to buy mineral water all the time.

 

japan also have clean drinking water straight from tap.

[Tom_kkh]

boiled water is worst than unboiled water, in singapore context that is.

 

Boiling "destroys" oxygen and minerals in the water. Meaning, boiled water is "dead" water. Especially, boiling chlorinated water speeds up the reaction between chlorine and humic acid to form THMS, which is known to be cancerous.

 

Though boiling kills bacteria, which is unnecessary, because chlorine is already present in the water.

 

boiling is only necessary when we need to make hot drinks like coffee, tea or hot milk.

 

[Panhard]

recently a "hyflux" door to door salesman came to promote home filtration system.

claims that our water may look clean but our underground pipes may not be.

 

so filtration is crucial for getting rid of bacteria & chlorine smell....also helps balance the ph level.

 

now having promo...24 mths interest free at $53/mth. actual price is $1279/-

 

is it worth considering?

[Mike1234]

My parents usually boil before drinking

 

[laugh]

[Watwheels]

I did experiment before some years back with a help from a friend as he has the equipment to test for chlorine in our tap water. After boiling the water, some chlorine content still lingers but better dan you do not boil the water at all. Did some more test on some dunno what brand water filtration system, result similar to boiling the water, less chlorine but in terms of taste I feel it taste slightly better dan boiled water.

 

During NS boh pian have to drink tap water, knn the more I drink the more I cough. Must be the damn chlorine. Compared to other countries' clean tap water, ours is still better. Who got go Europe before? Knn I find the tap water there damn "hard" to use. I call it "hard water". If you use it to shower and wash your hair, you will feel damn dry and uncomfortable after that.

[Kelpie]

ya tot sg water, even flushing water is clean?

 

u didnt go army before? tot we have been drinking directly from tap?

 

I used to consume water from the tap until I got married. My wife insisted that water must be boiled before consumption. Since she is the queen of the kitchen, I just follow lor .

 

Talking about NS, forget it. Each time I bring up how siong we guys have to do during NS, she will be annoyed and tell me don't talk "army" to her .

 

Regards,

[Kelpie]

recently a "hyflux" door to door salesman came to promote home filtration system.

claims that our water may look clean but our underground pipes may not be.

 

so filtration is crucial for getting rid of bacteria & chlorine smell....also helps balance the ph level.

 

now having promo...24 mths interest free at $53/mth. actual price is $1279/-

 

is it worth considering?

 

Water filtration is a big business in the neighbouring country. In Singapore, it is consider a luxury.

 

Regards,