Do you boil the water first before drinking?

water drop  - We can't live without this :-)
Germany
November 28, 2008 8:02pm CST
Hi, my friends. Last week, my husband's brother visited us from Germany, and one of our discussion is about boiled water. He said that it's not necessary to boil the water first before drinking. He claimed that chroline in the water already kill the bacteria, so it's safe to drink. But my husband did not agree, in our sense, boiling water can kill the bacteria and purify the water and it's more healthy to drink. I have tried once drinking the unboiled water, but i felt that's really different from boiled water, and i didn't feel very comfortable , perhaps in my mind i already felt disgusting. So, my friends, do you think it's safe and healthy to drink unboiled water? Do you boil the water before drinking? Or drinking directly from the tap?Please share your opinions and thank you for your response in advance.
10 people like this
46 responses
@spalladino (17891)
• United States
29 Nov 08
We live in the U.S. and our water is safe to drink out of the tap but we normally drink bottled water simply because it tastes better. Don't force yourself to drink unboiled water if it makes you uncomfortable...it's not worth the stress it causes you. Sometimes we just have to do what makes us feel best.
3 people like this
• United States
29 Nov 08
I agree drink what you are comfortable drinking.
1 person likes this
• Germany
7 Jan 09
Hello spalladino, yes, when i was in germany to visit my husband i also didn't drink boiled water. Usually we drink there mineral water from bottles but in malaysia i feel better to drink boiled water. Have a good time in mylot and for 2009 all the best!
29 Nov 08
I've never boiled water before drinking it, unless I'm making a hot drink obviously. In the UK though, we have effective filtration systems that means that the water which comes out of the taps is clean and safe to drink. When I'm abroad, however, I always drink bottled water, and don't get ice in drinks. I'm aware that other countries don't always filter their water as efficiently, so I don't really want to be sick off the back of it.
2 people like this
@comfort55 (1574)
• India
29 Nov 08
Well it depends on the source of water. I've been to US and read here in most of the responses that there(in US) as the water is very clean, people drink tap water. But here in India, water sources are heavily polluted so drinking water from tap is entirely ruled out. We have gadgets for chemically treating water, connected diectly to the tap water. It is safe for drinking, but yes, if it breaks, then we boil & cool tap water and use it for drinking till it is fixed. Thanks.
@metschica25 (5399)
• United States
29 Nov 08
Hey hey There is only one time I remember boiling water . The reason I remember is because I spilled it all over the kitchen floor . I usually will just have a jug of water that i bought from the store or will get a case sometimes from my fiances gram who is always buying lots . My parents boil water and it has a nice clean taste and much more better for you
@reasco1 (299)
• United States
29 Nov 08
Hello lulumartin, first we should be happy that we have such a choice in the way we drink water in America, I don't know were you are from but you know in many places people around the world do not have the access to drinkind water let alone fresh water at all. But we have it and we even bottle it. As for your question I do drink directly from the tap at home, from a water dispencer or were ever I can get water. Water is the only element all life on earth needs to live and if you have can get it from more than one place be thankful you are truly blessed. Have a blesed holiday season.
@meow1978 (190)
• Malaysia
29 Nov 08
Is been a traditional since young that we drink boiled water in Malaysia. Till today, we consume less on the mineral water too. Pipe water sometimes contain too many chlorine. Beside that I feel safe to drink the water after it is been boiled. Otherwise, I rather drink from mineral water bottle. I get this from my friend. My friend advice me not to re-boil the water after the water is boiled first time. The water might get harder if boiled the second time onwards. Let the water become soft after first boiling.
• United States
29 Nov 08
We don't have to boil our water but I do like to filter it. We have a lot of minerals in our water and I don't like the taste much. We have 2 filter pitchers in the refrigerator. The only time we have to boil water is if there has been a break in the pipes somewhere on our line. For a couple of days after that the water has to be boiled until the pipes are all flushed out. That happened shortly after I moved into my current house but that was 13 yrs ago. It hasn't happened since. I guess it all depends on where you live and how well they treat your water. We are lucky, we get several reports every year from our water company telling us the status and safety of our water. If you don't feel comfortable with your city's filtration plant then it's best to boil it. Better safe than sorry.
• United States
29 Nov 08
It depends on where you live. Some locations have very good water quality and very intense water cleansing before going to the faucets in people's homes. Other locations do not have as good cleansing and water treatment and so boiling is necessary. It is not necessary here in the US to boil water, but I don't konw about where you live -- I would think there is a reason you have been boiling your water. Is your husband originally from Germany? If so, perhaps he doesn't like the taste of the water in Malaysia or doesn't trust the water treatment plant, and so prefers to boil it?
• United States
29 Nov 08
Well in the United States, at least in the area I live, it's never necessary to boil water before you drink it and to my knowledge nobody does this regularly. I know that many people don't like the taste of the minerals in tap water, so they use filters or buy bottled water, but this is more of a preference thing than a health thing. If I lived in a country where the water was questionable, the smart thing for me to do would be of course to boil the water.
2 people like this
@neededhope (1085)
• United States
29 Nov 08
First of all I don't like either boiling or the tap water. They both taste nasty and yucky. SO I buy my water from the store and get it refilled each time. So I enjoy drinking reverse omosis water which is yummy. Now the problem with boiled water is still going have chemicals and unpurify facts of water and it will only kill the bacteria. And also will remove the minerals from the water. Which actually removes the nutients that are in the water. So you can have all the benefits of water you should add minerals so they actually benefit your body rather than just boiling and drinking it. Although I enjoy reverse omosis water and I think it's perfectly healthy my Mother tends to disagree with me. And says I need to add minerals but that's another whole story.
2 people like this
@Margarit (3676)
• Philippines
29 Nov 08
Hi lulumartin, I think it depends upon the source of water, if i am at home i drink tap water for we have the cleaness water in out area and it taste good too. If i am in other places i would go for bottle water for i dont have the time to boiled it. I just drink hot water if i am not feeling well or if i like to drink something hot like coffee, tea or milk.
2 people like this
• China
29 Nov 08
hi,my friends,i lived in china,i never drink the water before boiled,i think only the boiled water can quarantee our health,the boiling water can kill the bacteria and purify the water.and the boiled water taste a little better.if drink the water without boiling,i also feel very uncomfortable.
2 people like this
@ronnyb (6113)
• Jamaica
29 Nov 08
I dont boil my water primarily because I cant be bothered with that.Also I trust the water authority to ensure that chlorine is placed in the water but I wouldnt quarell with anyone who says that water should be boiled .You cant be too careful these days and any system that requires human input can be compromised. Let me explain what I mean by compromise,you put faith in the water authority to put chlorine in the water but who is to say that the person who is supposed to ensure that chlorine goes in the water actually does it.Even with technology the way it is ,it is possible that someone may forget to flip the switch that loads chlorine into the tanks. Consequently boiling the water represents another level of protection and this can only auger well for your health.
• New Zealand
29 Nov 08
I live in New Zealand I here we dont hve to boil water beforedrinking it because as your brother-in-law says that there is already clorine inthe water and it has already killed any germs that were in there. Plus the water here tastes wonderful and why would anyone want to ruin the taste. But a feew years age wgen we were living in Fiji, I remember that we always used to boil water thn drinking it. Especiallly after the hurricane. I fiji, somtimes we could see how dirty the water was. So I think it really does depend on where you live and what the weather has been like lately.
2 people like this
@nishdan01 (3051)
• Singapore
16 Dec 08
We boil the water at home. I used to boil water for my son until he was two years old. We live in Singapore. Here tap water is perfectly safe for drinking. Mineral water - we totally avoid them unless very necessary. All the ions in the water gets removed in mineral water. It is unhealthy too for this reason.
• Germany
16 Dec 08
I believe the water in Singapore must be very safe to drink directly. In where i live now, i really dare not to drink tap water. Sometimes the water is very yellowish. I don't have 100% trust on mineral water, one of my teacher in secondary school warned us to choose the mineral water carefully. Thanks for the reply and have a nice day!
@Mitraa (3184)
• India
18 Dec 08
You see lulu, I and members of family always drink unboiled and unfiltered water that is as avilable directly from the tap. The supply comes from a borewell of about more than 150 feet depth near our residence. In my opinion, drinking water should not be too pure and unless advised medically or felt unsafe about purity, water shold not be boiled before drinking. Thanks for this nice topic!
1 person likes this
@eagle_f15 (1827)
• Malaysia
16 Dec 08
Hello....I don't boil the water in my house before drinking it as the tap is fixed with a water treatment filter system. So I will just on the filter switch then drink from it. Am using the Amway water treatment system filter. But when going outside for meals my husband and I normally take our own tupperware tumblers of water so we rarely drink water from outside. Besides...drinking all the kopi o and those sweet drinks is bad. Plain water is still the best
1 person likes this
@elitess (5070)
• Ipswich, England
15 Dec 08
Hi there Lulu Martin. Boiled water is safer as through boiling a lot of bacteria die, but i do drink at times normal tap water and... i am still alive and kicking. In any case i normally drink still water bought from the store.
1 person likes this
• India
14 Dec 08
No because i have a water purification system in my house and it's a good idea of boling the water but why to boil and follow the same old procedures while we have the new technology available to us
1 person likes this
• Germany
15 Dec 08
You are right, if we have a good water purification system, we don't need to boil the water. We should wisely use the new technology today, it brings convenience to us. But at the moment, i still don't have a good water filter yet, the filter will always become dirty easily after a while, so i'd better boil the water. Though it's quite troublesome sometimes.
@liisafiat (659)
• Latvia
15 Dec 08
Chlorine water or boiled chlorine water: both are `damaged` waters. Non of them is good for our health. It is much better to find a clean water out there- in the nature- and drink that. But who can find one? I think most of the water sources are dirty with chemicals already. This is why we have horrible sicknesses and diseases, but we don`t get it: why? In some European countries it is normally to drink unboiled tap water. But it depends from the country and from the city in the country. I live in Latvia, and in some cities we have clean tap water that does not have too much chemicals or chlorine, or bacterias in it. In the capital city is like in every capital city: industrialization and manufacturers `poisoned` our water, so it is better to boil our tap water before drinking. But even better: not to drink it at all. :) And die.
1 person likes this