Water Filter - Drinking S. Korean Water

Hi All -

My brother is currently in South Korea to teach for a year, and he's been told by his program not to drink the tap water. He's having a difficult time drinking enough water as he can't find bottled water for sale anywhere. I wanted to buy him a camping-style water filter bottle, but as I don't know anything about water filters I wanted to make sure it was suitable for this purpose. The bottle I'm looking at says: "The microfiltration method uses a 0.3 micron pleated glassfiber microfilter and granular activated carbon to meet EPA standards for removal of bacteria and Giardia." Does anyone on this forum know if a filter like that is sufficient for filtering Korean tap water?

Thanks so much!

(If you're curious, here's the bottle I'm thinking about: http://tinyurl.com/3y74oqd)

Fron what I've read, the tap water in Seoul is safe to drink (by western standards). Elsewhere in the country, its hit or miss. The water filter that you listed definitely looks to be a good choice.

He should be able to find bottles of water at any mart. I can't imagine that he can't find any water to drink.

As #2 said, bottled water is available EVERYWHERE. Any corner shop of any size will sell it. Wherever he's buying his food, he'll be able to buy bottled water. Anyway, the tap water is safe, it just doesn't taste that great. If he's desperate, he can always boil some then put it in the fridge.

As said above, you don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to find bottled water here. You can't walk for more than 2 minutes in any city without tripping over a Family Mart, 7-11 or GS25, and they all sell bottled water, frequently with "2 for 1" deals on some brands.

Another option is to rent a water dispenser, of the kind that you find absolutely everywhere in Korea. You pay a small monthly fee (I can't remember how much, I think around 20-30,000 baht) and the company does the rest incl. delivery and collection. Friends of mine have one in their apartment. It works out slightly more expensive than buying bottled water in the shops, but it's a lot more convenient and of course kinder to the environment.

By the way, I understand that the problem with Korean tap water is that it contains high levels of some metals and other industrial type pollutants. It doesn't contain microbes or bacteria so it won't make you sick, but over a longer period of time you might not be doing your health any good.

A) You're a troll

B) You have major communication problems with your brother

C) Your brother has a few problems

D) Somebody buys all of the bottled water from his neighborhood stores a few minutes before he walks in

E) ?

I'm just going by what my brother has told me, so allegations that either myself or my brother are dumb really aren't much appreciated.

Thanks for the useful replies though. My brother is living on the outskirts of very small town 2 hours from Seoul, and there are only a few small stores that are accessible to him, which might be why he's having trouble. I will mention the water dispenser idea to him - I think that might work out really well.

(Also, I'm not a troll. Gmail just decided that all these thorntree messages were spam and I only now found them. I've gotten very useful replies in the past on thorntree, but I've never used this board before. Now I never will again.)

Now I never will again

Why? You got some very useful replies, then someone says something mildly condescending and you go off in a huff. Welcome to the world of internet forums. If comments like #6's offend you, then perhaps you should grow a thicker skin.

Water dispensers are very common in public places in Korea. Your brother could also do as I do and fill up his water bottles in sports centres, banks, office buildings etc. I am sure he has a water dispenser at his work where he could refill his bottles. It is obviously more convenient to have your own dispenser at home though.

A filter with a 0.3 micron filter will take care of the bacteria. The carbon should remove VOCs, chlorine and some other molecules like TPHs, MBTE, PCE, it is commonly used in municipal water treatment and remediation projects. The problem is that if the water doesn't take enough time to pass through the carbon the molecules can't transfer from the water to the carbon pores.

It's difficult to believe that it would be hard to fnd bottled water for sale, no matter how small the town. He needs to look around.