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Last night I was thinking about how we (Americans) were warned not to drink water in Morocco when I first went there, and we got the same warning about visiting our "neighbors to the south" Mexico. I tried the waters of the respective countries and you know the rest of the story.
+What is it about the water that we cannot drink it without having "problems?"
+Why can some foreigners drink the water and others cannot? (for example, Spaniards could drink Moroccan water, and Americans couldn't)
+In which other countries should Americans avoid drinking water?
The biggest deal is that in most of these other countries, they do not clean their tap water well enough to make it safe for drinking. Having a system in place like the US does to clean all tap water is very expensive.
Bacteria is the biggest issue, with pollution being an issue as well. The US and just a handful of other 1st world countries are very furtunate to have clean, safe to drink tap water. We take it for granted, but believe me, much of the rest of the world does not have that luxury. Some people can drink the water in other areas because their bodies may have built up a resistance to whatever bad things are in the water.
That fits with what I know. I think some in those countries don't drink their own water either as I've heard Hispanic Americans are more likely to drink bottled water than most other ethnicities. I'm assuming that's because they are used to it at home.
According to Gallup a third of Mexicans and Moroccans are dissatisfied with their water quality. So less than the US, UK, Canada, Australia, or New Zealand. However there are countries much worse, where the majority of their people are dissatisfied with water quality. One of the more modern countries to have that situation looks to be Russia where 54% were listed as dissatisfied. Among non-African nations Iraq looks most dissatisfied with 71% dissatisfaction. The Democratic Republic of Congo was most dissatisfied with 78%. Singapore was the most satisfied with their water quality, but I sometimes think Singaporeans feel they should say they're satisfied when asked a question as some of their poll answers don't make sense to me. Discounting them Scandinavia and Switzerland look to be the most satisfied with their water. In Africa Namibians seem most satisfied with their water and their satisfaction is about the same as Japan's. In Latin America Costa Rica and Uruguay have a satisfaction equal or superior to the US. Uruguay's water satisfaction is also listed as higher than Britain or Canada. So I guess if an American or Canadian had a problem with Uruguayan water it wouldn't be something the local's, officially anyway, would relate to.
Last night I was thinking about how we (Americans) were warned not to drink water in Morocco when I first went there, and we got the same warning about visiting our "neighbors to the south" Mexico. I tried the waters of the respective countries and you know the rest of the story.
+What is it about the water that we cannot drink it without having "problems?"
+Why can some foreigners drink the water and others cannot? (for example, Spaniards could drink Moroccan water, and Americans couldn't)
+In which other countries should Americans avoid drinking water?
There are often bacteria that exist in the water that people from other countries have never been exposed to. Oftentimes people will get intestinal and digestive problems when initially exposed. Foreigners that have the offending bacteria already in their gut of course will come away unscathed.
I worried my post was a non-sequitir, but I guess it was relevant to the last question.
Using that poll I'd guess any place with below 67% satisfaction might be risky. Also the UN used to have a list of countries by access to clean water. I can't seem to find that in their latest report though. I did find the following PDF based on WHO figures.
Going by it the only place in Africa with access to safe water roughly equal to the US is Mauritius, but whether that means it's "safe" for US people I'm not sure. There are several places in the Caribbean that look safe according to this (Particularly Barbados, St. Kitts, and some of the Dutch-owned islands) and I think I've heard some of the wealthier islands in the Caribbean are fine. Guatemala has safer water than I would have expected, but I don't know that I would bank on it for a US/UK/Canadian type person considering I don't think it was that high on Gallup's poll. In South America Guyana and Peru look like they could be risky, while Uruguay again looks like it would be okay. (Consult someone who's went to Uruguay though on that or on any nation as I'm just going by stats) Some nations outside of Africa that look real risky by this include Afghanistan, Cambodia, East Timor, Laos, and Yemen. Although this info is like a decade out of date.
I got back from Mexico two weeks ago and I'm still suffering. Once. Just once I brushed my teeth with tap water. I should know better. I've been to the tropics a few times and I'm telling you I won't drink any local water again.
There is something else about these places you should all know and think about. DO NOT go into any fresh water rivers, ponds lakes etc. There are BAD parasites in a lot of these waters and they are just extremely nasty. Some of them can kill you.
don't drink it in China unless you boil it first, hell even the Chinese boil it first.
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