Household water in Bali

[Kura Kura]

i look after several combination RO/UV water plants where i work in Indonesia. ITs not worth the maintenance and effort you put into them when comparing this with the price of drinking water in Indo. Having said that, ive seen the state of some of the filtered water top up stations around Bali.......its shocking. I personally wouldnt go to any of these little top up stations around the place.I buy bottled water from the larger trusted brands - not back yard top up stations.

I have a bottle set up in the kitchen for drinking water via the chilled aqua dispenser, and another elevated above the sink for washing fruit, rinsing off glasses etc. I use the regular well (tap) water for brushing my teeth.

With the way most household water systems in Bali are built (very little segregation between waste water/sewerage pits and water wells and contaminant leaching)its almost worth having a filtration unit even for your shower water if you use a well. Bali is headed for massive water problems in the next few years.

It really all depends on where you live and how your well is set up in relation to your waste water pits. Im in seminyak where space is scarce,,,and we have a water well and waste water quite close to each other. you can bet your bottom dollar the well is as shallow as economically possible, and that im showering in my own poo. I dont really mind as im not swallowing the stuff when i shower.

So do you think you could you use either RO or UV/carbon filter as a safe alternative for crystal clear drinking water via a well IF the well was dug far enough away from the septics? ( forgetting price of maintenance for a moment
and comparison with big brand bottled water).

[hinakos]

Sure you can, thats what we do here at work, but were in the jungle so pollution not a problem

You should have your water tested pre and post filtration to be sure.

Dont forget that if your neighbour has his sceptic leaching into his water supply, youll probably be affected too. You dont get out of it that easy!

Thats why testing is important.

I personally wouldnt think about it unless i was on my own land and had quite a bit of it away from everyone else....but even then its not economically viable. And some basic mechanical/electrical aptitude to look after one of these systems correctly is a big help too.

[hinakos]

im matto btw, just got my old identity back (thanks for your patience admin!)

[Kura Kura]

Cheers Hinakos.

Isn't RO pretty safe even if the neighbours sewerage is close to my well? Especially if I was to ZAP it with UV after RO or the UV unecessary after RO?

[ronb]

Isn't RO pretty safe even if the neighbours sewerage is close to my well? Especially if I was to ZAP it with UV after RO or the UV unecessary after RO?

No I think not. Any purification system will only be getting rid of some %age of bacteria (maybe 99% or similar), so if the initial contamination is extreme, then the 1% getting though can be dangerous. There is a long article on Reverse Osmosis (RO) in wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_osmosis
This quote from that article is interesting:

In practice, a fraction of the living bacteria can and do pass through RO membranes through minor imperfections, or bypass the membrane entirely through tiny leaks in surrounding seals. Thus, complete RO systems may include additional water treatment stages that use ultraviolet light or ozone to prevent microbiological contamination.

[Kura Kura]

No I think not. Any purification system will only be getting rid of some %age of bacteria (maybe 99% or similar), so if the initial contamination is extreme, then the 1% getting though can be dangerous. There is a long article on Reverse Osmosis (RO) in wikipedia at Reverse osmosis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This quote from that article is interesting:

That makse sense. So the only real alternative is to make sure the well is dug a lot deeper than the neighbours sewerage and far enough away and then use UV. Not really contemplating doing any of this, just find it all interesting and sort of wondering why some of the more "exclusive" villas don't provide that feature for their guests. Maybe they already do.

[goldminer]

We use RO plants at the gold mine that i work at. Feed water is from ground bores, with TDS nearly 1000 times more salty than sea water. These units treat the salty water and its used to provide potable water to 500 people and the plant use as well.

[hinakos]

Why would exclusive villas spend a fortune on water filtration rather than do it the cheap easy way?

The water isnt any better through these machines in general. Its dead water, no minerals, no nothing in it.

I take mineral supplements here to supplement all the magnesium and other goodies that filtration removes.

[goldminer]

South of perth there are 3 large desalination plants, using the sea water as its source of feed water. It is just lots of RO {reverse osmosis} plants producing drinking water for population. As the summers slowly get hotter and the winters dryer, I predict more of these desal plants will emerge.
Bali is surrounded by the sea. These plants could be used to water most of the island via pipeline. Maybe could be a project for you Markit, after you finish that great looking house!

[hinakos]

Desal uses a stack of energy/fuel in the conversion process (a lot of high pressure pumps squeezing water through membranes). Bali's already short on electricity. Also, Indonesia is getting harder and harder on allowing foreign run projects to emerge here (despite what the media says). Makes it tough when the projects involve the latest technology, as de-sal does. Indonesia certainly doesnt posess this technology domestically. A lot of this laws they (indonesian lawmakers) enact are to their own detriment.....just look at the health system here, same deal. No foreign practitioners allowed.