Why is the water so polluted???

Just wondering if anyone can answer my question as to why the water in the Dominican Republic is contaminated with E-Coli Bacteria? Is the whole island's water contaminated? Is it possible for your body to ever get used to it?Do all the Dominican's drink bottled water? Who supplies all the hotels and locals with bottled water? Been to the Dominican but never asked these questions! I thank you in advance for answering my questions!

Jennifer

It's a combination of the heat, bad plumbing ie clean water mixing with sewage and a lack of treatment plants. This is common in most Third World countries.

Yes you can get used to it and many people actually drink from the taps including children.

The bottles water is made by both small and large companies. The larger companies in the capitol are generally the purist. Some of the small producers in the smaller towns especially the ones using the Osmosis process, are a bit suspect.

Yes the water is suspect everywhere in the DR, but it has been that way in all of the third world countries that I have been in. I have lived in the DR for a year at a time and have visited several times. but have never used bottled water. I have found that water that was run through one of the better filters was perfectly safe. Of course the filter had to be cleaned and inspected frequently. i also have discovered that those who can afford to purify or buy bottled water all do so.

RE Polluted water. Trust me, your body will NOT become "tolerant" to water containing E Coli. Drink bottled water or become VERY sick. If you have no other alternative add 2 drops of iodine per quart of suspect water, or boil really well for at least 15 minutes. I have yet to see a practical filtration system. Canadian Bob.

Then, should you stay away from seafood and other things with water in it? How about fruit?

How do you know what bottle water companies use the Osmosis process?

Matt

We were just in the DR for a week. We used bottled purified water (checked label closely) for everything, including brushing teeth. (there was a recent study in the DR1 news which found that some 90% of purified water bottled in the DR was fine, e.g. it passed tests). We only ate fruit that was peeled or that we peeled ourselves (oranges, papaya, pineapple). We were careful to be sure that all juices were "natural" -- not concentrate mixed with water. We ate only vegetables that were cooked, no salads (even though we heard that some restaurants wash these with purified water, we were afraid). We never used ice except at the Guacara Taina where I was assured that the ice was made with purified water. We ate only seafood, no beef (we even ate shrimp one night) -- mostly fish filet or pasta with seafood. We kept to these rules, EVEN ON THE PLANE COMING HOME (even US airlines get their food locally). Oh, and only on our last night did we drink any alcohol! And we careful not to get sunburned.

The result of all these precautions: neither of us got seriously sick. I experienced a mild traveler's diarrhea beginning the third day, lasting about 3 days, and then only late at night and in early morning, so it did not affect my ability to participate in activities. Pepto Bismol caplets worked perfectly, and I didn't need to take many. My minor ailment went away for 3 days and then returned on the last morning and lasted for 3 more mornings after I returned (probably either from the alcohol or from the stress of having our car broken into on our last morning). My partner, who ate everything I did, had no problems whatsoever at all, ever. My stomach tends to be a little weaker than his anyway.

Compare this to my trip to Mexico several years ago, where I followed the exact same precautions and never got an upset stomach at all. The difference there was that I took garlic pills every day. Maybe I should have tried that this time! Plus back then I only ate chicken, and no seafood. My then-travel partner had no problems until he ate salad and beef on the Delta flight home (I avoided those), and then he had Montezuma's revenge for 2 weeks after the return. It was from the plane food, which we late learned came from Mexico!

Hope this helps you all.

Can anyone tell me just what "bottled" water is in the DR? Here in the U.S., bottled water can be spring water, not necessarily purified. Is the bottled water in the DR bottled by a purifying company? Are there brands that are safer than others? And what about water that is provided by resorts--is this water that is commercially purified or is it run through the resort's filtration system and then bottled by them? Or is it done by a purifying company too? Is there any bottled water that can make you sick? Is it water that is bottled by a commercial purifying plant? Lots of questions, I know. Thanks for the responses. Mia