Kibkom North Cyprus Forum

I live in a rented semi detacted house. The people here buy all their drinking water from a vendor. I've tasted the water, and it seems ok, clear and no bad smell either.

Is there harm in drinking the "good water" from Turkey? The place we lived before had such salt in the water it was not suitable for drinking.... I understood the need for the bottled water in that case, but I thought this water from Turkey was deemed "OK". What's the story?

If you intend to drink water direct from a tap attached to the supply from the Belediye, you MAY be OK - I emphasise MAY, because I don't want you to blame me if the Belediye slips up on its water testing/treatment regime, and you come down with a case of e-coli or a nasty cryptosporidium infection (both of which are tasteless and odorless!).

The water which the Belediye supplies is supposed to be OK for Human consumption, regardless of whether it is 'Turkish' or 'Local' water - salt is not, and never has been, the issue - it's organic contamination which is the main problem.

The problems arise where the water is stored in a tank (or 'depot', as it is known locally) at your premises before use, either in or on the ground, or up on your roof, because the chances of it becoming infected before you consume it are then quite high.

If you remember, there was an entire thread devoted to this subject - here.

Good grief! I do hope that everyone who goes out for a drink takes their own clean glass with them or cup if drinking tea/coffee. Never have ice in a drink when you are out and for sure do not touch any salad, just in case! Don't eat rice, in case it has been reheated, never touch a minced meat product of any kind unless you have seen the meat itself being minced before hand. Always wear gloves when handling a shopping basket or trolley, avoid inhalation of any form of particulates, be they tobacco based or perfume (http://www.ebay.com/gds/Common-Perfume- ... 555/g.html) and never, ever travel in a vehicle in case the exhaust has a leak. Only use gas fires outdoors, make sure your CO2 detectors are always in top condition if you have a wood/paraffin/gas stove in operation inside. Of course if you are really prone to worrying about the water then you can buy a complete filtering system for the entire household to make sure that you don't accidently ingest any when brushing your teeth or showering! Meanwhile - common sense should be sufficient to keep you happy, healthy and worry free.

Seriously? Are you exaggerating or have there been cases of water contamination - enough to be cautious about? I see someone posted a link to a pitcher from Amazon.

Has anyone actually ordered something from Amazon and had it SUCCESSFULLY delivered here? I read the thread on the postal service and now I know why I never have received any mail. It seems to be a skill set that is missing here.

I haven't had a problem with the water yet, I have treated on a regular basis the tank on the roof with some bleach. on the advice of another cypriot. But guess I'll be ordering the bottled water to play it safe.

thanks for the responses.

re ordering from Amazon , always delivered albeit to PO box in the South usually 7 days from europe

I have never drank water from the house tanks - too obviously easy for contamination, including dead lizzards. I drank "tap water" from theBelediye for some 20 years without obvious ill effects prior to the supply of "Turkish" water: then I was advised to to drink "tap water" for at least two weeks to allow the flow to clean out the inside of the pipes. Having seen the condition of the pipes and in which they were installed it rather put me off "tap" waternand I am still on the bottled stuff which is rather a nuisance. I do however drink "tap water" when it is boiled, ie for tea and coffee which seems a reasonable compromise between caution and phobia?

thanks for the advice. We got a new tank installed on the roof to hold the water - as there was a dead pigeon in the existing tank. I then shocked the new tank and pipes with a bleach and water mixture. I guess I should have realised it wasn't a practice common here, as when the plumber ask me what I was doing and why - he had no clue as to the sanitation reasons. Mehhhh.

While we are on the topic of "water"... are there municipal water treatment (sewage) facilities here in North Cyprus? (I often get a whiff of sewage when out walking in the city of Lefcosia.) And, where does all the garbage go to? Do they have a landfill and/or do they recycle some of it?
I just hope it's not dumped into the sea.

RR, a bit of muck won't hurt you, im sure that it will all be perfectly hygienic by now! (Clean muck! )

Waddo, you P.... taker!

All I was talking about was not drinking water that's been stored in house tanks - when you've seen dead pigeons and rats heaving with maggots floating in tanks, it puts you right off!

Kayc, provided that you treat your storage tank(s) as you have said, you should be fine, making sure that they have a lid fitted is a good idea as well...

I think that you are supposed to have at least one tap supplied direct from the mains supply but I don't think that this has been rigidly enforced in the past due to the unreliability of the supply (drought-wise, not cleanliness wise).

I have no real problem with drinking from the mains tap and am also keen on reducing the amount of plastic we use. It must be the tap directly from the mains and not taps from the tanks. A lot of people do not realise i the UK that the only tap you are supposed to use is the one on the sink.

Keith, Not extracting the U at all, people worry too much, I have been drinking the local water for years now and both my heads agree there is nothing wrong with it - most of the time! Too old to worry now anyway and if I did I would probably not be able to tell anyone in print for fear of upsetting somebody else with a personal view. The world has gone mad I tell you, but what do we know I ask myself? I still have some old water purifying tabs left from my last 10 man rat pack if you need them mate - they should still work, maybe..........

Jonnie wrote:I have no real problem with drinking from the mains tap and am also keen on reducing the amount of plastic we use. It must be the tap directly from the mains and not taps from the tanks. A lot of people do not realise i the UK that the only tap you are supposed to use is the one on the sink.

Think you will find most modern houses built in UK are pretty much mains pressured,either by combi boiler or pressurized hot water system. For many years when I was in the building trade,most cold taps were mains fed. Not sure if that was a regulation though.

Heck I must be obsessed because I clean my teeth with bottled water

Surely bleach is a poison - both ingested and contact, and using it to disinfect the water supply risky?

https://www.thoughtco.com/is-it-safe-to ... ach-606151 Ah, the wonders of Google!!

They do use chlorine here as a drinking water sanitiser, which is why it is supposed to be safe to drink the water direct from the Belediye supply (as long as they don't forget to do it!).

1part per million is the UK standard, as I recall.

We use the tap water for tea, etc. as it is boiled but use bottled for drinking water, as it's only 5tl for 19lts. I did drink the tap water (ten tonne tank water) once for a bet but it went straight through me which brought great hilarity to our guests at the time! The tank has not been cleaned since it was dug 12 years ago, has it's fair share of slugs and dead lizards plus lots of other insect foulings I suspect. No doubt you might train your system to tolerate the water if you persisted to drink it, but I think the bottled is safest.

Sorry to bang the same drum again, but that bottled water is OK if you are fit, but for the disabled and elderly it is yet another item that is too heavy to carry (well enough water for ,say, a week, is,and the top up bottles for dispensers are certainly too much.

There are companies around that will deliver the 19ltr bottles to your door so that you don't have to collect them or rely upon your friends to get them for you. Additionally, there are water cooler/dispensers that the bottle fits in the bottom of, so that you don't even have to lift the full bottles. There are also glass bottles of water around half the size of the 19ltr bottles available and they can be delivered as well. Ask your Turkish friend about them and the dispensers he has both. If you are not yet disabled but plan on getting old it is a much better purchase to do now than a few extra beers in the bar. Think ahead unless you are already there, the convenience far outweighs the additional small cost and gets you ready for advanced years and less mobility and strength.

Interesing that you mention glass bottles, Waddo , as another query is whether it is really safe to keep water in plastic bottles. There was a debate earlier on whether the plastic degenerates and becomes poisonous over time, particularly if exposed to strong sunlight. On the other hand plastic bottles are less likely to get broken and create hazards for the elderly and very young! One just cant win!

My old grandad used to say "everyone has to eat some dirt in the course of their lives". John Mortimer (though in the context of warnings on cigarette packets) "Just living kills you in the end"

thickey wrote:Heck I must be obsessed because I clean my teeth with bottled water

me too LOL
but to be fair the water in the bathroom comes from the tank on the roof, so better to be safe than sorry

We only use the bottled water to drink, as in fresh water, cordials etc. For everything else, tea, coffee, teeth cleaning, salad washing, cooking, we use the putrid stuff from the infested tank, If making a stock we always boil the water first. I think we must have a tolerance to certain micro-bacteria due to this practice. The restaurants will use tap water for almost everything, I assume.

Mark - do what I did, connect the incoming mains supply direct into the house.

The question was about the Turkish water.

Remember that it is river water piped straight over here. Last year they stopped the flow in the spring when they had floods in said river and when flooding villages it became contaminated with sewage - it was well reported.

I worked in the GAP region of SE Turkey where the Dutch did similar and made a huge 'ring main' channel using water - again pumped directly - from the Euphrates.

My understanding of the original Cyprus scheme (I was once close to the administrators of funding) was that it was to be fed into the enlarged reservoir - and others - from where it would filter naturally through the bedrock and supply the artesian wells in the aquifer already in use for years. That high principle seems to have been passed-by to me.

I have asked the supplier of the water to my premises where I can inspect a health certificate and data of the regular water hygiene tests for this new water. Of course I am told not to worry 'its OK'; not for me it isn't.

The lady who asked about sewage and waste disposal is obviously new to this place. So it may help her to know that all waste is put in landfill, the largest dump being in Dikmen north of the capital where the EU spent million upon million to sanitise it and 'clean it up' about 3 years ago.

Sewage treatment ? Away from the towns there are septic tanks, otherwise most goes into drains that end up in the sea. After a heavy rain, take a look at the old harbour in Kyrenia and other coastal spots where there are large developments. Oh and wasn't the Cratos hotel fined mega bucks for discharging raw effluent straight into the adjacent sea. So what about all the other hotels right by the shoreline then ?

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Hi does anybody have a number for the glass bottles that Waddo mentioned above? The ones that are half the 19 litre size.
I would like to order some
thanks

Waddo the machines you talk about are fine, unless their is a power cut.....
My Cypriot neighbour's have a hand pump that just fits on top of the floor standing 19 litre bottles. I must ask them where they bought it.

Water that has been through the solar panels should be sanitised, to some extent, especially in summer. Maybe it would be safe to use this for many of the purposes we use bottled water (and not waste the first flow from the hot tap). Does anyone have reliable information on this possibility?

Panchcat, you can buy them in most supermarkets in the North but for a quality product get one from Superhome in the South. More expensive but they don’t leak, are easier to use and retain pressure in the bottle whilst in operation. Stay away from the battery operated ones - rubbish!

Has any one used a filtered tap ??
Just curious.

The filter can be fixed on the tap...
Or you can actually buy a complete water tap with the filter in it...

We have filters on all our taps, always have done both here and in Turkey. Only problem is that with all the lime in the water they need cleaning very very frequently.....usually forgotten about until the water is only a trickle!

Laura B wrote:We have filters on all our taps, always have done both here and in Turkey. Only problem is that with all the lime in the water they need cleaning very very frequently.....usually forgotten about until the water is only a trickle!

Laura, if you're referring to the small metal screw-on bits on the taps, they are actually 'flow straighteners ' rather than filters.

Oh my word Keith......you are a fount of knowledge!!

Laura B wrote:Oh my word Keith......you are a fount of knowledge!!

Well, I always thought that they were filters as well, until someone set me straight

Now I'm set straight as well

I always remove the mesh in my taps/ I have a battery operated pump for my water it works fine!

I do not drink water from my tanks. I do have a water tap that comes direct from the mains and have no problem with that at all. I do have a water cooler and use bottled water for chilled convenience.

In East Anglia there is a saying " You will eat a peck of dirt before you die", I actually think the sterilised society we live in now accounts for some if the health problems we have.

On another note, if you are using bottled water, please use the returnable/recyclable ones, I have spent half my working life in the sea and the plastic waste keeps growing. 3 days ago I came across another dead turtle.

If you are in any doubt about the quality of your water be it mains or from a tank get it tested at a laboratory. There is one on the Bellapais road next to the traffic lights (cant remember the name)
Go there first to get a free sterlised sample bottle, fill with your water and take it back too get it tested. cost about 50tl.