prwatts

I am more worried about these water guys sending you questionable water in re-used 20l bottles, or bought bottles in questionable containers. I am moving over to glass bottles but that is a bit expensive and maybe paranoid.

I have run my hotel tap water through my MSR Miniworks (0.2 micron) then boiled it and so far it tastes fine - a bit limey.

Which brings me to the next thing - where does Riyadh's water come from? I heard 60% desalination 40% aquafers (next door to oil wells???) I am no geologist

I think there is a bigger hazard from the hotel's water tanks than the actual water coming in?

Thanks,
Peter

lionheart

Isn't the water piped in from one of the massive desalination plants on the coast? Just guessing.

prwatts

Desalinated water should be pure = very soft and lovely to wash in.
It is made by either reverse osmosis or distillation, both mean there will be no calcium carbonate (Lime) in it.
The water we get is quite 'hard' and has lime in it. Coming from Derby I am well aquainted with hard water - ha ha - straight after the rain our water is lovely and soft and lathers easily but the rest of the time it is 'hard'. Anyway, from what I can tell of the water in Riyadh and the way is limes up kettles, some definitely has come out the ground.
I want to know how safe it is for human consumption - I am assuming that they do not recycle water from the sewerage plant - I hope the Prophet (PBUH) had words to say on that idea - yuck.
Which they DO do in Blighty - depends where along the River Derwent you live...

Dry as Dust

I think the water in Riyadh is a mix of groundwater and desalinated seawater. In both cases the water that is put into supply is of high quality. The desalinated water is soft - although they do remineralise slightly.

However, I would avoid drinking tap water straight from the tap if you live in a high rise building. The water will be stored in roof tanks, at elevated temperatures, and with dubious maintenance and cleaning practices. This means the quality of water coming out of your tap is not as good as the quality that was put into supply. If in a villa at least you have the option to check out the tank yourself.

prwatts

Many thanks, this fits in with my experience.

gottheTshirt

Water for Riyadh comes from two desalination plants at jubail - one pipeline runs along the side of the Riyadh - Dammam highway. The pipeline is cement mortar lined. The water picks up some calcium from the cement. Desal water is distilled water -no minerals and no taste - it is blended with 20% well water to give potable quality water. There is not a lot of chlorination so it is best to boil it if you are going to use it for drinking. It is probably better quality than you get from bottles.

prwatts

What about this business of repeatedly filling up plastic bottles - I heard there is something that comes out of the plastic into the water and it's not good for you? One should use plastic bottles once only, or use glass?

Charismatic

Bisphenol A (estrogen like compounds) can be a problem but mostly with cooked foods in plastic containers and acidic soft drinks from coated cans. I wouldn’t worry about it.