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I live in a serviced apartment, and one of the services they provide is these 20L Eurotech water drums for $1.50 upon request. For the first day I was drinking it, everything was fine. However the next day, while I was drinking, I noticed a bitter after taste and a chemical smell. I had the building management replace the drum, and I even had one of them taste the water. They told me it tasted normal. The second drum of water was the pretty much the same. I tried boiling the water for 10 minutes, then cooling it in the fridge, then tasting it. The chemical smell was actually more pronounced after that. The taste is actually the minor issue. I can handle bad tasting water, however after drinking it, I got heartburn and an upset stomach followed by my first bout of minor diarrhea (TMI I know) in Phnom Penh. I've drank several brands of bottled water here and I've had no issues with either taste or health.

The management for this building is extremely professional and honest so I very much doubt this is some sort of counterfeit water. According to the label, it's RO water (though they spelled reverse incorrectly). I had a 4 layer RO water filter in Beijing and the water tasted perfect, and to my knowledge, RO filtration is supposed to remove any kind of chlorine taste. The management told me that they've been using this water company for a long time and no tenant has ever complained. I am concerned about whether or not the water has a heavy chlorine content because it has links to cancer. I've also messaged Eurotech about for further information and I am still waiting for a reply.

Has anyone else had a similar experience?

Shit you certainly cannot use it for yourself for in any case. You'll need to find a different source. I suspect you're the first to receive a bad batch hence the only complaint. Maybe check with management again in a day or 4.

I'm not certain what, if any quality control these local water companies have in place.

Years ago I used to order those big Eurotech "water drums", then one day as I was lifting one up, I accidentally dropped it and it cracked open and spewed water everywhere.

I picked up the broken bottle and noticed that the inside looked odd. I dragged my finger along the inside and it was all slimy and looked greenish.

I haven't drank from one since.

Don't trust those bottles. The water maybe clean but then never sterilise the plastic bottles when refilling.
Get a ceramic filter or just boil the tap water.

I don't know about Eurotech but the local big jars here are either filled with unfiltered well water or rain water. Refilled until broken, without cleaning / sterilization.

I have drank tap water using one of these Korea brand filters for 11 years (replace every year) without problem. They are ~$15. and available all over

andy_morris wrote: ↑Sun Mar 10, 2019 10:05 am Don't trust those bottles. The water maybe clean but then never sterilise the plastic bottles when refilling.
Get a ceramic filter or just boil the tap water.

I actually wondered about boiling the tap water. I have used it for coffee with no issues thus far. I tried boiling it, then cooling it in the fridge but it had this weird taste to it so I worried if it was safe or not. After living in Beijing for years, I have this avid fear of tap water. I'm going to look into those ceramic filters. Thanks.

Brody wrote:I'm not certain what, if any quality control these local water companies have in place.

They don't. Some smaller ones get regularly shut down.

I'd recommend the system beaker talks about. Been using it for ages and water tastes great and never been sick.

beaker wrote: ↑Sun Mar 10, 2019 10:23 am I have drank tap water using one of these Korea brand filters for 11 years (replace every year) without problem. They are ~$15. and available all over

You know, I think I'm going to do just that. It's a shame to abandon my Xiaomi water filter in Beijing (cost me $300) but the box is big so it would jack up my cubic meter moving price, and once the filters expire I wouldn't be able to replace them here anyways. There are Chinese re-sellers here but they mark up the prices to an unreasonable extent. I appreciate the help, thanks.

beaker wrote: ↑Sun Mar 10, 2019 10:23 am I have drank tap water using one of these Korea brand filters for 11 years (replace every year) without problem. They are ~$15. and available all over

I stopped using the big bottles a couple of years ago because I was getting sick far too many times. Difficult to pinpoint the source, but these days I drink mostly Phnom Kulen mineral water. I use tap water for cooking.

Can you recommend a specific outlet where I can buy the Korean water filter and future replacement filters?

Many thanks.