Is the water safe to drink?
There is ample water for showers and bathing in San Pedro, but you are asked to conserve. Hotels will supply you with all your drinking water. Many visitors drink the local water with no harmful after-effects. Others, more prudent or with delicate stomachs should stick to bottled water. San Pedro draws the bulk of its water from shallow wells in sand (they do not penetrate bedrock). Municipal water is chlorinated and aerated, but untreated well water should not be drunk. Some places have cistern water that is also safe to drink. Check with your host concerning which water is acceptable for drinking (and brushing your teeth). San Pedro’s drinking water comes primarily from a private contractor at the south end of Bonita Island that manufactures clean water using an industrial high capacity reverse osmosis plant. The water is purchased wholesale by the town of San Pedro and pumped by standard water pipe methods throughout Bonita Island.
Yes, the tap water in Costa Rica, that comes from the wells and/or treatment plants of the “Instituto Costarricense de Acueductos y Alcantarillados” (A y A) or in english, the Costa Rican Institute of Aqueducts and Sewers, is perfectly safe to drink. Most of the drinking water in Costa Rica is the responsibility of the “A y A.” The “A y A” uses water from two different type sources to supply cities, sub-surface water and surface water. Sub-surface water is mostly drawn from deep wells. These sub-surface waters are very pure from the point of disease transmission but an application of chlorine is made as a preventive measure against possible contamination in the distribution system. When river water is utilized, the water is first passed through water treatment plants. In the plants is passed through a series of filters, then, when crystal clear, it is chlorinated. Naturally, if given water from a private water supply, perhaps on a farm, you should be careful!!!
The water supply for all of Los Cabos is spring fed ground water. The water here is very pure, but be careful. The pipes used for distribution of the water supply and other factors can lead to contamination The well servicing this small community in Cabo Pulmo supplies reliably good, sweet water, piped underground to each house. A lot of people drink it right from the tap. Although many people drink the water directly from the tap, it is not recommended. Anywhere in the world a change in drinking water can cause stomach distress. We recommend that you drink only bottled or purified water. It is sold here at the Caballero restaurant in a large sparklets bottle if you prefer.
The water on both trains is not drinking water. Your attendants, who are on duty 24 hours a day, will provide you with fresh bottled water round the clock. There is also bottled water in the bathrooms for brushing your teeth. In China this applies to both on the train and in the hotels. (In Russia this applies only in St Petersburg and on the train.) Food on board is washed with bottled water so please don’t worry about compromised standards of hygiene.
