The Water od Quality of Tap Water

The water is drinkable in Cuenca. Just about every other place the water is unsafe. My son in law got amoeba/parasites when he brushed his teeth in Quito. He knew about the bad water but slipped up Drink bottled water. Do not know what to tell you about your son drinking shower water

Jim/Luz wrote:

Drink bottled water.

Amen, Jim and Luz.

For four days, buy bottled water .. drink it .. mix it with oversweet juice .. clean your fruit and veggies with it .. and call it a day.

No need to obsess.

Many times during my principal years in Quito, I bought huge bottles with carrying holder for $1.50 to two bucks each.  I transferred el agua to smaller or middle sized bottles for drinking convenience.

Give up the struggle.

cccmedia

I stopped willingly drinking tap water about 25 years ago. Don’t matter the country or city. Only in rare occasions would I drink tap. For instance, if I ran out of bottled water and I needed to make a cup of coffee.

Here’s a disclaimer though. I said willingly because I think everyone was has eaten almuerzo and drank the accompanying juice has drank tap water. Unless, people are naive and think that restaurants use bottled water.

Yes well, we will continue to be on guard and as cautious as needed, as a bacterial, viral, parasitic  infection in young children (& adults not climatized) is avoidable. We will do the bottled water thing and the water purification tablets are a great idea.  Thank you all for taking the time to reply.  I hope you all are well and continue to do well. 

I acquired a severe GI infection while staying on the coast in April, despite being absolutely careful. 

In the hospital (Kennedy), I was treated with an IV for dehydration,  an antibiotic cocktail, and a large dose of Nexium.

After leaving the hospital about 24 hours later, I was given Azitromicina 500 MG for 3 days.

Immodium AD isn't available in Ecuador. Luckily, I had brought a large supply.
My doctor at Kennedy told me he stocks up on it when he visits the USA.

The easiest solution is buying bottled water. You can get them in big 20-liter containers.

According to the CDC:
"Filters that have the words “reverse osmosis” on the label protect against Cryptosporidium, as do those with an “absolute 1-micron” pore size. You can also look for the standards NSF 53 or NSF 58 on the label".

However, this won't protect against many other pathogens which may be present in coastal water supply.

Does the shower filter you are considering meet that standard?
https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/drinki … step2.html

More appropriately, the CDC's guide to healthy water in the backcountry:
https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/drinki … tment.html