Avoid Contaminated Water With These Travel Safety Tips

Traveling can be an exciting time, so don't have that time ruined by traveler's diarrhea or some other malady. The biggest culprit of sickness while traveling is contaminated water. The United States is really strict with water cleanliness; however, not every other country is especially the third world or developing countries where they may not have the facilities to offer it. If this is the case, you need to have a game plan so as to avoid drinking the water and spending an inordinate amount of time on the potty.

If you only knew the different things you could also contract with unsafe water, you would either never leave the United States or you would travel with your own water purification system in your luggage. Hepatitis A is a possibility as is typhoid fever, e-coli, cholera and any number of viruses and other little beasties. Sounds like fun, doesn't it? All kidding aside, how exactly do you combat this problem? You have to either side step it or plow right through it.

Here are a few tips to avoid contaminated water during your travels:

1. Only drink bottled water. Try and purchase brands of water you recognize. And whatever you do, try to not buy bottled water from street urchins or vendors. They dig out recycled plastic bottles from the trash and refill them with the local water supply. Inspect every bottle you purchase to ensure that the seal is not broken.

2. Stick with cans and bottles of drinks. That means carbonated water; soda and beer are safe for you to drink. However, do not order them with ice unless you are guaranteed that the ice was made with purified water. In addition, wipe off the can or bottle lid with an antibacterial wipe to clean it off before consuming.

3. You can drink coffee and tea. These drinks are made from boiled water. That means those germs that can make you sick are killed in the process.

4. Whatever you do, do not wash your toothbrush or any mouth implement like dentures with tap water. You might as well chunk them after that. Only use bottled water.

5. You can bring your own water filtration system or iodine treatments if a way to boil your water is not immediately accessible. With these water treatments, you can expect that the "cleaned" water will taste a bit different. Some experienced travelers say to add a pinch of salt to the iodine cleaned water to improve the taste a bit.

6. Do not eat any fruits or vegetables washed or rinsed with the local water supply. If you want raw vegetables and fruit, purchase and peel your own. That way, you are guaranteed on whom and what has touched your food.

There are likely other methods you can follow to ensure that the local water while traveling doesn't make you sick. However, the six tips above are plenty to get you started. Most of all use your common sense as well. If you think something might be contaminated, avoid it and think of an alternate solution.

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