How do you avoid swallowing the water when showering in places with bad water, like Mexico, or Peru?
I mentioned Mexico because I’m assuming more people have been there and have experienced the bad quality of water. I mentioned Peru because that is where I am going next week. My tour guide told our travel group that we should at no point drink, brush our teeth with, eat fruit washed with, eat salad washed with, (etc) the water, because the quality is awful and bacteria in the water would make us sick and everything.
But…my question is, what do I do when I’m showering and get water on my face, that drips down to my mouth, and sneaks its way in there? Haha it sounds stupid, but will any little amount do it, or do you need to ingest larger amounts to be infected and get sick or whatever? Also, do I really need to wash my face with bottled water? How careful do I need to be? (I really don’t want to ruin my experience on the trip by getting sick and throwing up and having diarrhea — I know… TMI… lol — so help me out here!)
Thank you to all answers!
keep your mouth closed while showering and washing your face!
Well when I was in Mexico it was the same type of situation. Bring plenty of bottled water and ONLY purchase closed bottled water. Don’t even think about drinking from water fountains or any of that stuff.
As for showers, I was fine using that you don’t have to be worried. Just don’t drink the shower water. Take precautions but don’t go to overboard or you’ll lose the fun in your trip! Enjoy
You will be fine. Nothing,including water will sneak into your mouth if you keep it closed.
First of all, understand that your tour guide is using the loin cloth approach (s/he is covering her or his butt). They have to do this. It is their job.
However, if you think about it form a practical sense, it is not worth visiting Peru or Mexico and not visit their amazing sites, without carrying a backpack full of imported bottled water and canned food.
With that in mind, know that there are two issues in your question.
Issue one is the water itself, and here I am assuming we are talking about potable water. The water is not bad in either Mexico or Peru (there are millions of Mexicans and Peruvians in country to account for their water being safe to drink). Funnily enough, if most of them were to go abroad, say to the US, they would get sick because of the water. The reason people get sick is that the water itself has a different composition there than your stomach is used to. It may in fact be cleaner in terms of bacteria, but that would be because of additional levels of chlorine in the water to kill the bacteria (and make you sick along the way). Using your shower example, think of going to a public swimming pool, would you drink the water? Probably not, I would suggest you use the same approach when taking showers than that you use when going to a swimming pool to avoid water getting in your mouth.
The second aspect to take into consideration is the eating of fruits and vegetables. Most of these are grown using water that is not suitable for human consumption, so there is a high risk of getting really sick (not talking just diarrhea here, which chlorine will give you). If you have to eat it fruit and veg, I would suggest getting a bottle of disinfectant at your local supermarket (veggie wash) and take it with you, then wash the fruit and veg in it before consuming. Again the disinfectants will most likely make you sick (runs or diarrhea) but will prevent you from getting really sick (cholera, or typhoid fever for example, both considered endemic to the countries you mentioned by the World Health Organization).
There are vaccines available for these (cholera may not be available in the US). But they themselves carry some risk and have some side effects.
Be sensible and enjoy your trip!
I brush my teeth with Mexican tap water and have no problem, just don’t swallow.
close your mouth when showering… dont forget to brush your teeth with bottled water. in mexico, i sometimes forget and brush my teeth with tap water….never get sick though.
you need to really take a drink to get sick with infected water…but its when you let your guard down is when you ingest something that may make you sick. for example…forgetting about the ice in your drink. if youre not at a really nice hotel or something that caters to tourists that ice is probably from tap water… always drink sodas or bottled water.
MMMMMMM IVE BEEN TO MEXICO SHOWERED WITH MEXICAN WATER. I’VE EVEN BRUSH MY TEETH WITH TAP WATER LIKE SOMEONE ELSE MENTIONED. I WASH MY FACE WITH THE MEXICAN WATER TOO. I ALSO DRINK WATER FROM THOSE 5 GALLON JUGS THE WATER MAN SELLS AT 30 PESOS AND IM STILL HERE TYPING, ALVIE