Drinking Water

Safe drinking water is the single most important food-safety issue in India. Unsafe water causes diarrhoea — still a leading killer of children under 5 — plus typhoid, hepatitis A and E, cholera, and intestinal worms.

How much you need

• Most adults: 2–3 litres a day from fluids (including tea, buttermilk, soups, fruits), more in summer or with physical work.
• Pale yellow urine means you're generally well hydrated.

Making water safe at home

• Boiling for 1 minute at a rolling boil (3 minutes above 2,000 m altitude) kills bacteria, viruses, and parasites — the cheapest reliable method.
• Good-quality filters: ceramic candle filters remove bacteria and sediment; activated-carbon filters improve taste. RO (reverse osmosis) removes chemicals and heavy metals — use only if municipal water is high-TDS, as RO also removes calcium and magnesium.
• UV purifiers kill germs but need clear (pre-filtered) water and reliable electricity.
• Chlorine tablets or bleach (2 drops of household bleach per litre, wait 30 minutes) work in emergencies.
• Don't assume packaged mineral water is automatically safer — check the ISI / FSSAI mark and seal integrity.

Higher-risk situations

• Monsoon and floods — sewage contaminates the supply; boil or filter strictly.
• Street juice, sugarcane juice, golgappa water, paani-poori, kulfi, ice cubes — a leading cause of traveller's diarrhoea and typhoid.
• Open wells, hand-pumps, untreated borewells — test periodically for bacteria and arsenic/fluoride if you rely on them.
• Stored water — keep covered, don't dip the same glass; use a spout or tap.

Area-specific hazards

• Arsenic — parts of West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, UP, Chhattisgarh (Ganges plain).
• Fluoride — parts of Rajasthan, Andhra, Telangana, Karnataka, Gujarat, Punjab — high fluoride causes mottled teeth and bone disease. Test if you have a private borewell.
• Nitrate — agricultural runoff; problematic for infants under 6 months.

For infants

• Only boiled and cooled water (or ready-to-use formula water) under 6 months.
• Don't give plain water to a baby under 6 months — breast milk or formula is enough.