Sensitive Skin Issues to Singapore Water!!!.......

[ross mclean]

Dear Sir or Madam.....

Do condominiums in Singapore have Filtered Household Water???.......

I have been in Singapore for a short time living in an HDB flat around the Jurong East area as my designated place of work is in Tuas, and I am having severe problems with the water making my skin very itchy & dry due to the high concentration of chlorine in the water.

I have spent the first couple of months visiting a skin care specialist which prescribed me a given steroid to reduce the severe sensitivity and itch / reaction to the water, however these steroids had severe reactions and I knew being on such medication for such a long period of time was not good for your body so I made a personal decision to withdrawal from taking the medication.

I am now wondering if I should look at moving to perhaps a condominium type of living arrangement within the same or surrounding area as perhaps their water source is "carefully filtered" removing the considerably excessive amounts of Chlorine in the water.

Has anybody else out there had a similar experience and if so what did you do?

Do condominiums provide a better standard of living for those of us who perhaps are not used to the water quality here in Singapore due to having sensitive skin?

Are there any other possible available means out there for me to try to prevent having such dry, itchy & irritable skin (I already have water filter & Vitamin-C Shower head)...

I would sincerely appreciate any feedback, advice or assistance that anybody can provide.

Thank you & kind regards

[zzm9980]

Condos and HDBs both get their water from the same sources... No extra water filtering there unless you install it yourself.

[ross mclean]

Whilst HDB Flats & condominiums get there household water from the same source is it possible that water in some condominiums goes through some kind of filtration unit for its residents?..........

Reason why I ask is that I spent 1 year living in Kuala Lumpur and lived in a condominium there and had absolutely no trouble with the water there and my skin no adverse reaction whatsoever......It was only since coming to Singapore that the problem arose!!....

Is there a part, suburb or district of Singapore which is better and does not receive its water from say "desalinated or NEWwater" resources?.........

Comments / Queries??.........

[nutnut]

If you have a look at this site, you will see there are the 4 national "taps" that you are probably aware of. They do not say as to how the water is distributed, it could be that if you are next to a New Water plant you are more likely to get that (it would make sense I guess)

In regards to the water filtration in a condo facility, this is also possible, they may chlorinate the water or something, who knows! The only way you can really fix this is to speak to your management office in your condo (HDB's or private apartments are very unlikely to have this!) and ask if they do this and what chemicals they use. Otherwise, you will have to look at a water filtration system in your property yourself, for drinking and eating this is easy enough, but for washing it may be difficult and expensive.

Good luck, it must be dreadful having this situation!

nutnut

[zzm9980]

Sure, I imagine your condo in KL had water filtration because it was absolutely required I doubt you'll find the same in Singapore as the water here is generally considered to be "safe" without exception.

You're probably going to have to invest in individual filters in your unit. My parents live in Chicago, and the water there is heavily chlorinated. My father installed filters (in the US, a few hundred USD each) into the plumbing for the kitchen to help reduce the chlorination. For him though, it was a personal taste preference as opposed to a skin problem. I grew up in the same house for years without those filters and never even realized anything was "wrong" with the water.


Maybe this article will help you a bit more too:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_supp ... _Singapore

[zzm9980]

Not sure where Ulu Pandan is, but doesn't sound like he is near a NEWater facility. Since it gets diluted with the local reservoirs anyway, not sure that's the issue.

He is possibly drinking from the desalinization plant at Tuas though...

[the lynx]

Not sure where Ulu Pandan is, but doesn't sound like he is near a NEWater facility. Since it gets diluted with the local reservoirs anyway, not sure that's the issue.

He is possibly drinking from the desalinization plant at Tuas though...

Ulu Pandan plant is at Toh Guan area.

On another note, the chlorine issue takes a while to get used to. Depending on how severe is your bodily reaction to it, I'd think of it as immunity response - it will build up eventually. Happened to me when I first came also so I tried not to rely on medications to control the hives and dry skin issue and guess what, it was no longer an issue after few weeks/months.

Just something to share.

[sundaymorningstaple]

In fact, the water quality here is as good as, and far better than most water you can find in populated areas in any state in the US. W.H.O. puts it near the top of the heap.

Nowhere is Newater dispensed as a drinking/potable water but is distributed direct to places like industrial facilities which require the highest grade of potable water like semicon plants and the like. The balance of newater is pumped into the reservoirs to "degrade" the water for normal consumption so it's actually run through two systems, first to make it pure water and secondly, to downgrade it to something that the public will drink due to the connotations of where it comes from.

I think most desalinated water is used also for industrial purposes as well, as much as possible.

Yeah, I'm just down the street from the Ulu Pandan water/sewage plant!