Dirty tap water in Rio...

sluttino · March 1, 2020

I've always had a great time in my previous six visits to Rio (2011 through 2019). I have read news articles and heard from carioca amigos that the water quality is awful just now in Rio. There's some kind of water filtration plant problem causing the tap water to be cloudy, smelly and foul-tasting. I've read that some don't consider it great for bathing, even.

Does anyone have first hand experience since this water sanitation problem began there? Is is safe for you douche with that water? I really hope they get this back to what passes for normal water filtration there soon. It's bad enough having to figure the coronavirus Covid-19 into plans...

From one article online:

https://www.foxnews.com/world/carnival-rio-tourists-contaminated-water

Sexy costumes, bands, festivities, wild parades - and murky water.

As the official Carnival celebrations kick off in the Brazilian city of Rio Saturday, potable water has become a valuable commodity, especially in the peak of summer when temperatures hit 120 degrees F.

Since the beginning of January, sinks and showers have provided only cloudy water that smells like clay. The problem has not been resolved and with the arrival of 10 million tourists next week, the situation likely will get worse.

Rio’s public water company, called CEDAE (State Company of water and sewage) apologized for what happened and blamed the supposedly inoffensive and safe organic compound "geosmin." It multiplies in nutrient-rich aquatic environments, such as springs that receive untreated sewage, but is atoxic. Some disagree.

“If the water is not odorless, colorless and tasteless is not safe,” said biologist Ana Passos.

On Feb. 3, the crisis hit a new low, and the whole treatment center of Guandu was closed due to the presence of a detergent in massive quantities. It's not clear where the compound came from, but specialists said the source is probably industries outside Rio and blamed heavy rain.

pauleiro · March 1, 2020

I was informed of the situation by a friend when I arrived on Feb 20. The problem came from waterweed and clay. I think it has always been safe to take a shower. I avoid drinking tap water and even imagined using bottled water for tooth cleaning but finally decided not to do that since the problem did not come from bacteria contamination (and indeed I did not get symptons linked to bacterilogically contaminated water). I never experienced smelly water. It seems the problem is solved now but maybe only partially since the 15000 l of water used for the swimming pool on the winner of carnaval could not be tap water which was not clear enough ...