[Anonymous]

The tap water in Lanzarote is almost entirely sea water desalinated by reverse osmosis. There are many references on holiday company web sites to the water supply being bacterialogically good, but high in minerals which could cause stomach upsets. However, these references are almost all on holiday company websites, and I think they influence each other. Can anyone point me to an official reference which makes it clear whether or not it is ok to drink? I have to say, I’m sure we’ve forgotten occasionally and filled the kettle from the tap, and we’re still here!

Secondly, can anybody tell me why it is so corrosive that water heaters fail after a year or two?

[Anonymous]

Hi John

I know nothing about desalinated water but we are a new community on the CDS and for your information below is part of our committee meeting report which may be of interest if you live in a new development.

The water pumps connected to the underground cisterns (aljibes) of block 16 are in the process of being repaired and that before installation the cistern will be emptied and cleaned. Sr. Garcia (our handyman) explained that the water to apartments is pumped to these cisterns from the mains before being supplied to the individual apartment and that consequently they should be emptied and cleaned every couple of years.

This would seem to be at a complete variance with the plumbing regulations in the UK where cold water supplied at the tap must come directly from the main supply without any risk of contamination from another source. The committee feels that the above information is important for owners and any decision to consume water directly from the tap in their apartments.

Needless to say we are looking at this to make sure this is correct and as i have two young daughters we use bottled water all the time.

Hope this helps

Regards

Paul

[Anonymous]

Further to my previous post here is additional information from our last community report.

The complex has been inspected by Acosol the water supply company. All their recommendations have been complied with. They have instructed that water should be supplied to apartments from the underground storage cisterns and not directly from the main supply. These cisterns are in process of being cleaned. It is advised that this should be done every two years. Owners should be aware that the water supplied at the taps in their apartments has been stored as described above and is not supplied directly from the mains.

Regards

Paul

[Anonymous]

Hi John,
Having lived in Lanzarote for a few years, I have to say that drinking the tap water won’t kill you, although it doesn’t taste particularly nice.
Can’t answer your specific technical question but I also know that lots of the bottled island water also comes from the plant and perhaps goes through a slightly longer process or perhaps not 😉
We used tap water for the kettle and cooking etc with no ill affects, tried using the bottled water for both the kettle and the iron and they still furred up just as quickly.
They do say that boilers only last a couple of years because of how quickly they become clogged and with limescale, not too sure it’s really this quick as we had a washing machine for a good few years with no problems and our boiler was at least 10 yrs old when we sold and may even be still going strong, one of the factors IMHO is that most boilers are very cheap brands.
I suspect that long term use of tap water would result in nothing more sinister than kidney stones.

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