jeepyland

I have a couple of trips to Mexico in my future and am thinking about buying a water bottle with filter.. I just hate the idea of going through so many plastic bottles and think I'll get a fair amount of use out of the filter. So, that said, can anyone recommend a favorite? The Amazon reviews for all of the big contenders have been mixed so I'd love to hear what your favorites are/aren't. Thanks.

hopefulist

Maybe this writeup by REI will help.

We love our steripen - have traveled with it in México and Central America for years.

suze

just hate the idea of going through so many plastic bottles

In the places I stay in Mexico (Puerto Vallarta, also Cabo) most places provide those 5 gallon 'Sparklettes' style jugs in the hotel room or apartment. That you can refill a reusable bottle from.

Of course more out of the way places the filter would be handy.

Just saying I do visit Mexico frequently but I don't use "so many plastic bottles" when I'm there suze

baldone

Make sure whatever product you go with effectively removes stuff like arsenic, radon etc. Many cities use untreated well water, and as such there can be some nasty stuff in there. We have a couple sticks in our 'go bags', but I wouldn't use them long term. Or short term for that matter, outside of an emergency. In our house here in Mexico, we had a pretty sophisticated water treatment system (UV lights, sediment & carbon filters) but we still drank bottled water. The trash truck guys separated the recyclable stuff, so we didn't worry too much about plastic and such going to a landfill.
If you're going to be in one place for the duration of your trip, consider a 5 gallon garrafon and either a cheap siphon type pump or a rechargeable (via usb) electric one. 5 gallon jugs cost usually around $2 US, are recycled, with small deposit (like $2 US) and are universally available. The pumps can be found in most larger grocery stores or hardware stores.
And while it's commendable that you're wanting to 'go green', it probably won't offset the fuel burned during your flight, lol.

suze

In apartments and hotels I've stayed at the garrafon is what was provided. A few places I paid for it (as above cheap, I'm remembering 35 peso) some it came free with the rent and there was a pottery or plastic "base" that you tipped it into then used a spigot. Or at a hotel and I'm talking budget ones, they were around the courtyard and common areas and you had a pitcher and glasses provided on your dresser.

jeepyland ~ If you were willing to say in a bit more detail where you are going and what you are doing, there may be other tips about how people (living in Mexico or frequent visitors) handle the water situation. Honestly it is not something I'd take a chance with... having been sick a few times (but over many trips, many years).

siempre, suze

janisj

This thread is from Feb '19 and the OP hasn't posted on Fodors in 18 months . . .

baldone

You're right. Didnt even notice. Someone dug deep to bump this.

Moderator1

This thread was topped by a spammer on Sept 30. That post was deleted, however the subsequent posts were left in place.

suze

So sorry, I also didn't notice the date.

november_moon

Argh. I was taken in too. Oh well, hopefully someone else finds this information helpful.

At any rate - my experience is similar to suze's - there's pretty much always a big jug of filtered water available in the places I have stayed. I've also bought larger bottles of filtered water from convenience stores.