Kdtyjb

In India, never drink tap water without boiling it. In Delhi, when you ask nicely at any restaurant, they will usually get your bottles filled with hot water. There will be proper filtered water available in most hotels and hostels where you can fill up. The blue drums will be found in many places and you can ask where any of those are found.

Also, bottled water can be cheap compared to your country. You can get 1 liter for Rs. 20 (0.29$). Never hesitate to buy if you are running out.

Just a personal note. I have faced serious health issues, even being hospitalized while in Delhi, while drinking water without boiling or from tap. Be cautious about this.

Delhi has a few water ATMs which dispense potable water at a really cheap price(~ 0.07$/liter). Although you have mentioned that you don't want to purchase water bottles, I'd like to mention that water bottles are relatively cheaper (not more than ~ 0.30$/liter ) in India. If you are traveling really cheap, don't hesitate to knock on a roadside house door and ask for a free refill. People are more than happy to offer you water.

Almost everywhere I go, I carry a “Grayl.” This has allowed my to drink from irrigation ditches, small puddles, etc. with no ill effects.  Replacing a filter cartridge every three months or longer for $45 (US) definitely beats buying bottles of water every day.  Although I prefer the Grayl, it has many competitors, some of them quite good.

I've lived in India for five years, and I believe it's better to err on the side of caution here. For drinking water, stay away from all fountains, taps and the like. I would stick to this advice even in the airport and at hotels. Also use bottled water for brushing your teeth.

Buy bottled water of a known brand. (Bisleri, Aquafina, Kinley.) It's preferable to get them from a large supermarket or other trusted source, to avoid counterfeit bottles. Your hotel will probably sell them. Make sure the caps are sealed. You can typically get 5L or even 10L bottles. If you do this, though, make sure you don't get the type where the same bottles are reused, as the refilling process can often be unhygenic. Below is a picture of reusable bottles that you want to avoid. They feature quite sturdy plastic. These are 20L, but smaller varieties and shapes also exist.

If they ask for a deposit on the bottle, and the bottle is exchanged back for another bottle after use, then you know you're dealing with reusable bottles. Some of my friends have had water tests done of the reusable bottles (of a known brand) and found that they are more likely to contain various bacteria. The tests of the disposable bottles, on the other hand, turned out fine. If there is no deposit on the bottle, then you know that each bottle is new.

Stay away from reusable bottles, even from known brands. Any local refilling facility may or may not have their procedures in place.

Here is an example of a disposable bottle (which is what you do want) from a trusted brand:

This bottled water is quite cheap here. A 1L bottle costs €0.26. A 5L bottle costs €0.87.

Personally, I have my own RO system, UV filter and ozonizer, but that's usually not an option for short-term visitors.

Since most of the bottled water here is RO processed, it's good to choose a type that has added minerals in it (Bisleri, Kinley). The RO process removes all bacteria and harmful chemicals from the water, but it also removes all the useful minerals.

While living/travelling in several locations, me and my wife, usually, we get by drinking potable water using:

• the free water bottles the hotel provide as courtesy;


• distilled/filtered/boiled water in restaurants given as courtesy;


• buying them from local supermarkets/stores - 2L/5L, and leaving it in the room for (re)filling up 20cl bottles a few times;


• we also carry often a metal water container when travelling by car that is refilled at least daily;


• if going out for the day, buying at least a couple of 1/1.5L bottles;


• if residing a couple of weeks in a single location e.g. family home (my wife is an expat Filipina), we buy one or more of those 20L blue container/drums ourselves or whatever we find available in that location (the more hassle free to get are usually 5L-7L bottles pretty much everywhere around the globe).

As a rule, just avoid buying bottles at the hotel or restaurants for tourists, where the prices are way inflated. Otherwise, they are fairly cheap compared to our prices back home (in Europe).

PS. We stayed in a 5 start hotel in my wife anniversary for a couple of days two weeks ago in Manila, and we bought a 2-liter bottle of water in a supermarket that we left in the room. The hotel left a lot of complementary bottles seeing that bottle, which was a nice gesture of them.

PPS Concerning the quality of bottled water, we usually aim for bottles that state "mineral" water. Beware that Coca Cola/Pepsi/Nestlé owned water brands (that are found in pretty much any continent/country) are usually distilled/boiled/"purified"/"mineralized" tap water (e.g. Nestlé, Dasani and that Aquafina brand in the comments). We only buy those latter brands when not getting any bottle of mineral water, the price difference is not that significative.

see Pepsi Admits Aquafina Bottled Water Is Plain Tap Water

Pepsi released a statement admitting that Aquafina -- its brand of
bottled water -- is not purified or sourced from some majestic
mountain stream, it's just plain old tap water.

Don't reuse disposable plastic water bottles. This is a practice can cause significant health risks, even in a First World country with a reliable supply of tap water.

These bottles were designed by their manufacturers to be used once, then thrown away, and all of their safety testing is designed around that assumption. As a result, the plastic begins to rapidly degrade when the bottles are reused, and this can cause two main health risks: first, the tiny crevices and abrasions that form in the plastic as a result of this degradation can serve as breeding grounds for bacteria - and washing the bottle in water hot enough to kill them just accelerates the process of this degradation. Secondly, the degradation of the plastic can release potentially-toxic chemicals into the water inside it that can be harmful for your health.