My friend and coworker Rebecca turned me onto this video she saw on the web. Basically, in celebration of World Water Day (March 22), the folks at Free Range Studios created a video about the history and life cycle of bottled water.

First, let me say that I can remember a time when people didn’t drink bottled water. In fact, someone would probably slap you crazy for even thinking of paying for a glass of water when you could easily just turn on the tap and drink to your heart’s content. I don’t really remember the point in my life when I turned the tap off and switched to bottled water. it’s almost as if it magically happened.

Apparently, magic had little to do with it. Watch the video.

When it comes to water in Seoul, I remember being told before I even left the United States to not drink the tap water. I got so many different and conflicting warnings that I thought twice about even showering with the stuff let alone drinking it! It’s hard water! It’s soft water! It doesn’t have fluoride! It will make your skin oily! Your scalp will dry and peel! Seriously.

So I decided to do a little digging to discover the state of tap water in Seoul today.

First, the splashiest news concerned the new ambassador for Seoul’s Tap Water television, film, and theater actress Kim Ji-ho (김지호). The water is called “Arisu”. I had no idea. Supposedly though its been thoroughly tested and vetted and Arisu has it’s certifications in order:

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said, “According to results by internationally-credited product safety certification organizations Underwriters Laboratories (UL) and National Sanitation Foundation (NSF), it was confirmed that Arisu met the standards of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) drinking water and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) bottled water.”

So if its good enough for the EPA and FDA then I should have no qualms about drinking it, though it begs the question why would I pay for this bottled tap water when I can just drink it from the tap? At least bottled tap water is more honest than the Fiji angle some companies are running with.

On choosing the actress the following was considered:

An official from the Office of Waterworks of Seoul Metropolitan Government said the office wanted the PR ambassador to be a married woman who cared about the well-being of her family.

I can’t really understand why it matters if she’s married or not. I guess those craven socially irresponsible single people just don’t care about clean water or their families.

Of course this all happened several years ago back in 2007. Though it does paint a rosy picture of Seoul’s drinking water, that is, until I came upon this from TeachKoreanz Which, admittedly, doesn’t seem so trustworthy.

Don’t drink the tap water! Even though they say you can, don’t. According to the news they found meningitis in the reservoirs last week, which should be reason enough not too touch it unless you’re dying (or want to).

Much of the water that is supplied comes from the Han River, the massive waterway that separates Seoul into two. This River is supposedly clean enough to swim in, and that is debatable, but it’s certainly not clean enough to drink. Of course it is treated chemically, but it is better to side with caution on this one as who knows if those chemicals are even legal in the US.

Wow.

What a dilemma. In such a situation I can only do what any self respecting blogger can: Turn to Google. My query clearly stated was:

What is the quality of tap water in Seoul and the rest of Korea?

Two of the Top Three were from Trip Advisor and the indomitable Yahoo! Those posts are so polarizing that really who knows who to trust? Part of me marvels at the first rate service and attention to detail in Seoul but then the trash on the streets and hazardous construction sites make me wary. In the end I think I’m going tap water. If I grow another head or with dysentery then at least I’ve been the guinea pig for you. Unless of course someone out there drinks the water regularly? If so let us know!

To Drink or not To Drink Seoul’s Tap Water? That is the question!