In many parts of Colombia, tap water is not safe to drink. Even when it’s technically treated and “potable”, it’s still not 100% pure (“distilled”) so it might still bother certain individuals due to their bodies not being accustomed to it. This is especially true on the north coast, specifically in Santa Marta, as well as some parts of Barranquilla (where I live).

Therefore, if you’re here on the coast, it might be a good idea to buy bottled water. Or, if staying in an apartment/house for longer than a month, then it might be worth it to take my approach and install a water filter on your kitchen sink faucet.

I found one that works well for me. The brand is Grival, and it costs about 120 thousand COP ($30) at HomeCenter, or about 180 thousand COP ($46) on MercadoLibre, if you prefer to shop online. Obviously, the price might vary along with the USD-COP foreign exchange rates at the time you read this.

The installation instructions are in Spanish, but even if you don’t know any Spanish, there are clear picture instructions, so you can figure it out quite easily (I know I did). It comes with multiple rings and attachments in order to support a wide variety of faucets… after some trial and error you’ll find the one that fits and provides a snug fit onto yours. Just make sure the fit is truly tight, so as to prevent leaking. As you can see from the photos, I was able to get mine working with minimal fiddling.

Operating the filter is pretty straightforward. There’s a shaped flat “twist-switch” on the right side. When the switch is horizontal, the water flows without any filtering, down directly below the faucet:

However, turn the lever 90 degrees, and the water will be diverted into the “larger” part of the device on the left, where it runs through the filter element (housed in that vertical cylindrical section), into your receptacle of choice, ready to be consumed without any worries at all!

The filtered water flow is less powerful, but that totally makes sense if you think about it… simple physics – the water is diverted AND goes through a foam-like substance.

Speaking of substances… after maybe 3-4 months of use, the filter element will get all dirty and clogged up (as expected). At this point, it’ll have to be replaced. Once again, HomeCenter or MercadoLibre have you covered… you can buy a replacement filter element for about 40 thousand COP ($10).

Installation is easy, you don’t have to mess with the faucet part of the device. You just twist-open that vertical cylindrical filter section, take out the brown/dirty/old filter element, pop the new/clean one in, and… Voila! You’re back in business! 🥛 😊 👍🏾

In summary, if you’re worried about water quality in Colombia, buy huge jugs of bottled water. Or, or save some plastic waste and install a simple faucet filter like this Grival model. You can drink water throughout the hot days, without worrying about getting sick.

That’s all for now, fellow tourists and expats… Stay hydrated, stay safe, and enjoy your travels!