Oh man, my stomach just did a little flip reading that. I was in this one tiny town where the water from the tap looked kind of... cloudy. Drank it anyway like a genius. Let's just say I got to know that bathroom real well for two days. My guts have trust issues ever since, does that count?
In rural Thailand, I saw similar cloudiness in hotel taps. It made me realize how often we gamble with basic needs when traveling. That gut feeling is probably our best defense in those situations.
Honestly, people focus on how the water looks, but that's not even the half of it. Tbh, I've had crystal clear tap water that messed me up worse than any cloudy stuff. It's the stuff you can't see that gets you, like bacteria or chemicals. Ngl, that's why I always check with locals or use a guidebook before drinking anything. Sometimes you just have to trust your gut, but even that can fool you.