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A World of reasons to ditch bottled Water ....

treehugger.com — Bottled water manufacturers ’ encourage the perception that their products are purer and safer than tap water. Bottled water can cost up to 10,000 times more per gallon than tap water. But the reality is that tap water is actually held to more stringent quality standards than bottled water, and some brands of bottled water are just tap water ....

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  • PikaPikaChick, on 10/11/2007, -6/+56I have my unbreakable, reusable bottle. Do you?
    • GawtMilk, on 10/11/2007, -19/+7I brought my unbreakable, reusable bottle to lots of places I've visited. Last week, I didn't use my Nalgene ONCE while I was visiting Mongolia.

      Bottled water isn't as big of a sin as people make it out to be. Sure, you can fill up a Nalgene with a liter of water and carry it around all day, but you could also just buy a bottle of water for $0.70 and toss it in the recycling. It's not the end of the world. Bottled water is a convinience for when you CANNOT get safe drinking water (traveling, driving), or when you don't want to bring around a bottle of water. When I go running, I don't bring a bottle with me. I bring a dollar bill.
      • t0ken, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3Even if you do recycle the water bottle, it still costs money to produce the bottle. Plastics can't generally be made from 100% recycled material, so using the same number of bottles and recycling rather than throwing them away, while great, is still utilizing unnecessary resources.

        And yes, I do have a Nalgene.
        • rnwen2750, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1When was the last time you used a plastic bag for your groceries? Your vegetables? Or read a newspaper? They all take resources. The poster said that he does not always use bottled water and I would rather him drink a bottle of two or water than other crap that's out there. Using disposable water bottles is wasteful, but so is pretty much everything in this society.
      • Gir53457, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1I only drink bottled water when I'm in Mexico. The water makes me sick there.
    • teh_techie, on 10/11/2007, -2/+3Why yes I do!
    • Cazi.Life, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4My Camelbak water bottle rocks!
    • IanPatterson, on 10/11/2007, -2/+8
      nalgene FTW
    • Dustyb, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2Nalgene FTW! I heard you can run them over, and if they break you get a new one by taking it in where you got it, now thats paying for itself!
    • rnwen2750, on 10/11/2007, -0/+9I have my own reusable water bottle, but you sound just a tad smug.
    • 123gold, on 10/11/2007, -1/+0nothign beats the peekamo bottle i got on lakeshore 2 weeks ago i've dropped it more then i can count and the water still takes gr8!!
  • yargthepirate, on 10/11/2007, -9/+22Since we can't transport water in bottles, I guess we'll just have to figure out how to transport the taps.
    • Light11, on 10/11/2007, -2/+8maybe we will have to change the use of "everything but the kitchen sink"
    • robdowns, on 10/11/2007, -2/+19what we need is a series of tubes to transport the water ; )
    • NonZionist, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1Why not dispense spring and distilled water fronm taps in the supermarket? People would bring their own bottles and fill them up and reuse them till they break. The supermarket would be supplied by tank trucks.

      Wouldn't this solution make EVERYONE happy?

      * Plastic consumption greatly reduced
      * Landfill waste greatly reduced
      * People get water in whatever flavor they want
      * Water stored in convenient containers of whatever size the customer chooses
      • Gir53457, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6Why don't we start offering water taps conveniently posted around parks and sidewalks with fresh water for people to consume? We can call them drinking fountains!
    • Reziarfg, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3And eventually....We could put these in our homes! You guys might be onto something big!!
  • moosebaloney, on 10/11/2007, -2/+32Nalgene... best 15 bucks i ever spent.
    • sanderscm2, on 10/11/2007, -5/+0Looks like a bunch of regular thermoses to me
    • eric0213, on 10/11/2007, -1/+7I've never understood the fascination people have with Nalgene bottles? Why are they any better than an old Mt Dew bottle or Rubermaid product?

      What's it all about?
      • jjed824, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2I think it has something to do with putting more value in something they paid for. Using an old 'Dew bottle is just a step above bottled water because you're more likely to throw it away when you're done with it.

        Personally, I got a free nalgene from some corporate giveaway, but at least I won't throw it away.
        • superpotential, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3i prefer to reuse soft drink or bottled water bottles, they last hundreds of times too, and if you drop it and it breaks, or you lose it, oh my god!! you have to buy a new one !!! for $0.25!!!
        • superpotential, on 10/11/2007, -4/+1i prefer to reuse soft drink or bottled water bottles, they last hundreds of times too, and if you drop it and it breaks, or you lose it, oh my god!! you have to buy a new one !!! for $0.50!!!
        • Gir53457, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4Soda and water bottles are hard to clean and become cess pools for germs. The expensive plastic bottles have a wide mouth and are easy to clean in the dish washer.
          • craftycorner, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1You ditch your used soda bottle when it gets cruddy after about a month or so, and you do use a small brush for cleaning. One designed for cleaning baby bottles works. I use small brushes for cleaning where I can't easily get hands into.
      • Azio, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4The fascination is that they're virtually indestructible. I once dropped one off a 60ft cliff and it survived.
      • nesley86, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4Drinking out of plastic bottles in general is bad news. it contains chemicals that we should not be ingesting. Check out this site...

        http://keepitorganic.org
      • rnwen2750, on 10/11/2007, -2/+2nesley is right. The life of the chemicals used to make your bottles is not very long. So after the first or second refill, toxic chemicals start leaching into the water. The quantities are not that dangerous, but after a lifetime it cannot be good news.
  • sunshinex, on 10/11/2007, -22/+35Go to ebay, and look for Reverse Osmosis. You can get a 6-stage lab-grade filtration system for under $200, shipped. It's as close to pure water as possible and your cost per gallon is super low. Combine this with a nice nalgene bottle and you're set for years.

    Tap water is great and all but my two concerns are:
    1 - Chlorine is needed for water transport/storeage, why drink it? Would you drink bleach?
    2 - Fluoride is in the tap water. Sure, some dentists say it's a good idea, but so is an aspirin a day. You don't see aspirin in water do you?

    Call me paranoid, but humans evolved drinking real water out of wells and streams. No additives, no BS. I'll take my chances with what we evolved on, rather than some crap a dentist and bleach manufacturer tell me are safe.

    just my two cents..
    • scuvball, on 10/11/2007, -5/+34hahaha... Ok tarzan, you can go drink the water out of the local river...

      the point being that you are more open to disease, infection, and overall poorer health. Why do you think billions of people in the world don't have access to clean water? Because the stuff in wells and rivers can be unfit for human consumption.
      • Light11, on 10/11/2007, -5/+5i drank water out of a mountain stream in bc. the best tasting water i have ever had.
        • rudy23, on 10/11/2007, -3/+13good thing you didn't see me upstream taking a piss
        • teh_techie, on 10/11/2007, -4/+2ahh yes, I'm visiting beautiful British Columbia, Canada right now. Amazing all around!
        • moofer, on 10/11/2007, -3/+12 words for you... goat piss
        • TheOther1, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4Best cryptosporidium you ever tasted!
        • sunshinex, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2That's the nice thing about an RO system. No crypto, or giardia, etc etc.
        • Light11, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1yea well. i drank it and im not dead so i dont give a *****!
      • Kyrgizion, on 10/11/2007, -3/+5You obviously have no idea about fluoride. I suggest you conduct some searches and see what you can come up with.
      • vertinox, on 10/11/2007, -1/+5Ummm... That is why he said to get the $200 lab-grade filtration system. Technically, you could drink your own pee and it be ok... Not that I would want to.
        • markrubi2, on 10/11/2007, -2/+2FYI- drinking water from the lab grade filtration system will eventually strip your body of vital minerals/nutrients and will kill you. Water has minerals in it for a reason. Get a Brita filter or just a regular RO system if you are afraid of tap water being chlorinated or fluoridated.
        • Gir53457, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Your fridge uses charcoal.
      • Darph.Bobo, on 10/11/2007, -1/+5"Call me paranoid, but humans evolved drinking real water out of wells and streams."

        This is no longer 1,000,000 B.C. update your calendar.
        • kooft, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Are you absolutely sure? It does mean we'll need a new chisel.
    • bobcrotch, on 10/11/2007, -5/+4I understand your reason about chlorine, but flouride, come on, really? Flouride isn't some conspiracy to mind control America's youth or something.

      Chlorine sucks a lot though because it tastes horrible.
      • fedak, on 10/11/2007, -6/+1> Flouride isn't some conspiracy to mind control America's youth or something Google search "flouride conspiracy".
        There's a bunch of folks who do apparently believe that the floride is a conspiracy
        • kooft, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3Do you realize that fluoridation is the most monstrously conceived and dangerous Communist plot we have ever had to face?
          • Gir53457, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1I know first they whiten our teeth, then they blow up D.C. and take over our country.
          • AgentMull, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1God, has no one seen Dr. Strangelove?
      • LowRentDiggs, on 10/11/2007, -2/+4You can get flouride in other ways. I don't see any reason to put it in the water supply. They don't do it here in Oregon.
        • bobcrotch, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1Thats really funny, I'm from Oregon too.
        • fedak, on 10/11/2007, -4/+2I'm not agreeing or disagreeing with the merits of floride. I just don't believe its a conspiracy. (vs., at worst, misguided public policy)
        • rnwen2750, on 10/11/2007, -4/+1Yeah, I have dentist friends and I'll take their advice over some kids on digg. Keep fluoridated, folks.
    • fedak, on 10/11/2007, -1/+25You want to drink "what humans evovled on" and you're proposing drinking reverse osmosis filtered water from a polymer plastic bottle?
      • sunshinex, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1My thought is that it's about as close to natural water as I can get in an urban area. I figure it approximates what we used to drink better than fluorinated and chlorinated water.
    • vertinox, on 10/11/2007, -3/+14Actually, we evolved on wine and beer. Which I'm happy to keep drinking...
    • spiffytech, on 10/11/2007, -2/+2"Call me paranoid, but humans evolved drinking real water out of wells and streams. "

      Call me paranoid, but the average lifespan of humans has more than doubled in the last 150 years since we began implementing water quality standards besides "drink from a river (which may now be polluted with toxins)". I'm sure that lifespan isn't entirely due to water quality, but I'll stick with the stuff that's not going to kill me as quickly anyway.
    • brewer, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2"[RO is] as close to pure water as possible and your cost per gallon is super low"

      Distilled water is as close to pure water as possible (wait, it IS pure water!) and the cost per gallon is even cheaper than RO. A bucket, a hole in the ground, and a plastic tarp is pretty cheap!

      Or you can just boil it and collect the steam, but that takes electrical or combustion energy, and distillation column, but that's cheap too.





      • catalysis, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Distilled water can still contain organic compounds which are particularly bad if they are halogenated.
    • michael4lsu, on 10/11/2007, -5/+2Pure water or distilled water is BAD for you to drink on a daily basis. Your body has a natural balance of minerals, and if you're drinking pure water, the water will leach out these minerals from your body. Just as your body can leach excessive chemicals and minerals from impure water, the pure water can leach the minerals from your body and bring them down to unhealthy levels over time.
      • Jonjonr6, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Sounds like "IIdiocracy" is beginning to foretell the future.
        We'll be spraying our plants with gatorade soon...
        It has electrolytes.
      • catalysis, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4This is a common myth. A proper diet will give you all the essential minerals and salts that you need.
    • sunshinex, on 10/11/2007, -3/+3For those of you who enjoy the fluoride, you may want to read this. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_fluoridation_controversy
    • Wewillknowsoon, on 10/11/2007, -3/+3so you like fluoride, eh? better run down to mcdonalds and get some trans fats and aspartame, i hear they can have nutritional effects too! yummy, this burger doesnt taste ANYthing like processed meat byproducts.
    • D4r7h3v1l, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3Do you realize that in addition to fluoridating water, why, there are studies underway to fluoridate salt, flour, fruit juices, soup, sugar, milk...

      Fluoridation is the most monstrously conceived and dangerous communist plot we have ever had to face.



      (wow, a whole thread about fluoridation, and I had to be the first to make the Dr. Strangelove reference...)
    • joshshu, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Water Fluoridation is prevalent in the United States. Most developed nations previously fluoridated their water, but stopped or banned the practice.[18] Some examples are as follows. The years when water Fluoridation started and stopped are in parentheses:

      * German Federal Republic (1952-71)
      * Sweden (1952-71)
      * Netherlands (1953-76)
      * Czechoslovakia (1955-1990)
      * German Democratic Republic (1959-90)
      * Soviet Union (1960-90)
      * Finland (1959-93)
      * Japan (1952-72)

      In spite of this, the prevalence of dental decay has decreased in both Western Europe and the United States.[19] Some countries had water fluoridation but then abruptly stopped the practice. These countries, including Canada, the former East Germany, Cuba, and Finland, have continued to see drops in the incidence of tooth decay
  • TheLoneWolf071, on 10/11/2007, -3/+10I think the reason mainly that we drink bottled is not because it's just safer, but cause how many times are you cause in traffic and there is a water fountain right there? Or how odd might it seem at school to ask to get water 13 times during one class... it just makes it easier and more convenient to have it with you...


    BTW... in the past week I've seen these stories all over the national news and new sites alike, WTF? Why this week, why now is everyone getting all pissy about bottled water?
    • jasonmacari, on 10/11/2007, -1/+15How about refilling an old bottle with new water instead of throwing the bottle away?
    • glitch47, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5I think there was an article on Fiji water that started it off. Most native Fijian people don't have access to clean water while the bottled water plant is shipping water thousands of miles away.

    • MammasMilk, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2www.mysigg.com

      You can buy a bottle for your water that you can use over and over. You will save money filling it from the tap or from your Brita(or other filter brand) pitcher, than buying it. It's also better environmentally.

      I'm sure there are bottles you can get besides at the above link, it's just where we got ours.

      It's a simple solution that addresses the points you've raised
    • kgorczyn, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2How would you explain people in a restaurant ordering "bottled water" instead of regular free water?

      IMHO it's the media/advertising that makes our water systems look bad, hence hinting for us to drink bottled water. That and it's just so much cooler to drink water with a cool "Dasani" or "Poland Springs" label on it. Cos then you are a high roller instead of your $1 1 Liter empty water bottle from Wal-Mart.
    • deskattire, on 10/11/2007, -1/+10I think one of the reasons this issue has become hot lately is that using bottled water is extremely wasteful of plastic, and a key component to plastic is oil. So getting rid of wasteful uses of plastic is essentially reducing our dependency on oil, which is a good thing.
      • gomezfreak, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1Don't know why you were dugg down, you make a good point so I dugg you back up :)
    • gfeldt, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1It started last month when the mayor of SF banned bottled water from government offices for the same reasons.
      • jarbarf, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Isn't SF such a great place?! Singlhandedly saving the world by putting a ban on everything. I shall move to this Utopia.
  • ColtRevolvers, on 10/11/2007, -3/+18I have a faucet and some glasses
    • proto, on 10/11/2007, -3/+2
      I continue to not "get" this position. Many places I've lived have had crappy tap water: yellowish, brownish, with smells from a faint odor to really objectionable. . . and that's just the stuff that's obvious to the human senses. Big cities and small towns, east coast to west (Washington DC, Chicago, San Francisco, many more.) Don't tell me municipal water systems "test" clean. By and large, they're crap!

      Is bottled water guaranteed to be perfect? No, but it's a damn sight more palatable than the stuff coming out of most city taps.

      • chalkboy, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4That is probably not the city water but the pipes in the building you are living in.
        • Ramble, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Agreed, city water is extremely safe.
  • musters, on 10/11/2007, -5/+6Tap water has always been fine for me. I'm not moronic enough to pay for something when I can get the same thing for free at home through the convenience of my tap.
    • superpotential, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1for all you people saying tap water is fine, good for you. like you, most of the world that has good tap water uses tap water already because it's cheaper. very few people with good tap water actually buy bottled water regularly. unfortunately, a good half of the world doesn't have tap water that is safe to drink, and sterilizing it also consumes energy ...
    • Dharmamooch, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Have you tasted the tap water in Las Vegas? Blech. Tap water in my town is delicious so we drink it and use bottled in LV or anywhere else we visit that has awful tasting water, like Los Angeles.
  • FAT_PIGGY, on 10/11/2007, -32/+5***** you
  • jasonmacari, on 10/11/2007, -1/+17Brita.
    • MrFatalistic, on 10/11/2007, -3/+3I think you added the period too soon, you forgot to include "tastes like *****."
  • Lasereth, on 10/11/2007, -7/+6Bottled water is fine as long as it was filled up at a freaking water fountain. Bottled water that you actually paid for is freaking idiotic.
  • bobcrotch, on 10/11/2007, -20/+38Personally I enjoy bottled water because throwing away the bottle and not recycling lets me feel like I'm doing my part to counter the efforts of at least 1 hippy.
    • bobcrotch, on 10/11/2007, -5/+9went from +6 right after posting this to -3 once the green peace gestapo came through lawl
    • HarryBauzonia, on 10/11/2007, -2/+15I like to chip mine up into pointy shards and feed them to baby seals.
    • chalkboy, on 10/11/2007, -5/+7I hate hippies. They piss me off.
    • NonZionist, on 10/11/2007, -5/+5I enjoy bottled water because I can use the empty bottles.
      * I cut off the bottoms and use them as trays.
      * I cut up the middle parts and make hippy jewelry out of the iridescent pieces of plastic
      * I tear off the labels, crumple them up, and use them as insullation
      * I glue the lids together to make kitschy lawn sculptures
      * The contents, I use to water my garden.

      The chlorine and flouride in my tap water seems to make the carrots unhappy. They prefer spring water.

      .

      I'd like to see more towns convert from chlorination to ozonation. The ozone purifies the water as effectively as chlorine, but leaves no harmful trace in the water. I believe Los Angeles uses ozone to treat its water.



  • r0b1, on 10/11/2007, -1/+10I'm going to do what the guy from Man vs. Wild does and go down into some caves, because the water there is filtered by rocks. So it must be ok to drink.
    • Godzmarine, on 10/11/2007, -3/+2He boils all the water he collects...
    • datastorageguy, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5Man just don't grab a big pile of elephant poop and squeeze the water out and drink it like he did when he was in Africa. Shudder....
      • obe1kenobi, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Or drink your pee like he did in the outback.
    • Ramble, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3 believe a lot of bacteria, protists and fungi live in caves (especially if there is a water supply).
      Drink at your own risk.
    • Cerialthriller, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3um bottled water is filtered by carbon which are rocks at some point..
      • TheOther1, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Umm No. Bottled water is filtered by Activated Carbon, which WAS coal, coconut shell, peanut shell, wood pulp or other carbon based living thing. Not rocks.

        http://norit-americas.com/1.11.htm
        • Cerialthriller, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1and coal can be classified as sedentary or metamorphic ROCK
  • rudy23, on 10/11/2007, -1/+7you mean smart water doesn't make me smart?
  • awhiteflame, on 10/11/2007, -4/+1http://youtube.com/watch?v=yNGWn-aWn5g

    /obligatory
    /drinks bottled water
    /fetches water like my ancestors did
  • vertinox, on 10/11/2007, -6/+15Call me old fashion, but I prefer wine and beer over tap water like my medieval ancestors.

  • Scyth3, on 10/11/2007, -1/+10Am I the only one that doesn't care what people waste their money on -- especially if it's bottled water?

    I buy some at the gym if I don't bring a water bottle, that's about it. I then reuse that bottle of water since it's $1 for 20oz's of tasteless goodness.
  • adml_shake, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2I usually buy a case of bottled water then as I drink them fill them back up with water from my Pure filter. And just use them until I don't have very many left. Seems to work ok for me. And the city water here has gunk floating in it all the time. Theres no way I'm drinking that with out running it through a filter.
  • Gee1004, on 10/11/2007, -0/+19What good is tap water if the pipes in your house or apartment is rusty and dirty.
    • Cerialthriller, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1well you are showering and washing yuor dishes in it
      • PRlME, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3but not drinking
        • Zuriya, on 10/11/2007, -1/+0And not for cooking either ? I'm glad I don't have these problems over here.
        • Zuriya, on 10/11/2007, -1/+0And not for cooking either ? I'm glad I don't have these problems over here.
  • Andytom, on 10/11/2007, -1/+12I don't know if anyone remembers the fun we had in the UK with Dasani

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dasani#United_Kingdom
  • darknite1979, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4Well I dont mind paying for a gallon of filtered water. Especially since the house i live in is 80 years old (along with the plumbing. Everytime I go to take a shower i let the water run for a minute cause i can see the rust coming out from the bathtub faucet.
    • Light11, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1thats gross
      • acceptab1euname, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1I've been in that situation before - it sucks, but it's still awful nice to have running, hot water.
      • acceptab1euname, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1How on earth did that turn into a double post? Digg sure sucks lately.
  • CraigJ, on 10/11/2007, -0/+14I drink bottled water because the tap water in Phoenix smells like ass.
    • gamlidek, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Same for Chicago water... smells like someone rubbed mold in my water glass.
    • PRlME, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1u smelled ass b4?
  • carlwinslow, on 10/11/2007, -1/+17Fact: unwed teens who drink bottled water are 48.7% more likely to become pregnant.
    • gfeldt, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0Well duh, it's hard to get pregnant if you're severely dehydrated.
  • goldenley, on 10/11/2007, -3/+0I've been a fan of taking tap water in a nalgene or a rinsed out coke bottle. Of course I've lived in areas where tap water is of high enough quality I don't have to worry about it. (Houston, Denver, Norway, Switzerland)
  • aaronm67, on 10/11/2007, -3/+14Most people don't think bottled water is healthier. They think it tastes better and is more convenient, which is generally true.

    You can store your bottles of water in the fridge, take them around with you, and not have to deal with filling them up. Also, if you buy a case, waters are very cheap ($4-$5 for 24).

    Also, why are all the environmentalists bitching about the plastic bottles now? Sodas have come in plastic bottles for the last 20 years.
    • Wenz, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5I miss soda in glass bottles......sigh
      • superpotential, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3glass bottles are actually a good idea. out here in europe (particularly germany) you get charged a deposit for every glass bottle you buy, and in some cases it can be as much as 30-40% of the price of the drink itself. this really makes you want to return the bottle (to machines at any supermarket), and when you do, they automatically sort it, then industrially clean it and reuse it. and no, this is not disgusting, considering in new york they recycle pee back into tap water.
        reduce > reuse > recycle > trash
    • CBTF, on 10/11/2007, -1/+5Coca-cola isn't coming out of my tap for next to no money at all.
      • chalkboy, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3That would be the coolest thing ever.
    • superpotential, on 10/11/2007, -3/+1in your narrow-minded view that the usa is the world, yes, but in the rest of the world, particularly asia more than anywhere else, bottled water is far more popular than bottled soda.
  • f4nt0m4s, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1the mighty imagery....i remember watching some special on the Tigris river or something...people were bathing and drinking in the water meanwhile upstream people were using the same river as a bathroom.

    i'll take my water regulated, full of tasty fluoride and chlorine. you can have the river.
  • atreyuVsFalcor, on 10/11/2007, -3/+0I'm very surprised to see that the article did not mention that only 20% of bottled water is fluorinated; while 70% of tap water supplies are fluorinated. This has caused the cavity rate to increase, especially in children, with the bottled water trend.
    • spyd3rweb, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2i call ***** on that, brushing your teeth, reducing sugar intake, and maybe a floss or two is all you need.
  • dylansbeard1, on 10/11/2007, -4/+2If I remember correctly wasn't it the leftist environmental morons the ones who told us to start buying and drinking bottled water in the first place?
  • twisterrust, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2FTA - "two gallons of water are wasted in the purification process for every gallon that goes into the bottles"
    so does this not mean that thay actually make 1 gallon from 3 gallons, and bottle it so I get the purest water in bottle???
  • charlesray, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6I've still never had tap water that has tasted better than any bottled water. I don't drink bottled water because I think it's more pure, I drink it because it has a better taste.

    And usually comes cold.
  • simplynix, on 10/11/2007, -0/+10Good god, how many bottled water articles are we going to see this week?
  • teh_techie, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2What if the town you're in almost always had a "boil water advisory" in effect? Too much effort to boil the water, chill it, then drink it. Just buy the big bottles, and have a dispenser. $1.00 can fill an 18.9 litre with reverse osmosis water. Who gives a crap about a dollar or two, VS. boiling water?
  • scecilio, on 10/11/2007, -1/+5I'd like to see the author(s) drink the tap water in Washington D.C.
  • Rikkochet, on 10/11/2007, -2/+3"Nearly 90 percent of water bottles are not recycled and wind up in landfills where it takes thousands of years for the plastic to decompose."

    This argument is stupid. Whose fault is that? Human laziness in recycling is not a good argument against bottled water - the same lazy people throwing away plastic bottles are also throwing away aluminum cans and newspapers. I don't think a whole lot of "anti soup" groups are lobbying against that because people are filling landfills with aluminum.

    Oh, there's also a fun experiment you can run on any of your bottled water enthusiast friends who claim they can "smell the difference". Unless you have really rank water where you live (eg. well water with a bit of a sulfurous odor, extremely high mineral levels, whatever), chances are they can't. Do a taste test, or offer "bottled water" that you filled from the tap. I've tried it on three different people and they've yet to notice. Only after insisting that the water is in fact tap water did they all of a sudden "know all along" that it was tap water.
  • utebehemoth, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2I do find it curious that there is a variance in quality and sources of bottle water, yet it is assumed that all tap water is created equal. Having lived in several different states across the US, I have found that in some places the water out of the tap is quite drinkable and has a crisp clean taste, while others are quite reminiscent of ditch water. While living in AZ I would hardly touch a glass of water with out a lime or lemon in it to quell the horrific taste.
  • Highstand, on 10/11/2007, -3/+12 I am going to drink bottled water as much as I want. What are you going to do about it? Not a damn thing. I may even throw my empty bottles into your yard. Some of the slow ones that frequent these parts fail to grasp that most tap water tastes like crap. When water tastes like crap I buy bottled water. I even club baby seals with the bottle when I am finished. Another solution for the empty bottles is to recycle them as piss jugs so the basement-dwellers don't have to get up from the computer as much.
  • goodnreadytogo, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0Remember the commercial showing someone 100 years ago proposing bottling water as a great way to make money and everyone around him laughing?
  • pardimate, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1I live in Worcester, Mass. For American standards....the water is absolutely terrible. I prefer bottled water.
    • kcostello1086, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0I also live in Worcester, and I hereby second this comment.
  • faskill, on 10/11/2007, -0/+10I drink bottled water for the taste. I live in the city. The water I have access to (tap water), is hard water. Besides that, it is fluoridated, chlorinated, etc. When I buy certain bottled water, the taste seems somewhat better. Perhaps it is just in my head, but being a consumer, the decision of what water I'm paying for is up to me. Oh, and you do pay for water regardless. Cities don't just give you water for free.
    • obe1kenobi, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1But it's free as in speech, not free as in beer. Oh wait not a FSF story. Sorry.
  • ticktock4, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5Buried for sweeping stats as "facts" with zero sources cited.

    My mom sends me more solid info than this in her forwarded chain letters.
  • scronline, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2I've said it before, and I'll say it again. The people saying things like this obviously don't live in an area where the water treatment has failed safety standards ... well, 4th year in a row now. What's done about it when they fail? Nothing? What do you do when you have floaties in your water directly from the tap? Since it's usually municipal, if the water company is sued who ends up paying for it anyway? tax dollars. If they are fined... tax dollars. If you get floaties in your bottled water... you can complain, sue, switch companies... the list goes on. It's kind of like what SHOULD be able to happen with high speed internet services but can't because... well, it's all a monopoly.
  • Philodox, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4I'm from a town where Nestle bottles the tap water and sells it. It is causing undue strain on the city's water supply. In fact, the city was contemplating running a huge pipe from the great lakes just to make sure that the demands were met. I agree that bottled water is a total waste. Buy a Brita and a reusable plastic water bottle.

    http://www.stopthepipeline.ca/
  • VSack, on 10/11/2007, -2/+2Buried as inaccurate.

    I am tired of arguments that use weasel words and false statistics without citing their sources. Saying that "some brands of bottled water are just tap water" without citing where in the hell you are culling your information from is just a lame attempt at FUD.

    Yes, there are other valid points in this article, but you nullify them with stupid things like this.
  • Error601, on 10/11/2007, -2/+2What's the sudden boner for bottled water articles?
  • raitchison, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1Seriously I drink bottled water because tap water (where I live) tastes terrible, it even smells bad.

    We all know that tap water is more strictly regulated than bottled water, but you still hear about incidents where they find dangerous levels of something or other in tap water from time to time, like the Erin Brockovich story.
  • HarryBauzonia, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2Tap water still tastes like chlorine....and it OD's you on fluoride.
  • nFinityMatrix, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1uh... I'm asian so forgive me if i sound retarded, but did it ever to occur to anyone that you can refill the plastic bottles with tap/filtered/boiled (let it cool of course) water?
    • datastorageguy, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1You are forgiven and yes.
    • teh_techie, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1I refill bottles all the time. In fact, I usually end up buying a bottle of coke at work, then I refill the bottle with water 2 or 3 times before I throw it in the recycling bin. (By then, I'll have another coke).
  • mojibyrd, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3If they quit putting so much garbage into our tap water, people would probably quit buying bottled water....of course if people had half a brain we would force our water commissions to give us pure drinkable water without all the flouride and other allowable waste products we care to drink...but alas why do that, just follow the masses and purchase bottled water.

    However, the article is correct in stating that bottled water can be nothing more than tap water sold at a premium, so buyer beware!
    • Dharmamooch, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1Fluoride is not a waste product.
      • EnglishVoodoo, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1uh, yes it's a biproduct of aluminum production ie. TOXIC WASTE.

        Do you know who first ran adverts for sodium fluoride, in conjunction with Colgate?

        Alco Aluminum. Look it up.
      • cubeeggs, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1Yes, it is. It's hydrofluorosilicic acid from fertilizer waste. It's bad stuff, so they just dilute it and throw it in the drinking water.
  • icantseeyou, on 10/11/2007, -0/+7If you fill a bathtub with tap water in Fort Lauderdale it's green. The water here taste terrible. When I was in Chicago they had the best water around - I would drink that out of a tap... no one in S. Fla drinks out of the tap. So it's filters and bottled water.
    • execute85, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Horsepucky. I lived in Fort Lauderdale for 8 years and we drank tap and brita water exclusively.

      I think your correct statement should be "No rich yuppies in S. Fla drinks out of the tap."
  • DatuPuti, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4Whoever wrote that article I'd like to see him/her drink tap water from a third world country.
    • erickssm, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2im guessing that 95% of all bottled water is sold in developed countries, not 3rd world counties so that point is of a completely different debate. im pretty sure people that make 30$ a year to feed a family of 8 dont have 1.50$ to spend on a bottle of water.
      • identifiedlogo, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1are you out of your mind, They drik tapwater...and most of them dont even know there is a bottled water, they would laugh at you if you tell them you are selling them water. But its a fact that in some flourine rich regions people drink the water directly from the streams as a result their teeth is brown, and everybody is fine with it. Peoples who drink bottled water in 3rd world countries are considered foreigners and is seen as a sign of over indulgence.
  • HelpIamSober, on 10/11/2007, -1/+0Up here in Maine, I grew up with Poland Spring water as a treat, the stuff tasted so sweet and refreshing that it blew my mind growing up. Me, my brother and my sister would spend hours hanging around the water cooler at the old Ricker Hotel in Poland Spring, Maine guzzling the stuff. Now the water is pumped in from all areas of the state out of standard aquifers. I tried to drink a bottle of it about a week and a half ago and wound up dumping it out. the stuff was virtually undrinkable.
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