What is Digg?112 Comments
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+71Tap water is better than many people think, don't be fooled by anecdotal accounts of 1 or 2 scattered, bad municipalities. I called my regions water agency a few years ago to double check on things. It was a slow day so they put me through to a back office engineer who spoke to me for half an hour.
I was blown away by how safe the tap water in my town is and how much they do.
I don't like the taste of chlorine so I bought a $20 Brita pitcher to leave on my kitchen counter.
The only time I buy bottled water is if I need a reusable bottle. - johndi, on 10/12/2007, -3/+61The message still has a long way to go. My co-workers look at me like I'm playing Russian Roulette when I drink tap water.
- tomtucker378, on 10/12/2007, -2/+32Don't know about you guys, but I like to rinse my toothbrush in the toilet when I'm done anyway.
- bIuebonics, on 10/12/2007, -2/+29@rstrb8r
and? if you keep your toothbrushes anywhere near your bathroom, you brush your teeth with fecal matter. it's not going to kill you... - dweeb79, on 10/12/2007, -0/+26These companies are getting the water from the same place tap water comes from, the only difference is they drain off 100's of thousands of gallons from the local town. This water goes through a basic filtering that people could do at home.
Get a Brita or put water through the coffee maker. This is nothing special or amazing, like always advertises will put a flashy ad on TV and people will be like "Hey I want to live like that".
For all the people who claim the fecal matter, if you are that paranoid then boil your water, or purchase distilled at least the water goes through a real process.
*One another note: Britta + Barton Vodka = GREAT Vodka - dweeb79, on 10/12/2007, -0/+25Srry Tinker I digged that comment but I accidently clicked on Bury. Digg needs and UNBury and UNDigg feature for comments.
- klawz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+17@rstrb8r
That was an isolated incident, which many bottled water companies use as a crutch. Fact is, bottled water is FAR more problematic than tap water - due to it "sitting for long period of times" and the "profit" problem. The problem with bottled water is, the people who sell it are in it to make a profit. Most other water supplies direct to the home, are not. As seen in the following example, the bottled water company knew of a contanimated well, and kept on selling the water, knowingly. As for the "real" water supply, if anything is found in the multiple tests they perform, they issue warnings, and or add more chlorine, etc.---- comes down to profit vs utility - when you add in profit to the mix, you get all kinds of "dirty" bottled water.
http://www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/bw/chap3.asp#figure8
"Contamination was found in the water in 1993, 1994, 1995, and 1996, but according to a state memo written in 1996, "at no time did Ann & Hope [the well operating company] do anything to determine the source of the contamination nor treat the source. Rather, they continued to sell water laced with volatile organic compounds, some of which were reported in finished product." The contamination levels depended on pumping rates from the wells. After a state employee blew the whistle on the problem and demanded better protection of bottled water in the state, she was ordered not to speak to the media or bottlers and was reassigned by Massachusetts Department of Public Health supervisors to other duties, in what she alleges was a retaliatory action." - DarkStalker, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15I'll digg him up for you.
- 28dayslater, on 10/12/2007, -3/+16Everyone know that water fluoridation is a communist plot to sap our precious body fluids.
- CkMaverick, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12We provide (as a nation) the purest mass distribution of water to a population in the world. Bottled water companies get their water from the same place the water companies get it and they don't have to go through the rigorous testing the United States health services force them to do. Anyone who pays for water bottled water is an idiot unless you just don't care and will not be near a water source for a duration of time such as activities like hiking, jogging, or any other mobile activity. However, in the end you are still pretty dumb because taking water with you from the tap is essentially free and extensively filtered far beyond what you would buy from a vending machine. Not to mention the fluoride actually helps protect and clean your teeth.
Meanwhile, lets all laugh at how stupid people are when it comes to water.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=yi3erdgVVTw
http://youtube.com/watch?v=IkUbW15ty70
http://youtube.com/watch?v=KMmOh-pudzU
http://youtube.com/watch?v=1J-01hkGOHo&mode=related&search=
http://youtube.com/watch?v=AcZjhW2Zwbo&mode=related&search= - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11To put another perspective to the issue here is this digg article about the ocean wild life, which is already threatened from over fishing, dying off from plastic pollution. The plastic originated in dumps on land, a good portion of which is plastic bottles:
http://digg.com/environment/Plastic_killing_the_Pacific_Ocean - sst4ab, on 10/12/2007, -5/+15well water FTW!!
- ngmcs8203, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9That's why you recycle plastic bottles. It amazes me still that it isn't automatic for people to sort their recyclables from their trash.
- hollismb, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9Obligatory Reality Bites quote... "Hey, I just realized something. Evian is naive spelled backwards."
- jaycliche, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9"The poster is sadly mistaken. Tap water is offered to make you feel cheap and buy the 5 dollar Perrier so"
Ahhh, but you are thinking like a poor person. The rich tend to be rich because they are cheap. They don't have to impress, they know they are rich. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8The proper term should be "global climate change", while the planet heats up some parts of the world will get colder as a result.
- Lennalf, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7The tap water where I live is very high quality, and tastes great. Yet when I refill my water bottle at work at the sink, I always get quizzical expressions and bewildered comments from co-workers.
"Ewwww... you're drinking TAP water? Gross!"
"Why don't you go out in the lobby and just use the water cooler?"
"Ugh, I don't know how you can DRINK that stuff!"
It never ceases to amaze me how quickly people are brainwashed. When bottled water first appeared, the public reaction was, "Why the hell would I pay $1 for a bottle of water? This is ridiculous!" But after a few years of marketing, the companies have created a "need" for their product. Now it's as if nobody ever drank water from a tap for all of the decades previous to this one.
I bet the bottled water companies wise up and just slap a big, fat "Environmentally Friendly!" on the labels. Maybe a picture of a panda, too, for that subliminal WWF connection. - lieutenantmudd, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Putting water on the table isn't environmentally friendly either. In Colorado, it's against the law to put out water unless they ask. Think of everything that goes into having four glasses of ice water on the table that people aren't going to drink. Electricity for ice cubes, the water itself, and by far most importantly, the unnecessary washing of four glasses. Colorado does it to help with their water shortage problems.
- DivisibleByZero, on 10/12/2007, -4/+10A lot of people drink bottled water because they think it has less contaminants than tap water. In actuality, bottled water tends to have a higher concentration of Dihydrogen Monoxide (DHMO) than you get out of most taps.
For more on DHMO and its hidden dangers, visit http://www.dhmo.org - banditski, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6That's likely the pipes in your house, not the water as it comes from the source.
- satanatnmtedu, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Fluoride has been shown to be good for your teeth in limited quantities. Drinking water with fluoride levels 4 or more times the recommended levels is bad for your teeth and bones. If I had city tap water, then I would drink it. But, I will not drink well water that has not been tested.
And, Brita filters do not remove fluoride. You need to use an activated alumina filter or reverse osmosis. Distillation may work, but I forget. Plus, the purpose of chlorine in your water is to kill the bacteria. If you filter it is out at home, you are fine. But, chlorine in water is a good, cost effective idea. - catalysis, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5"Water with "zero chemicals" - pure H2O - is actually very corrosive and not suitable for drinking."
That's a myth. I've tried lab water which is like 18.2 Mohm-cm and I was fine. It just doesn't taste very good because of the osmotic difference from biological saline. - okaroleo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5"and? if you keep your toothbrushes anywhere near your bathroom, you brush your teeth with fecal matter. it's not going to kill you..."
Mythbusters proved that you can keep your toothbrush in a different room in a ziplock bag between uses and fecal matter is still found on it. Face it , we're surrounded by bacteria. 1L poop a year from tap water? Thanks! Where do you thing bottled water comes from? U must be blond to really believe it's actually 100% spring water. It's added to the tap water before it's bottled. lol. - ArmchairAthlete, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6When it tastes gross and occasionally comes out of the tap discolored I shy away from the stuff.
This is Atlanta. - gtluke, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5i'm a controls system engineer for the NJ/NY area, i do most fresh water and waste water for townships and for new york city.
we have some amazing water over here, amazingly clean and tasty.
you would be shocked to see how little is done to the water from when it is pulled from the ground and piped to your house. its basically nothing at all.
we have awesome water, bottled water is stupid.
water pulled from a lake is kinda nasty though, a LOT more is done to that water. but most towns over here have well water. its awesome. - dheaddy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Where I live the tap water IS black
- loobis, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Haha. Oh man, that was an unintentionally funny comment. I dugg it up just to keep it over the -4 threshold, so more people could have the joy of reading it. I think it was the unpunctuated "seriously" on the end that got me.
- dblespresso, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6I highly recommend the Penn and Teller BS on the topic
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=*****+water
It is quite humorous - catalysis, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4RO is awesome. I have a $250 5-stage in my kitchen. 350ppm in, 15ppm out and you only have to change filters like twice a year.
- madhouseradio, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6I think he's trying to say the municipal water out of Chicago is fine and that some companies bottle and sell it. I think he's nutso because Chicago water is well known to be horrid. His writing is a perfect example of the effects of water fluoridation.
- satanatnmtedu, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Brita filters do not remove fluoride.
BTW, it is tough to get water that has no chemicals in it. WATER IS A CHEMICAL. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I read articles all of the time about fast food and processed foods containing artificial killer fats, rodent poop, and all sorts of nasty chemicals. The huge amount of tainted and unregulated food the US imports from China is a good example of something that is recently in the news.
Why worry about these same things in your water and fill your children's future with plastic garbage land fills when you will still eat all of the stuff mentioned above?
I would prefer zero chemicals in my water, but if you know anything about American history.....or current news in the 3rd world, from a cost benefit analysis, when you are managing water for large numbers of people tap water puts you FAR ahead in terms of health, safety, from people who don't have treated water at all.
If you don't like fluoride in your water or you don't like the taste buy a Brita water pitcher to keep on your desk at the office or kitchen counter at home. Not only will you greatly reduce the trash you generate, but you will save money and most likely get better water than you will from cheap bottled water which most of the times is just filtered tap water anyway. - AutoXer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@28dayslater
Dr Strangelove?
"Mandrake, do you realize that in addition to fluoridating water, why, there are studies underway to fluoridate salt, flour, fruit juices, soup, sugar, milk... ice cream. Ice cream, Mandrake — children's ice cream." - archlich, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5spookyttws, pepsi and coke already do this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dasani
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquafina - bart9h, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@ johndi: The message may have a long way to go, but it's also our duty to spread it. The first step, as always, is to do it yourself. While I usually drink beer, when I want water I always ask if they can get me a glass of tap water. Well, at least my place, or where I trust the quality of the tap water. It does vary a lot from place to place. When they refuse it, I just go drink from the W.C's tap.
- rstrb8r, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7Here is the source:
http://www.ewg.org/reports/JustAddWater/justaddwater.html
Go to section The Nature of the Violations:
"Fecal coliform bacteria (E. Coli) indicate that the water has been contaminated by sewage or animal waste that contains other disease causing microorganisms. These bacteria in drinking water present an immediate acute human health risk. Each violation of this standard represents a period of from a few days up to a month or longer where finished tap water provided to the public contained illegal and acutely unsafe levels of fecal bacteria." - dancenhance, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I still love S.Pelligrino, but I drink NYC tap water every day without fear or thought.
- rstrb8r, on 10/12/2007, -8/+11according to another article, we drink 1 liter of poop per year due to amount of fecal bacteria in tap water.
read this earlier, looking for resource... - cmiller1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Not only is tap water great, but it's also often the exact same water as the bottled water. If anyone here lives near waterbury, ct or just in the greater litchfield hills area, if you don't have your own well you get your water from the waterbury reservoir, well guess who else does, Crystal Rock! Every bottle of crystal rock is fresh from the waterbury reservoir :)
- lieutenantmudd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3You can get used to anything. Even dirty water can be drinkable if you live somewhere long enough. If someone doesn't drink US tap water because of health concerns they are retarded. I got to the point in West Africa where I could drink cistern water and be okay.
- drjekelmrhyde, on 10/12/2007, -7/+10I dont know where you people are getting your tap water from but Chicago's fine some bottling plants near here bottle it as bottled water seriously
- jaycliche, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Bubbly also ruins your bones and and tends to dehydrate because it has salt in it. But keep drinking it, cause I own stock in it.
- reed311, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I will NEVER drink tap water, unless under extreme circumstances. I live in a small town and near an airport. About 10 years ago, we had several residents of our small town dying of brain cancer as well as many pets (including my dog). It turns out, the airport was spraying the runways with some type of pesticide and it was running into our ground water.
- adamkhel, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3The garden hose water I drank from as a kid in Florida was great. The garden hose water here in Santa Clara, CA, I wouldn't feed that to my neighbors dog.
- jaycliche, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Yes, I did see Penn and Teller. I challenge them to live and drink tap water in the northern suburbs of Houston. It tastes like ass...but follow the leader.
- Ellsass, on 11/05/2008, -1/+4I get the joke, but why would Evian have a headquarters (or even exist) if they weren't already selling water?
- mutatron, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Ever heard of punctuation?
- jellyfishnet, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I have been giving preference to tap water over bottled for a few years now. I had a professor that was an industrial engineer and the main projects he did before he went into teaching were water system related. He was able to convince me that not only was public water perfectly safe, but bottled water typically has more inherent problems with it. What happens when a farm decides to spill tons of spray above that coveted spring? Public water expects that the water they pull is could be bad bad, and treats it with that presumption.
Then there is the whole silliness of paying for a LESS convenient product.. - Piggycow, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I don't know about you guys but I live where there once was a paint factory that dumped everything into the ground and there already has been an issue about chemicals in the water so i'll just stick to bottled
- noahhoward, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@klawz, we're going to have to here at some point, not necessairly a Brita though, we are on a well system so I will probably get a reverse osmosis filter. There's a baby on the way so I tend to be more concerned about the water supply lately.
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