What is Digg?132 Comments
- digitalgopher, on 10/12/2007, -7/+43" About 25% of the bottled water sold in the United States comes from a municipal water source."
This is exactly why I think it's such a scam. Fact of the matter is, most developed countries have perfectly safe drinking water coming out of their taps... if you're still paranoid, just get a brita filter and you'll be just fine.
It's the whole fear tactic that corporations have so successfully used for decades in getting people to consume their products. It's all just marketing... when I was in school, we studied a case of how Procter and gamble successfully convinced people that the more 'bubbles' your laundry detergent produces, the better it cleans. So they made their product more 'bubbly' and marketed it that way and sold tons of it. it's all marketing. nothing else. people are lemmings and they fall for it. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+22I will settle for nothing less than bottled Mexican tap water.
- twitchr, on 10/12/2007, -3/+21the only reason that i buy bottled water is because it's cold.
- Ignignokt01, on 10/12/2007, -3/+19I often wonder if bottled water has also contributed to the rise in allergies we've seen in the past few decades. People underestimate the power of their own immune system, and only buy super 'pure' products. Then they go and wonder why their immune system is out of whack and why they have greater allergy issues. Our immune system is designed to take in those bad things found in everything that we consume and develop defenses for them. If we never put anything bad in our system, then when something really bad comes along our immune system will be very weak to naturally defend against it.
Its just a theory, but perhaps this craze in water purity and bottled water has contributed to the weakening of our immune systems... - Chompy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+16"Its just a theory, but perhaps this craze in water purity and bottled water has contributed to the weakening of our immune systems..."
I'd say that the incredible overuse of household lysol-style disinfectants has more to do with this than bottled water. - nailbunny, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12montezuma's refreshment!
- zacharychaos, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13Is it possible people buy bottled water because it's convenient and healthier then Coke?
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10It would be hilariously ironic if some company in Mexico started exporting bottled water to the U.S.
- Chompy, on 10/12/2007, -9/+18Using brita filters isn't really any cheaper than bottled water.
- waitingforjune, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10That damn dihydrogen monoxide... it killed my brother :-(
Ever since then, I've been on a mission to put an end to the terror caused by dihydrogen monoxide and its equally deadly counterpart sodium chloride... - cal0140, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9The only reason I buy bottles is because when you can buy them in 24 packs, they come out to roughly $0.22 per bottle. To me, it's worth the convenience. And tap water DOES taste different everywhere you go. For example, I spent a year in Iowa (i live just outside Chicago) and the municipal water there had HIGH chlorine content, which wreaked havoc on my bowels. That's precisely when I switched to bottles and a Brita pitcher. I prefer the filtered/bottled taste anyway.
- DROB003, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9Cliff notes version:
I am boasting about my uncanny ability to distinguish between all forms of bottled water. Also, flouride will rott your brain. - hundrednorth, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11In the case of detergent (and soaps, shampoos, bubble baths, etc) it's the chemicals that make the foamy bubbles that are bad for you. It's stuff like Sodium Lauryl Sulfate that are known skin irritants.
@Chompy: I disagree. I use Brita tap filters @ ~$15/ea and replace it every 3 months. That's gotta be cheaper than bottled water. - CrackHappy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Real simple. Buy a bottle of water. REUSE it. Problem solved.
- 5blocksfree, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8^^ You personify the notion of American laziness...the endless pursuit of convenience over common sense. No offense intended, but seriously...you'd rather spend 1,000 times more just so you can twist a cap off a bottle?
- hundrednorth, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Dasani is remineralized tap water.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Yeah. I mean, I don't like the Coke that comes out of my tap. It tastes funny.
- carve, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8The only time I ever buy botteled tap water is for convenience. I had to buy a bottle last week (for the 1st time in months). A 1L of Acquifina was $1.29, while a 2L of 7up or most other soft drinks was 99 cents. WTF is up with that?
I installed a reverse osmosis filter under our sink. It is a big 5-stage job with a 2Gal holding tank. It was $200, but that money provides years of water that is better than average botteled water. I installed it when our tap water started literally tasting like dirt. I changed the cartridges once on the prefilter, and that thing filters out some nasty junk! - Apocalyps3, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8well because it's just easier to take a bottle of water out of the fridge and twist off the top to drink it..instead of going to your cabinet getting a glass, opening the fridge, and pouring it and then putting the pitcher back.
- Ignignokt01, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I for one don't mind the taste of my local tap water, however the taste probably differs around the world. (I live in San Jose, CA.) In fact, I'd go as far to say that I enjoy the taste of the tap water over plain bottled water.
- Ignignokt01, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Isn't Dasani the Coke brand? I've heard some bad stuff about that brand of bottled water... I guess I'm going to hell then eh?
- dustyshadow, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5that's exactly why I buy it.
- nailbunny, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6we who?
- ChrisGranger, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6I agree, I prefer the taste of bottled water over my local tap water. I'll drink plain tap water if I have to, and I'll use it when I'm making fruit punch or whatever so it's not a health concern, but I take bottled when it's available.
I like 1.5 litre bottles and try to drink one every day. It's a nice easy way to keep track of my water intake. - danielwsmithee, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I lived in Poland for two years. The water there was awesome!!! We had these three stage filters that we used on our tap water. The first filter was replaced every month, every month the old one was dark dark reddish-brown, and the new one was pure white. Let's just say I am glad I had the filters.
- Flankk, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6"Using brita filters isn't really any cheaper than bottled water."
I can pick up 4 Brita filters at Wal*Mart for $20 CDN. They recommend 2 months per filter for average family usage. That's about $30 a year. If you're feeding your family bottled water vs. filtered water, I think I know which is more affordable. - hundrednorth, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4That sounds likely. Canadian Dasani is simply filtered and remineralized municipal tap water from Toronto.
- fiji5555, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I agree with the chlorine taste being yucky and I don't think it's good to be consuming that stuff. I buy one gallon distilled water for around 60 cents a gallon. Isn't distilled the best since it takes everything out and just leaves pure water?
- danielwsmithee, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5"I'd say that the incredible overuse of household lysol-style disinfectants has more to do with this than bottled water."
That and the incredible over-use of anti-bacterial soaps. I still remember my college Biology teacher had a full days presentation on the studies proving anti-bacterial soaps are causing the demise of antibiotics. From what I remember he gave extra credit for people who wrote letters asking the soap companies to stop. It is even worse now, you can't buy non anti-bacterial hand soap. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3its not always about the water, most people forget the whole idea of the bottle. I for one prefer bottled water both for the taste and the convenience of being able to grab a bottle on my way out the door as opposed to keeping track of a water bottle and having to fill it up at a tap every time I need more.
- merreborn, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4A few more fun facts:
Some reports claim that more than 40% of tap water comes from municipal sources (meaning it comes from the exact same place your tap water does)
The price per gallon of bottled water is hundreds of times higher than tap water. Tap water costs under a penny a gallon, thanks to our efficient, time-tested water infrastructure
Government regulations are stricter on tap water than they are on bottled water.
Making bottles to meet Americans’ demand for bottled water requires more than 1.5 million barrels of oil annually, enough to fuel some 100,000 U.S. cars for a year.
Yeah, it's easier to drink bottled water than it is to use a brita filter. It's also a HUGE waste of resouces and money!
Drink bottled water when you have to. But don't fool yourself into thinking it's "better", or "safer". Drinking bottled water exclusively when you have high quality american tap water available is just a big F-U to 3rd world countries. - OrangeTide, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I usually buy the large bottles of water. like 1gallon or 3gallon jugs. the city water has flourine and chlorine and stuff that I'm not used to (I grew up in the country). The big jugs cost less than the little tiny bottles.
My work gives us free bottled water (and soda). So I drink that. If they had a water cooler I'd just use that. I'm not that picky. Tap water is not so refreshing. - boredzo, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6Both bottled and tap water contain dihydrogen monoxide, a chemical that is lethal when inhaled, already present in large concentrations in our groundwater, and regularly dumped into our lakes and rivers by major corporations and even unsuspecting homeowners.
- NOFXY, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3i live in san diego and i actually like tap water.. although it might be because as a kid i would drink from the sprinklers in the apartments we used to live.. actually.. all kids my age at that time would do it. nasty i know.
- Chompy, on 10/12/2007, -5/+8Thank goodness some random guy from the internet is here to tell me about the massive government conspiracy to poison it's own citizens with insidious flouride!
1. Poison your own citizens.
2.????
3. Profit! - Ignignokt01, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Man I love Penn and Teller, if you haven't seen that trick they did on a group of environmentalists with the Dihydrogen Monoxide... that made the whole show.
- dustyshadow, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3do you happen to live in san diego? tap water sucks here.
- Mufflegrump, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2You frighten me...are you sure you're allowed on the computer unsupervised?
- cal0140, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4So did the plant manager actually drink lake water? Because if he didn't, I'd take what he said with a grain of salt. And I'm pretty sure people relieve themselves in lakes, and when it rains, the water takes your neighbor's dog's doo doo and runs it into the lake with it.
- ericeman, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Bottled water for me, like most people on here have said, is just a convience. I actually just recycle the bottle and use regular old water many times.
- antipion, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3As far as safety is concerned, the EPA checks your tap 100 times every month; the FDA only audits once a year on your average bottle. So while the standards may be just as stringent, the frequency is not, and you are likely safer with your tap (source: http://www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/bw/exesum.asp). Now if you are arguing for taste, well, every municipality and bottle is different, so buy away. Personally I swill down tap water like there is no tomorrow, but I have no problem admitting that artesian wells generally have superior taste (I have done a double blind!), mineral content is sometimes a good thing. Just don't scream about safety, and take a look at what you are buying to inform yourself; in some cities you may be drinking the same thing from the faucet as the bottle.
- blackomegax, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5little FYI, Dasani is nothing more than Atlanta tap water run through some cheap filters.
- SyDIGG, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5Evian = naivE
- Otto, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4"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. You know when fluoridation first began? Nineteen hundred and forty-six. Nineteen forty-six, Mandrake. How does that coincide with your post-war Commie conspiracy, huh? It's incredibly obvious, isn't it? A foreign substance is introduced into our precious bodily fluids without the knowledge of the individual. Certainly without any choice. That's the way your hard-core Commie works."
- junior882, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4At least with Brita, you know the water is filtered.
- iHeartLiberty, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Don't forget the fluoride. That stuff is evil, and is in most US municipal water supplies. Get informed. http://www.fluoridealert.org/
- Urusai, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Mexican soft drinks still use real sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. Their beer is better, too, but that's like saying Jack the Ripper was a better man than Stalin. I'm assuming their water is mostly comprised of hydrogen hydroxide like ours. I suspect it would be better than American bottled waters due to increased inspection driven by greedy American bottlers attempting to run them out. In America, food companies inspect themselves (thanks to Reagan), which works out the way you'd expect.
- Flankk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Heat induces evaporation, not cold. You'd be better off boiling it.
- fortezza, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Except at work there isn't a fridge and there is a machine selling cold bottled water. so I do I go for hot tap water or cold bottled water?
- MasterDwarf, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Snake oil, get your snake oil here.
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