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Bottled Water Dilemma

ChristineR said:
Actually, there are a lot of things that go into bottled water. There are filtered tap waters, spring waters, well waters, carbonated water, mineralized water, etc.. The biggest thing that bottled water lacks is chlorine, which has a very strong taste many people don't like. I don't have much experience with NYC tap water, so I can't comment. I'm not terrribly impressed that P&T found a bottled water that was similar to NYC tap.
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Actually, even most municiple waters lack chlorine by the time they reach your tap. At least, they lack a detectable amount. Most remove the majority of the chlorine at the end of the treatment process, leaving just enough to discourage bacterial growth (something on the order or 1ppm or 0.1ppm, I believe).

In any case, if it's the chlorine taste, let the water sit out overnight. The chlorine will evaporate, and there ya go!

I think the biggest issue people have with bottled water is cost. Most places I've seen, bottled water costs more than sodas. It costs less to make. IN fact, the bottled water offered by both Pepsi and Coke is, essentially, the same water they use in their sodas but without running through carbonation, flavoring, etc. Yet, it costs as much or more than soda.

It's a matter of paying much more for something than its worth. If that's your choice, great. But don't expect the rest of us to withhold our opinion that you're wasting money. Especially when the U.S. (as an example) has one of the safest public water systems in the world, which we already pay for.

In fact, filter systems that can be placed on faucets, in pitchers, in refrigerators, or even built into your house can be purchased for quite a bit less than the cost of bottled water (assuming regular maintenence on the filter system, and about one bottle of water per day).

But everyone is entitled to their own preference. Just don't expect to be exempt from criticism ;)
 
You can save the bottles and fill them with tap water. That's what I do.

But Penn Jillette be damned, if I'm on the road, and I get thirsty, I'll buy a bottle of water.
 
I grew up on a ranch, and we drank wellwater. Because of the nitrates and other things, our water was softened and distilled. It wasn't until my late teens that I could drink city water and not gag. Not sure if that was the local water, or what.
 
Only time I drink bottled water is when I am in a place (for example, Cairo, Egypt) where drinking the tapwater is likely to produce a case of the "King Tut's Revenge".

Otherwise, I treat water pretty much like the comic WC Fields did:

Water? Never drink it. Fish f*** in it.
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Huntsman said:
Actually, even most municiple waters lack chlorine by the time they reach your tap. At least, they lack a detectable amount. Most remove the majority of the chlorine at the end of the treatment process, leaving just enough to discourage bacterial growth (something on the order or 1ppm or 0.1ppm, I believe).

In any case, if it's the chlorine taste, let the water sit out overnight. The chlorine will evaporate, and there ya go!

I think the biggest issue people have with bottled water is cost. Most places I've seen, bottled water costs more than sodas. It costs less to make. IN fact, the bottled water offered by both Pepsi and Coke is, essentially, the same water they use in their sodas but without running through carbonation, flavoring, etc. Yet, it costs as much or more than soda.

It's a matter of paying much more for something than its worth. If that's your choice, great. But don't expect the rest of us to withhold our opinion that you're wasting money. Especially when the U.S. (as an example) has one of the safest public water systems in the world, which we already pay for.

In fact, filter systems that can be placed on faucets, in pitchers, in refrigerators, or even built into your house can be purchased for quite a bit less than the cost of bottled water (assuming regular maintenence on the filter system, and about one bottle of water per day).

But everyone is entitled to their own preference. Just don't expect to be exempt from criticism ;)
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I don't really know much about this, but I do know that letting the water stand overnight does not remove chlorine added by certain processes.

You are also not quite right about the cost. The cost of the sugar, carbon, and flavour in a soft drink is negligible. You are paying for someone to put it into a can and truck it to your local vending machine. There are economies of scale for the soft drinks that do not exist for the water. So really, the bottled water does cost more to make. Of course none of this applies to water from remote mineral springs in Denemark.

I have filters on my home taps. I will drink the water from my parent's tap unfiltered. I don't always have access to my home taps. I drink el cheapo "Coke" water when I don't have access to filtered water, and occasionally I drink expensive spring waters. I just finished a San Pellegrino, for example. There are places I frequently visit where I simply cannot stand the unfiltered water. Then I buy and drink bottled water exclusively.

As far as criticism, I think that you should save yourself the trouble of drinking all that soda and just ask your dentist to pull your teeth now. That stuff not only costs more than tap water, it is absurdly bad for you and yet those of us who occasionally enjoy a pricey mineral water take all the heat. Double standard, as I say.

We've all been so well trained by our consumer culture that we don't even question the claim that we all have the right to enjoy a Coke now and then--yet people sneer at my right to enjoy bottled water.
 
Christine:

I don't sneer at your right to drink bottled water. I just disagree that's its a worthwhile expenditure. Much as you disagree with enjoying a Coke now and again. No biggie.

I do wonder about your economy of scale argument, though. Bottled water exists at every location where bottled soda is sold, often times in larger quantities. COnsidering that the water (at least the brands manufactured by the soda companies) is shipped via the same delivery system that ships the sodas, I don't see why it has a reduced economy of scale. If anything, the water (specifically the soda manufacturer's brands) benefits from the economies of scale enjoyed by soft drinks. The manufacturers are making a very large profit margin from this.

I really don't have a problem with someone preferring the taste of bottled water, as I've said. I do personally think it's silly to pay as much for it as is charged, though. But that's just opinion, as I said. I think the issue is in the manufacturer's and distributers, though, rather than the consumers (well, we're capitalist, so it always involves the consumer at some level). I think the bottling companies are cashing in on the 'health kick' trend. Bottled water was a fad, and they established high prices right off the bat.

As to chlorine, chlorine will evaporate from water over about 24 hours. Of course, it does depend on the amount of surface area exposed to air compared to the volume of water. I've done this several times (in several municipalities) for my freshwater fish tanks :) You can also purchase a chlorine test kit relatively cheaply, and test the idea yourself.

Regarding sneering, I don't intend to start an argument, but your comments ("might-as-well pull your teeth now", "trained by consumer culture", etc) certainly imply you setting yourself up as superior in some way. I do think you're taking a basic difference of opinion far too personally. Relax, we simply have a difference of opinion, it's not really about right and wrong (except for facts), it's a matter of us placing our value differently. I often buy bottled water myself (or milk, or fruit juice, at least) instead of sodas...but I still think the manufacturers charge way too much for it, and I prefer to "fill my own" when possible.
 
Oh, one more thing. Since bottled water, if you ask for water on an airplane, you get a bottle of water. Previously, you got a Dixie cup with about enough water in it to drown a gnat, but only if the gnat had asthma.
 
Huntsman: I don't really begrudge anybody his right to a Coke. The nasty comments are just a way of arguing that it is far easier to make fun of people who choose to drink Coke, yet culturally it is acceptable to make fun of people who prefer water.

I don't really know much about this, but this link talks about chlorine and Chloramine, and why you can't rid the water of Chloramine by letting it stand. This is what they use at my home.

http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_chlorine.htm
 
You need chlorine for your excretory system to work. Well, you usually take it with salt-NaCL, but you need the chlorine atoms for the excretory system, for reabsorption. Chlorine is called chloride when it binds to another molecule, but it exists as chlorine in your kidneys.

It's funny when woos claim Cl is found in diseased kidneys. Of course it is. It's part of the process. It's like saying water is bad when you find it in a dead human.
 
tkingdoll said:
I'm always amused by the labelling on water.

If it says Natural Mineral Water, then it's just that, straight from the natural source, nothing added and nothing taken away.

If it says Spring Water, then it's water from the natural source that has been treated, de-mineralised or mineralised etc.

If it says Still Water (and nothing more - supermarket's own 'no-frills' labels tend to be this) then it's filtered tap water.
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I thought the secret of your health was a bottle of tono bungay a day.

One way they get around the label rules is by the name- "Highland Spring" water actually comes from a well in Auchterarder, in the lowlands. There's nothing wrong with it, but it's certainly no better in any useful sense, than my local tap water . That said , central Scottish cities probably have the best tap water of any in the world (and I've sampled a lot). I find it quite ludicrous that our shop shelves are loaded with Evian.
 
Just wait until you haven't got any water, like is happening to us here in Australia. THEN you WILL drink it, even if it's got tons of dissolved minerals and tastes like it's been filtered through an old unwashed jockstrap!

The differences in taste between various water supplies is actually the dissolved minerals from the plumbing to your tap, not chlorine or flouride or anything the water companies add or subtract. Plumbing pipes have been made out of stuff like lead, copper and iron, not to mention fired clay (ceramic), concrete, and plastic. The water you drink could be travelling through any combination of these to your taps. So depending on the conditions of these conduits, the water will pick up all sorts of dissolved salts (oxides usually), dirt, plant matter, various pond-life, little creepie-crawlies, etc, etc, on the way to you. And not all tap-filters take everything out, despite their claims!

ETA: This explains why fresh rainwater tastes "cleaner".

Cheers!
 
Soapy Sam said:
I thought the secret of your health was a bottle of tono bungay a day.

One way they get around the label rules is by the name- "Highland Spring" water actually comes from a well in Auchterarder, in the lowlands. There's nothing wrong with it, but it's certainly no better in any useful sense, than my local tap water . That said , central Scottish cities probably have the best tap water of any in the world (and I've sampled a lot). I find it quite ludicrous that our shop shelves are loaded with Evian.
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Yay! Tono Bungay! You know how few people know what that is? I must start a thread on it some time.

I have to say, Highland Spring is one of my most disliked bottled waters. It sets my teeth on edge (again, I haven't tested this blinded so feel free to laugh).

That said, I do find that all water tastes similar or the same if it is very, very cold. It's when it drops towards room temperature that I believe I can perceive a difference. For examle, to me, Evian tastes saltier somehow, while Volvic is sweeter.
 
On the subject of Wells (Heh!). My favourite is the short "Valley of the Spiders". TB is great fun though.

The three big natural tastable differences in water are salinity, hardness and aeriation. The worst artificial feature is chlorination.

Salinity is very low in any tap or bottled water. Hardness is usually low too- 60ppm or less of Ca / Mg. You can always aereate water by pouring it between jugs a time or three. The difference may be imaginary.
Chlorination is foul though. Charcoal filters do help.

Up here, our water is off hard rock and is extremely soft , very pleasant to drink, leaves kettles unscaled and is very bad for the heart. Can't win em all.

Looks like the S of Eng. is headed for serious drought already and it's not Spring yet. Panic buy NOW!
 
I'm already drinking my own urine as a precaution.

I'm also planning to drink as much as I can here in Glasgow and survive the arid weekend as best I can.
 
AmateurScientist said:
You have to admit that bottled water is one of the cleverest and most lucrative scams perpetrated on the modern public. It would be a hilarious joke if it weren't take so seriously. OK, it's funny anyway.

AS
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Evian spelled backward is...
 
HeyLeroy said:
Evian spelled backward is...
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I assume you're making a joke, it's a funny coincidence but nothing more than that. The water is named after the French town it is sourced from, Evian-les-Bains near Lake Leman.

"However, the name of Evian is related with water. It comes most probably from a Celtic or pre-Celtic root meaning water, and was written Aviano in 1150, Yvians in 1268. Local pencil pushers invented the Latin form Aquianum in the Middle Ages."

From http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/fr-74-ev.html
 
I was dying laughing watching the water waiter guy! I gotta wonder though, this must heavily depend on where you live. The smell alone of the tap water here in phoenix will give it away, it smells like a swimming pool.

I get used to it then go back to Hawaii for a bit and if I hit a drinking fountain its like $^##^$##& I forgot!!! Awesome

Still, I figured, maybe theres the getting used to it factor that tricked the people on the P&T episode, we tried it here and though I cant tell the difference between brands, it was 100% of the time to pick the tapwater as tapwater

Maybe I need to try it again with my nose plugged
 
As Lewis Black put it: "When water was free we didn't drink enough, now that you have to pay you can't get too much."

The quantity of water people drink these days amazes me. They've changed the old adage (myth?) of "8 cups a day" to "8 glasses a day" when the glass is this huge container.

When I travel I try the local water if I don't like it I go bottled. One small city was so bad the water had a yellow tinge to it and tasted like sulfer. I couldn't even brush my teeth with it, yuck. But usually tap is just fine.

A work they do have these reverse osmosis filters that chill (or heat, depending on the spigot) the water too, I like that so I use it but at home it's straight tap.

Oh, and the P&T episode? That glass with the spider in it was freaking awesome!
 
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