For anyone interested, they have a cool website.

www.storyofstuff.com

I've been to America once, almost 10 years ago, from that time I do remember the tap water in some places to taste quite dirty with a slight chlorine taste.
Where I live tap water is never disinfected with chlorine, only UV and ozone.

*Quality

Boosting this quality contribution up in the Hot Listing - declared quality by Sagemind.

I'm starting to get sick of the anti-bottle water movement. They do have some valid reasons to complain, but they're starting to go overboard (like peta). The problem isn't bottled water itself, bottled water does have it's place. I drink (filtered) tap water at home, refilling empty water bottles that I've bought. After a while they eventually start looking foggy and/or develop a funky residue in them. When that happens I chuck them. I can taste the difference in filtered and unfiltered water too. Plain unfiltered tap water to me tastes like I'm drinking from a swimming pool.

When I'm not at home, usually when traveling and I stop for a snack on the road I buy a bottle of water (and save the bottle to re-use at home). It's either a bottle of water or a bottle of soda, and I don't drink soda. How come no one ever complains about people buying soda in a bottle? A bottle of water costs less too, $1 for water vs. $2 for soda. Sure you can get water or soda from the fountain drink machine, but it will still be in a plastic or styrofoam cup. It's kind of hard to throw a cup of water in your backpack too. I also keep a couple of cases of bottled water in the storage room at home for emergencies.

I don't eat out often, but when I do I order water. I've had mixed experiences with water at restaurants. Sometimes it tastes fine, sometimes it tastes and smells like it came from the sewer. When I get nasty water at a restaurant I'll usually order tea instead. They probably deliberately serve nasty water so you'll order something else.

Fast food places are hit or miss with tap water too. I usually have a bottle of water in the car with me that I've filled up at home, but when I don't or it's empty, I'll get bottled just to be safe. If I don't drink all of it, I can cap it and save the rest for later or carry it with me.

How sad. It's nothing short of astounding stupidity amongst the populace that bottled water has become such an epidemic.

I don't even consider the bottles themselves - I would just NEVER pay for water.
I've ordered water in a restaurant; they brought me bottled water; I sent it back!

To buy it for emergency reasons is one thing but when water is readily available means you have too much expendable income - Send it my way, I could use the money!

Also, I did a taste test at the Mall once - Tap Water Vs. Filtered water - I picked the tap water which, truthfully, was the best by far. The horror on the company's face when I said it tasted better... They started pulling out all kinds of pamphlets and books showing me how I was wrong. They were not going to be satisfied until I admitted my sins as a water-lover and converted to purified (using their system- of course) Water!

As bad as selling religion

Bottled-water drinker here. She makes a convincing argument, but in her push to convince me, it seems like she contradicted herself. First she says that most tap water is cleaner than bottled water. Then later on she says that lots of tap water is polluted. Well, which is it?

The smart move is to buy a home-based reverse osmosis system for a few hundred bucks so you can control the quality of your tap water yourself.

As baffled as I am by people spending so much money on bottled water, I think it is ignorance, not stupidity that has people paying money for bottled tap water. The same forces that have convinced people to put carbonated sugar water, big macs or other garbage in their bodies for over a generation. Advertising has kids begging their parents for sugar coated pork puffs in the cereal isle. There are ads on all the time for "beverages" like Beep (a drink loaded with sugar and canola oil) for breakfast. People have been being told to eat garbage by television, and other advertising mediums for years, and they listened.

I think people make bad decisions like paying for bottle water regularly and eating unhealthy foods not because they are too stupid to grasp the idea of tap water or healthy food, but because no one has explained the alternative to them. During his address to TED, I was shocked when Jamie Oliver showed that an elementary school class could not identify a potato.

The kids in that classroom aren't stupid. What's stupid is an education curriculum that allows french fries to be placed in a food group in their school's cafeteria.
>> ^Xax:
How sad. It's nothing short of astounding stupidity amongst the populace that bottled water has become such an epidemic.

I never understood the appeal of bottled water. *Fear seemed like the only reason to go for it.

I know I'm always into the political angle, but there's just something unusual about how Americans react to government. It seems to me that if you think your tap water is dangerous, it's time to join a campaign to throw the bums out of your city council, and get some people who will put decent standards in place and enforce them.

To most Americans, that's too much work. They prefer to say "government can't do anything right", and spend ridiculous amounts of money to buy tap water in a plastic bottle with a pretty sticker on it that isn't any safer, and certainly isn't any cheaper.

In our culture, it's like you have to pay a lot money for something before you think it's worth anything.

Adding video to channels (Fear) - requested by NetRunner.

This might be too cynical, but it seems like the anti-bottled water campaign is being driven by the same sort of people who bought all the bottled water in the first place. Yuppies.

They're vulnerable to being told that something is supposed to be healthy for them, even if there is absolutely no medical evidence for the clam. They don't mind paying more for a common product everyone else gets cheaply; in fact they see such conspicuous consumption as a status symbol. But they're also fond of half-assed environmentalism. So long as it doesn't inconvenience them in any way and the movement is popular enough that they can get some social credit for going along with it.

I'm not saying Annie Leonard is one of them, but just that they're the target audience. And it's irritating to no end when they act smug about the fact that they've finally woken up to how unbelievably stupid they've been about this for the last decade.

I would die before drinking well water (even showering is bad enough, the smell is awful) but tap water is great. And I get water with a (free!) lemon slice at restaurants, but only to save money. Lemon slices make any water delectable. Except well water.

>> ^jimnms:
I'm starting to get sick of the anti-bottle water movement. They do have some valid reasons to complain, but they're starting to go overboard (like peta). The problem isn't bottled water itself, bottled water does have it's place. I drink (filtered) tap water at home, refilling empty water bottles that I've bought. After a while they eventually start looking foggy and/or develop a funky residue in them. When that happens I chuck them. I can taste the difference in filtered and unfiltered water too. Plain unfiltered tap water to me tastes like I'm drinking from a swimming pool.
When I'm not at home, usually when traveling and I stop for a snack on the road I buy a bottle of water (and save the bottle to re-use at home). It's either a bottle of water or a bottle of soda, and I don't drink soda. How come no one ever complains about people buying soda in a bottle? A bottle of water costs less too, $1 for water vs. $2 for soda. Sure you can get water or soda from the fountain drink machine, but it will still be in a plastic or styrofoam cup. It's kind of hard to throw a cup of water in your backpack too. I also keep a couple of cases of bottled water in the storage room at home for emergencies.
I don't eat out often, but when I do I order water. I've had mixed experiences with water at restaurants. Sometimes it tastes fine, sometimes it tastes and smells like it came from the sewer. When I get nasty water at a restaurant I'll usually order tea instead. They probably deliberately serve nasty water so you'll order something else.
Fast food places are hit or miss with tap water too. I usually have a bottle of water in the car with me that I've filled up at home, but when I don't or it's empty, I'll get bottled just to be safe. If I don't drink all of it, I can cap it and save the rest for later or carry it with me.


How did you manage to write so much yet make no valid points? What's wrong with the "anti-bottled water movement"?

>> ^entr0py:
This might be too cynical, but it seems like the anti-bottled water campaign is being driven by the same sort of people who bought all the bottled water in the first place.

Seems like a fair point -- it's exactly the kind of thing affluent liberals go for.

Ordinary product plus promise of extra purity = $$$

It's the fact that your money is buying more purity than other people know to that serves as the status symbol among the liberal elite snobs. Conspicuous consumption for its own sake is still more of a conservative thing.

I suspect we're going to go through the same thing with organic food, with people saying we should focus on sustainable food instead.

I was raised up north in Canada, I was raised on Well Water.
I've been exposed to that crap some people are forced to endure (smells like eggs, feels like you can't rinse the shampoo from your hair, sometimes has a the red tinge of rust ect.) But the well water we grew up with was clean and pure, no water softener needed.

As well, the house I just sold (moved away from) up north had the best tasting well water I've seen, 100% clear, perfect taste, surpassed all water testing, no colouring ect. We could leave the sprinklers on 24 hours a day and the water would never run low. We were on a "Real" natural spring!

By comparison, My mom is on city tap water and her water sucks, the water tastes & smells like chlorine which they use to purify it. I can't drink that stuff unless it sits in the fridge for a day while the chlorine evaporates out of it.

So don't judge well water out of ignorance. Like everything else in the world, these is good and bad in everything! Trust me, I have very picky taste-buds, I know when the water is gross, and I also know what good water is and the "best I ever had came from a well!" - Quote me on it!

>> ^PHJF:
I would die before drinking well water (even showering is bad enough, the smell is awful) but tap water is great. And I get water with a (free!) lemon slice at restaurants, but only to save money. Lemon slices make any water delectable. Except well water.

I can think of a few reasons for bottled water to exist. Primary reason I buy it is when I work outside or at different locations, you can be reasonably sure the water isn't going to make you sick.

I've been to jobs where the water coming out of the hose on their house smelled like rotten eggs, made me queasy just from the smell. And if you work anywhere commercial you can't even be reasonably sure that the water they are pumping through their building is even considered drinkable unless it comes straight from a drinking fountain. One place actually had it's own system to mix liquid fertilizer into the water supply and pumping it through the building...one day it'd be pure water, one day it'd be a blue-green color. Had to use water for the equipment and to clean up, but I never trust drinking water at any location because I'd rather not get a stomach bug from it..or worse.

As for places where the water is SUPPOSED to be drinkable, like public parks, schools, etc. Drinking from water fountains when you watch people spit on it openly, or look like they are trying to deep throat the water nozzle, or have their kids who were just playing with dog shit run up and rub their unwashed hands all over it. Then imagine what people do that drinking fountain/sink/whatever when it's dark out and people can't easily see them.

I know my reasons for drinking bottled water...they don't necessarily exclude tap water. But it's easier to buy the bottles, stick em in a cooler with ice and be good for the rest of the day. Used to do the big water cooler setup, fill it up from a known clean tap water source..wash it out every day (it got pretty nasty in just a days period from the ice, dirty hands, and just dirt/dust). Then you had to worry about cups or something else to drink out of.......and after having a few co-workers who were just nasty. IE fill up their cup without even attempting to clean or cover their dirty hands while they did it...or drinking out of other people's cups because they wouldn't pay attention. I stopped doing that.

So, if your reason for drinking bottled water is because you don't trust other people not to get ass matter and worse all over the handles and spout of water spigots, etc....then I understand.

>> ^acidSpine:
How did you manage to write so much yet make no valid points? What's wrong with the "anti-bottled water movement"?

How did you read all of what I wrote and miss the very first sentence? What's wrong with the anti-bottled water movement? Like I said, they do have some valid arguments, but they're starting to go overboard and acting like annoying elitist twats. Comparing people that drink bottled water to smoking, come the fuck on.

I also gave several good reasons why bottled water is perfectly acceptable. If you're not at home where you can drink tap water, like on a road trip and need to stop for food and drink. Whatever you buy to drink from a convenient store is going to come in a bottle. Why is it OK to buy a soda in a bottle, but if you buy water in a bottle you're looked down?

>> ^Sagemind:
I don't even consider the bottles themselves - I would just NEVER pay for water.

So tap water is free where you live? I get a bill from the city for my tap water.

What could be more elitist than refusing to drink perfectly good tap water? I've also heard it's helpful sometimes to have water in a bottle so I'll let you guys in on a little secret.

Step 1. get an old bottle

Step 2. Put some water in it
>> ^jimnms:
What's wrong with the anti-bottled water movement? Like I said, they do have some valid arguments, but they're starting to go overboard and acting like annoying elitist twats.

My local tap water is dirty.

@Porksandwhich

Oh my god!!! That's disgusting! They would lose track of their water cup and drink from someone elses??? Jesus F. Christ. You can fucking DIE from that.

I almost wonder if people just prefer tap over bottled out of conditioning. I remember reading that when they blind tested the same songs in CD lossless audio, and lower bitrate compressed MP3s of the like people usually have on their audio players, they significantly preferred the latter despite it being inferior.

I almost wonder if people just prefer tap over bottled out of conditioning. I remember reading that when they blind tested the same songs in CD lossless audio, and lower bitrate compressed MP3s of the like people usually have on their audio players, they significantly preferred the latter despite it being inferior.

>> ^Matthu:
@Porksandwhich
Oh my god!!! That's disgusting! They would lose track of their water cup and drink from someone elses??? Jesus F. Christ. You can fucking DIE from that.


I mean I understand why it happened, it's windy out and stuff blows away constantly. Or you put your cup in the truck...someone else has the same idea and puts there's too then you can't remember which is yours. Or even if you write on it, it eventually smudges off or becomes unreadable. Bottled water has the same risks, but at least you can kind of carry it with you without it sloshing all over you. And if it falls off equipment and gets ran over, oh well. You drink a lot of liquids when you're outside in near 100 degree heat, sometimes even have to carry extra and buy some ice in the middle of the day. Way more convenient than the water cooler, and cleaner for the most part.

There are so many more polluted and wasteful things a single company does on a daily basis, that making a stink over bottled drinks that individuals have legitimate uses for is kinda.............silly.

They should focus on getting bottles recycled/disposed of better, since it would affect more product containers.


And, a good test for water taste is this. Drink warm or nearly on the verge of being hot water, unboiled, unfiltered. See if you think the bottled stuff tastes better when it's near warm. I know tap water, the chlorine flavoring really shows up when it's not ice cold. I drink warm bottled water often and it doesn't have that in most of the bottled waters I've tried. There has been at least one that tasted of chlorine but can't recall the branding anymore. Makes me kind of sick to my stomach when that chlorine taste is there and is strong enough.

contaminated food and water cause 7 million deaths in africa every year....shut the fuck up about bottled water

some people can bitch about anything

I drink bottled water when I want it, otherwise I use Brita filtered water. She's right that Aquafina and Dasani (with a lot of the smaller brands) are just bottled tap water. I'm not sure the soda industry is the one that created the bottled water boom, because as I remember Coke and Pepsi were late to market.

And, if Cleveland really did "tests" that determined their tap water to taste better than Fiji water, then I call straight up shenanigans. Fiji water is delicious. I don't know what they do to it, but it's about as good as water can get.

Now if only she would demand liberals like herself lose their fat, exercise regularly, and save the world billions from not having to treat their unnecessary cancers and other disorders that correlate with fat and insufficient exercise.

>> ^chilaxe:
Now if only she would demand liberals like herself lose their fat, exercise regularly, and save the world billions from not having to treat their unnecessary cancers and other disorders that correlate with fat and insufficient exercise.


That's coming with HCR. Soon physical training will be compulsory and we'll all be uber-citizens.

>> ^acidSpine:
What could be more elitist than refusing to drink perfectly good tap water? I've also heard it's helpful sometimes to have water in a bottle so I'll let you guys in on a little secret.
Step 1. get an old bottle
Step 2. Put some water in it
>> ^jimnms:
What's wrong with the anti-bottled water movement? Like I said, they do have some valid arguments, but they're starting to go overboard and acting like annoying elitist twats.
Once again your reading comprehension has failed because that is exactly what I said I do.

I see a bigger problem than tap vs bottled...it's plastic bottles vs glass or metal (which is slightly different). That BPA and other estrogenic compounds are nasty things...and it seems that most, if not all, brands of bottled water appear to be chock full of 'em.

Who tied her elbows to her waist?

>> ^jimnms:

I drink (filtered) tap water at home, refilling empty water bottles that I've bought. After a while they eventually start looking foggy and/or develop a funky residue in them. When that happens I chuck them.


um... you can WASH them, just like your drinking glasses... or do you chuck those when they get dirty too?

Manufacturing lack of demand?

There should be a cleanwater.gov . That shows the results for weekly tests of the tap water for every district nation wide. And those tests should be based on revised standards that criteria for things like cadmium.

This really would Not be that hard to do, or cost that much. The city checks the water regularly anyway... they'd just have to upload their results to the central server.

>> ^Opus_Moderandi:

>> ^jimnms:
I drink (filtered) tap water at home, refilling empty water bottles that I've bought. After a while they eventually start looking foggy and/or develop a funky residue in them. When that happens I chuck them.

um... you can WASH them, just like your drinking glasses... or do you chuck those when they get dirty too?

Maybe you have hands tiny enough to get inside and scrub out a bottle, but I don't. You can only put some washing soap in and shake it up, but that can only do so much.

Fair enough...

For more than half my life, No I didn't pay for water - I had a well!
But yes, I do now pay for my tap water - no where near the cost of "bottled water" though, which is what we are talking about here.
• And when I go to restaurant, and I order a water, I don't pay for it!
• If I am anywhere a water fountain can be found, I use it - I don't go elsewhere and pay for it.
• If I am at an event in the hot, hot sun and my kids are dehydrated (I usually bring water with us but...)and I've looked everywhere for a fountain or accessible tap water and I can't find any - then, yes I pay for it because I am forced to. (I curse every time )
••• BUT we shouldn't have to be "forced" to pay for bottled water with hijacked pricing when city water is available right there and being denied to us. I am already paying for water usage from the city, so why should I be denied access to it.

• Also to note, In Quesnel (pop. 25,000), where I grew up and where a large percentage of the population uses well water. The city provides a (high volume) public tap for anyone who has undrinkable well water. This water is free of charge - no one is denied clean drinking water! People stop by with their large tanks and fill them once a week, and so on.

>> ^jimnms:
So tap water is free where you live? I get a bill from the city for my tap water.

I lived with a guy that used fiji water in his bong. He also used to dry clean his entire wardrobe...even tshirts and jeans.

>> ^rottenseed:

I lived with a guy that used fiji water in his bong. He also used to dry clean his entire wardrobe...even tshirts and jeans.


That sounds awful.

It all depends on your location. The municipal tap water in Nebraska tests positive, at levels way above WHO recommendations, for various pesticides and fertilizers.

>> ^Matthu:

@Porksandwhich
Oh my god!!! That's disgusting! They would lose track of their water cup and drink from someone elses??? Jesus F. Christ. You can fucking DIE from that.


Enjoy your hepatitis A. I hear it's really good for your health, but really rare.

>> ^blankfist:

Aquafina and Dasani are just bottled tap water.


It's not "just bottled tap water" They take tap water and subject it to an additional purification step, just like your Brita, except reverse osmosis is much more effective than a carbon filter. Reverse osmosis is nearly as good as distillation.

>> ^jwray:

>> ^blankfist
:
Aquafina and Dasani are just bottled tap water.

It's not "just bottled tap water" They take tap water and subject it to an additional purification step, just like your Brita, except reverse osmosis is much more effective than a carbon filter. Reverse osmosis is nearly as good as distillation.


And then they add salt to it.

>> ^grinter:

Manufacturing lack of demand?
There should be a cleanwater.gov . That shows the results for weekly tests of the tap water for every district nation wide. And those tests should be based on revised standards that criteria for things like cadmium.
This really would Not be that hard to do, or cost that much. The city checks the water regularly anyway... they'd just have to upload their results to the central server.



Something like this already exists.
http://www.ewg.org/tap-water/whatsinyourwater/NE/City-of-Lincoln/3110926/
Enter your own zipcode.

And then they add salt to it.

At least it hasn't been spiked with foul tasting compounds of Cl and F that are intended to kill bacteria and to get you to ingest things that are really only useful topically to slow the erosion of teeth and have no additional benefit (but likely unwanted side effects) when taken systemically. Just search Google scholar for fluoride neurotoxicity in rats or check the CDC's recommendations on upper limits for fluoride levels in drinking water and consider how impossible it is to control the dose when people are drinking different amounts of water.

Fluoride is rapidly eliminated from the bloodstream via the kidneys and uptake by calcified tissues. However, people who lack proper kidney function are vulnerable to being poisoned by fluoridated water. The mechanism of action as a poison is essentially interfering with all kinds of enzymes. It has very broad dose-dependent systemic effects. The upper limit for safety is only 2x the "optimal level" used for preventing cavities, which is an absurdly small margin of error given the uncontrolled quantities of tap water people consume.

It's also immoral to force a specific medical treatment on everyone without their consent UNLESS abstention from the treatment endangers people other than themselves (i.e., vaccines).

>> ^jimnms:

Maybe you have hands tiny enough to get inside and scrub out a bottle, but I don't. You can only put some washing soap in and shake it up, but that can only do so much.


No, I don't have tiny hands. But I DO have a brain and know how to use tools and such. Get yourself a glass scrubber (or improvise your own cleaning utensil), stick it in there and swirl it around.
Also, if you don't just wait til they're all grungy and start washing them from the get-go, shaking up the soapy water might be enough.

half a billion bottles per week? WHAT THE FUCK?!

Here's an interesting infographic on bottled water...
http://www.onlineeducation.net/bottled_water/

>> ^jwray:

>> ^grinter:< br /&Something like this already exists.
http://www.ewg.org/tap-water/whatsinyourwater/NE/City-of-Lincoln/3110
926/
Enter your own zipcode.


Cool, but they don't seem to have data past early 2009. ..and, unfortunately, the water quality in all but one of the places I've lived in the US is listed as outside of safe limits : (

1. Claim: 40% of bottled water is taken from municipal tap water
-- What they don't mention is that there are additional steps in the process after they get the tap water, such as reverse osmosis, which is usually listed on the label (and I'm certain that lying about it on the label is illegal). Reverse osmosis is more effective than the almost-nothing that is done to remove agricultural runoff contaminants and such from tap water. Aquafina is basically the same water that coca-cola puts into their sodas, and the reason it's subjected to an additional reverse osmosis step is to standardize the taste. Some local tap water is nasty.

2. X% of bottled water tested above the strictest health guidelines (but not the legal limit) for one or more chemicals.
So does the tap water in the vast majority of zipcodes. Check your own zipcode in that website.

3. Bottled water is less regulated: This is true, unfortunately. There should be stricter standards for contaminants in bottled water. There should be stricter standards for contaminants in tap water as well. Tap water is purified by crude filtration that is effective at removing sewage and particles larger than a micron, but ineffective at removing most dissolved contaminants.

If you buy distilled water in large quantities it's like fifty cents a gallon, which is not bad. That also wastes an order of magnitude less packaging material per pint of water.

>> ^Opus_Moderandi:
No, I don't have tiny hands. But I DO have a brain and know how to use tools and such. Get yourself a glass scrubber (or improvise your own cleaning utensil), stick it in there and swirl it around.
Also, if you don't just wait til they're all grungy and start washing them from the get-go, shaking up the soapy water might be enough.


I have a glass scrubber, but the bottle opening is still too small for it to fit in. What's your problem with the way I re-use bottles anyway? It's not like I throw them out after a few weeks, the oldest one I have is a couple of years old (or more).

jwray: Aquafina tastes much more strongly of chlorine than my tap water. And the only states that don't add fluoride to their drinking water have a much higher rate of tooth decay.

And if you're super-terrified of chemicals, what do you think you're ingesting when you're drinking water out of plastic bottles? Haven't you noticed that the water tastes like the plastic?

Anyway, some bottled water tastes good, but I don't buy it unless there's no free water to be had. But Aquafina and Dasani are just disgusting.

>> ^direpickle:

jwray: Aquafina tastes much more strongly of chlorine than my tap water. And the only states that don't add fluoride to their drinking water have a much higher rate of tooth decay.

Rubbish, plenty of countries that don't fluoridate water or salt have lower rates of tooth decay than us. There isn't even any correlation between water fluoridation and lower tooth decay among populations that regularly use fluoridated toothpaste. EPA admits the entire benefit is posteruptive and topical. There is no reason to ingest a treatment that acts topically.

>> ^direpickle:

And if you're super-terrified of chemicals, what do you think you're ingesting when you're drinking water out of plastic bottles? Haven't you noticed that the water tastes like the plastic?

I actually don't use any plastic bottles. I use glass or stainless steel for a variety of reasons:
1. More durable
2. Easier to clean (primarily due to being permanently very smooth, unlike plastic which is easily scratched)
3. Cheaper in the long run
4. Possible avoidance of BPA and other toxic chemicals that can leech out of plastic.

>> ^direpickle:

Anyway, some bottled water tastes good, but I don't buy it unless there's no free water to be had. But Aquafina and Dasani are just disgusting.

They don't really have any taste at all. I don't know what you're talking about.

>> ^jimnms:

>>

I have a glass scrubber, but the bottle opening is still too small for it to fit in. What's your problem with the way I re-use bottles anyway? It's not like I throw them out after a few weeks, the oldest one I have is a couple of years old (or more).




You're absolutely right. My apologies.

*water

Adding video to channels (Water) - requested by EDD.

Baby and Me - AWESOME New Evian Commercial has been added as a related post - related requested by notarobot on that post.