Bottled Water…I Still Don’t Get It!
January 28, 2008 3:05 pm Random Observations
Ok, so if you’ve ready many of the posts on this blog, you know that I like to make random observations about things. So today’s random observation is about bottled water.
As the title of this post says, I just don’t get bottled water. Who would have ever thought that the day would come when we’d be drinking packaged water from the store. Now of course, they try to tell you that it’s extra healthy and tastes like the mountain springs or whatever.
Well, to tell you the truth, every time I have some bottled water I think it tastes like crap.
In fact, where I work I have 3 choices for the water that I put in my Nalgene bottle that I keep at my desk: the sink, the water fountain, or the ‘purified’ water that comes from the water filter. And guess what, my favorite by far is the drinking fountain. The second choice is the sink, and the last resort is the filtered water. I really don’t like the way that water tastes!
And since when was mountain spring water any better for you? Granted, if you like in some country where the water is dangerous, grab some bottled water. But if you live here in the US, just buy a Nalgene or something and fill it up at the drinking fountain. I just can’t see the point in paying $2.00 for a bottle of water. Amazing.
A friend of mine had some similar thoughts, check this out: Fun Events? Or Wasteful Events?
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tags: observations, opinion
Tap water is obviously safe to drink but, if they did tests on the mineral levels and ‘quality’ of the water then I would think that bottled water would rank better than it. $2.00 worth of better though? I doubt it!
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I think it also depends on the region of the States you live in. Where I live there is a lot of chlorine and lead in our drinking water, but when I lived in New England I had a well that always gave us clean water. Bottled water is also good for toting around, because those nalgene bottles are so big and bulky. I agree with the $2/bottle thing though, I never pay that much. The water I buy comes in a 24 pack for $2.99.
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Safe? if you consider chlorine and fluoride safe then i guess…..
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I agree with he post - bottled water tastes awful!
Sure, it is healthier, point taken - but I will never choose bottled water over tap water with regards to taste and I think this is the reason why bottled water became favoured.
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I agree that tap water doesn’t taste as good but you can always use the add to water mixes, but then again that’s just more money down the drain!
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Tap Water? I’d rather invest $1 in the water store to fill up 5 gallons! :]
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My concern with bottled water is all of the waste that the bottles create.
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I’ve never liked bottle water. I’ve always thought that it tastes bad. And don’t forget the price. People are complaining about gas being so expensive, have you ever priced water in the small bottles….
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I never understood it either. Why buy something you can get from the tap.
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I just really do not understand who the hell it retails for $1.00 + a bottle!!!
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I’m with you on this water hogwash.
You know that water called Smart Water–I think it’s ironic they call it Smart water. Well, maybe not. The people selling it for two bucks a bottle are smart. The people paying the two bucks are idiots.
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I think bottled water is a scam, for sure. I doubt if it’s any better for you. The filtered water at my job is absolutely HORRIBLE!. I mean, it’s almost like you dipped it from the toilet. Where bottled water is an advantage is when you’re out and about or at some function, park, etc where water isn’t available. Other than that, gulp the tap!
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There is nothing wrong with bottled water if you ask me! Actually I like it more than the water from my sink
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Yup, I’m part of the “botted water tastes like crap” crowd too. I like filtered water though.
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I agree — bottled water is overpriced. We need to make healthy, good-tasting water affordable for everyone.
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I would rather have bottled water. Water does taste like crap if you don’t exercise. When I don’t work out, I would rather have a gatorade or soda pop. But when you workout, water is more manageable to drink. When you consider the overall health benefits, water is better than drinking a soda pop. It some areas, water has a lot of chlorine in the tap water.
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Well, I live in the suburbs of Cincinnati, and I can tell you that I buy bottled water because the tap water is just a notch or two above disgusting. And I like being able to just grab a bottle and go as I head out for the day. I know it might seem wasteful but I do recycle the bottles. Just my two cents!
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Yup. It’s official. Bottle water tastes BAD. And did you hear about aquafina? It’s not even real “purified” water. There was some court case and now it says on the Aquafina bottles that they’re from the municipality of Quebec, or something embarrassingly revealing like that. Anyways, I think the amount of plastic that goes into bottles is the worst though. What a colossal waste of resources. If only people would learn to recycle -_-.
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I agree that tap water doesn’t taste as good but you can always use the add to water mixes, but then again that’s just more money down the drain!
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I think that bottled water tastes funny because it is stored in PLASTIC bottles… of course, another reason it doesn’t taste good to you is perhaps your addicted to poison!
I agree paying for water is stupid unless you happen to be in an area with known water issues…. and paying $2 a bottle is incrediblely dumb !
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Just read several studies that seem to indicate that most times, your tap water (if you live in the US) is better for you than the bottled stuff. Go figure
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Where we live in Scotland, there are many choices for water. You wouldn’t dare drink what comes out of the Loch for fear of sewage contamination. It rains nearly every day of the year, so you would imagine it would be put to good use, but isn’t.
We do make use of water flowing off Ben Nevis. After it flows through the peat, it is filtered and used in making a lovely whisky.
Otherwise, tap water is the preferred H2O selection.
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I’m with you on that one. I think we’ve grown accustomed to the chlorinated taste of tap water. It just doesn’t taste the same.
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Bottled water is a genius idea. Put it in a designer bottle and you can suck the money out of consumer.
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LOL i guess you’re right (above comment). Dumb consumer that is.
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I totally agree. Why pay for water when you can get it for free straight out of the tap? Someone made a wonderful marketing ploy there. They are probably the person who finally managed a way to ’sell ice to the eskimos’
I guess I am a bit biased here though. I live in Whistler, BC, Canada, and we have very clean water here.
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Bottle water is healthy but its too much expensive. I don’t think tap water is a good idea.
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I was just thinking about this the other day as well. Why is it that everyone will scream when gas costs over $3.00 a gallon, yet nobody questions why milk is $3.29 a gallon and WATER is over $1.00 a gallon. Makes you wonder.
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Wasn’t it not too long ago that Aquafina got outed for using tap water as their bottled water product? I refuse to pay for bottled water!
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I normally drink water filtered from the tap. However I buy my wife evian water because she is pregnant.
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Bottled water is hip to some people. I’ve seen many of the couples I work with give out customized bottles of water with their picture and wedding dates on them as wedding favors.
Pretty lame if you ask me. There’s nothing romantic about bottled water.
To some people, it’s just too trendy though.
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I’m not sure where when water became a status symbol, nor when drinking tap-water in our own bottles became cool again… but I’m sure enjoying watching the herd run back and forth.
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Bottled water can be good, I buy it now and again, but to be honest in general I just “don’t get it” either.
That said, tap water quality varies wildly, and most places in the UK you’re fed flouride in the tap water, like it or not.
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I personally don’t see the purpose myself. I’ve never really gotten into the whole bottled water thing. Occasionally I have bought a bottle or two because it was a hot day and I didn’t want to die from dehydration.
Usually the only bottled drink I need is a nice Gatorade
By the way. I added your blog to my Firefox RSS, looking forward to reading more of your posts.
- Dwayne Charrington.
http://www.dwaynecharrington.com
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Bottled water can contain some pretty nasty stuff The Kansas Department of Health and Environment tested 80 samples of bottled water from retail stores and manufacturers.All 80 of the samples had detectable levels of chlorine, fluoride and sodium. Seventy-eight of the 80 contained some nitrate (which can cause methemoglobinemia, or blue-baby syndrome, in higher doses), 12 had nitrite, 53 had chloroform, 33 contained bromodichloro-methane, 25 had arsenic and 15 tested positive for lead.
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Bottled water sucks, but it is necessary evil.
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i only drink mineral water for past two years,But now i have changed to normal tap water because they’r blending more chlorine in normal water
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Yeah I agree with you on just filling up a water bottle with tap water.
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I’ve heard about the harm that can effect your health in bottle water. If you pour hot water into it, i heard there’s a chance you might get cancer!
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The whole industry of selling water is huge.. think of the money we are charged for something that no one actually makes. Im sure if they could bottle fresh air and sell it many would start to buy it. The only real difference bottled water make for me personally is that it can taste better than some tap water, depending on the hard/soft water area you live in. Another thing that makes me laugh is the fact that this water has been running through porous rocks and volcanic mountains etc for thousands, millions of years but upon bottling they put an expiry date on it!!! haha!!! yeah yeah, I know all about the stagnation of water once the air gets to it but, something really stinks about this and its not the chlorine in either!
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All Natural SuperFruit + Tea + Vitamins. Drink in three dimensions.
Or buy Fiji water for $3.00/bottle. Seriously though, in the SW desert… drinking tap water is NOT an option!
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in some countries the quality of your tap water is much better than the bottled ones, which are quite expensive..
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You’re doing a great job with your blog; very entertaining. Regarding this post, however; I was surprised that all the focus was on water, and nothing said about Naglene. There’s been a lot of controversy about it’s safety relative to leaching. I read recently that Naglene has been banned in Canada. With young children in your home, it may be worth your time to investigate/evaluate their products.
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tap water is actually healthier than bottled water! it has lots of minerals and fluoride you don’t get in bottled water.
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there is no problem with the bottled water for me.. i dont like those water on the slice of a grip… yikes!!
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there is no problem with the bottled water for me.. i dont like those water on the slice of a grip… yikes!!
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I agree that tap water doesn’t taste as good but you can always use the add to water mixes, but then again that’s just more money down the drain!
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I would like tap water.There is no need to buy the bottled water.
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I don’t think the bottled water is pure as our imagination. Because I have bought the bottled water with poor quality for several times.
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It is reported that even the bottled water is not clean.Let alone the tab water.
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Bottled water is expencive and bad for the environment Evian spelt backwards is naive… say no more
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I agree with the post. The price of water in a plastic bottle is nuts. What drives me even more nuts is the plastic bottle which is normally put into a landfill.
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