Water - how do you do it?

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by Reaper

Cost and space. That's why people don't all buy water coolers. Plus, water delivery is a major pain in the arse if you live in a condo or apartment. That's why I switched from a water cooler to installing my own water filtration system with a seperate tap.

Water coolers are extremely cheap these days and don't take up much space. They also have boiling features. Best thing is to get one with a boiler that provides instant scaling water for coffee, tea, hot chocolate, soup, anything.

As for the bottles for coolers, you don't need to get them delivered. All the major grocery stores all stock them for very low cost. Safeway has them for $4.99 each. For the price of maybe 4 or less little bottles of Dasani you can get 5 gallons worth easily.

Yes, I'd agree that it would be hassle to lug them around if you lived in a condo without an elevator though.

[Mango]

Last night, I had my first can of pop in about a week. I've been able to drink a bottle a day so far (500 mL though). As some of you have mention, don't think about it. Just drink it. I definitely have noticed that water quenches your thirst quickly, much like Powerade/Gatorade does. It's nice to knowing the sugar factor isn't an issue. I'm trying to leave any pop drinking I do to the weekend and throughout the week, continue with drinking water.

Thanks to everyone for their replies. I got a lot more out of this thread than I expected .

[jam26]

Just don't drink *too* much water!
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/01/13/wat....ap/index.html

[Stillman16]

Originally Posted by Reaper

Cost and space. That's why people don't all buy water coolers. Plus, water delivery is a major pain in the arse if you live in a condo or apartment. That's why I switched from a water cooler to installing my own water filtration system with a seperate tap.

Those systems are a waste of money if you live in Calgary (and Area--city water plant feeds Airdrie and some other outlying communities). There is nothing left in the water at your tap to filter. The water plant treats the water to below 0.1 NTU (often half that), and often, the water from the river is below 2 NTU.

I work in the city water plants, and do some of the tests that are relevant for this thread.

Fluoride for instance, is TOPPED up to 0.7 mg/L (natural fluoride in the water is about 0.3-0.4 mg/L) hardly worth it, but until the public votes it out.....

Chlorine leaves the plant at about 1.2-1.0 mg/L, but if you live any distance from the plant, you likey see as little as 0.6 mg/L, as chlorine will escape the water to try to acheive "equilibrium" with the air and "disinfect" the pipes as it travels the network of mains and reserviors, and since it will likely never reach equilibrium, the gas will eventually all escape (hint: don't like chlorine, put jug of water in fridge).

Chlorine is used simply because it kills all the harmfull elements in the water, AND provides a measurable reisdual---alllowing us to ensure the water is safe to drink. The city has studied ways to disinfect the water that will allow us to use less chlorine (UV), and will likely implement during the current upgrades.

Bottled water is often just bottle tap water, altough some have an extra step (ie. softening or reverse osmosis). Bottled water also has less stringent regulations on it, and thus can be less safe.

I really don't care what water you drink, but I thought I might try to give some facts that might ease your minds. Afterall, the city has a monopoly on the running water, and if you'd rather pay $1-2 per litre, than the miniscule charge the city has for water (less than $1/day for most households), go ahead.

Go H2O!!!!!

[Flames_Gimp]

I highly reccomend buying one of these systems from this ebay seller. cant beat 100$ for a 5 stage reverse osmosis system. I have one myself. easy to install....

[Stillman16]

reverse osmosis is fine if you have a lab and need Ion free water, but humans need minerals and water has them naturally occuring, and some bottled waters even advertise added minerals!

[evman150]

Originally Posted by photon

Well of course, water isn't destroyed when you drink it, just recycled... So even the bottled water you drink has probably gone through thousands or tens of thousands of different life forms.. and was probably part of a comet at one point.. the oxygen in it was probably formed in a star somewhere...

"We who embody the local eyes and ears and thoughts and feelings of the cosmos, we've begun, at last, to wonder about our origins, starstuff contemplating the stars, organized assemblages of ten billion billion billion atoms contemplating the evolution of atoms, tracing that long path by which it arrived that consciousness here on the planet earth and perhaps throughout the cosmos. Our loyalties are to the species and the planet. We speak for earth. Our obligation to survive and flourish is owed not just to ourselves, but also to that cosmos, ancient and vast, from which we spring."

[Mr. Mojave]

Im getting so thirsty reading this! I love water

[FlamesAddiction]

Just don't drink too much water.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6261509.stm

[Flames_Gimp]

Originally Posted by Stillman16

reverse osmosis is fine if you have a lab and need Ion free water,

So bottled water is sold for lab use? im not talking about running the water through a UV sterilizer or anything.

[flmsfan2004]

If you don't like drinking water cause you find it boring, why not start with drinking tea? Of if you perfer, let the water cool, add some ice and lemons= ice tea. Also, Green Tea is supposed to be really good for you.

[boobaloo]

Brita. The jugs and the filters are all a good deal at Costco. Just bought some filters today....$18.50/5 of them. One lasts a couple of months, and I have fresh, filtered water in my fridge. Cold, too.

[Stillman16]

Originally Posted by Flames_Gimp

So bottled water is sold for lab use? im not talking about running the water through a UV sterilizer or anything.

That's not what I said, I said reverse osmosis is good for labs, but overkill for drinking water.

Most bottled water is not reverse osmois, it likely sees ion exchange (softening), to remove heavy metals (calcium, magnisium and iron), none of which will harm you, and only really iron that adds a "taste" issue.

[Stillman16]

Originally Posted by boobaloo

Brita. The jugs and the filters are all a good deal at Costco. Just bought some filters today....$18.50/5 of them. One lasts a couple of months, and I have fresh, filtered water in my fridge. Cold, too.

As for Britas, they are pretty much useless too, they can't filter anymore out of water that has been through much larger Britas (at the city water plant), but they are good to keep in the fridge for cold water!

If it gives you peace of mind, it's a lot cheaper than a built in filtration system.

[LGA]

I know I've been inhaling water as of late simply because I'm a poor student and can't afford much else...Well that and between my housemates and I we make 4L of milk disappear within hours of it getting bought.

So we're going cheap, drinking water, and once you get going it just becomes natural.

[Inferno]

Originally Posted by flmsfan2004

Green Tea is supposed to be really good for you.

It's suppose to be but I find it gross. My parents love it though. I just stick to regular iced tea.

[Flash Walken]

I used to drink gallons of milk when I was younger, I used to love it.

I also used to poop once every two or three days.

I didn't put those two together until i went vegan and realized how different my intestinal track behaved without the presense of dairy.

A vegan diet is an effective way of enforcing the amount of water you drink daily. Without dairy or refined sugar, my drink selection is narrowed considerably, though my health and frame of mind have improved dramatically. It's an easy trade-off to make..

[MagicallyAdept]

i prefer tap water to bottled water. The water here is very hard and can ruin your kettle in about 6-8 months yet hardly anyone uses a filter/softener. I prefer the water in winter as when i wake up i can fill a pint glass of ice cold water first thing and neck that. That wakes me up perfectly, don't need coffee like most people. I also gargle and drink sea water when i am in the ocean but thats just because i am weird. Sea water makes you so thirsty due to the high salt content.

[skins]

Originally Posted by Flames_Gimp

So bottled water is sold for lab use? im not talking about running the water through a UV sterilizer or anything.

I think what he's getting at is that distilled water (water with absolutely no ions, minerals, etc.), which is 100% pure H2O, is actually bad for you. your body has to then balance the de-ionized water with the naturally occur ions in the body.

also, the only thing UV does to water is kills (some) bacteria.

[fanforever1986]

who would have thought a post about water could stay at the top of the thread list for over a week?