For All You Bottled Water Fans: Labels to Spell Out Aquafina Source - Tap Water

[HOOT]

HAHA "A thousand times the price of tap water for that #####"

[JohnnyB]

Having only recently returned from a year living in a place where the tap water isn't safe to drink and you're forced to buy bottled water I cannot say how much I love being back in a country with clean, potable tap water. It is such a phenomenally nice thing to simply be able to open a faucet and have clean water drink.
I always thought bottled water was kind of silly in Canada, but after my recent experiences I think it's absolutely ludicrous that people are spending money on bottled water when we're already so fortunate to live in the country with the most abundant pure drinking water.

[Dion]

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/...-a-bottle.html

If the water we use at home cost what even cheap bottled water costs, our monthly water bills would run $9,000.

We pitch into landfills 38 billion water bottles a year—in excess of $1 billion worth of plastic.

[llama64]

Originally Posted by photon

I read that for Dasani it's filtered through a reverse osmosis proces that's 10 times better than ones used to desalinate water for drinking. I'm sure the other places do something to it as well to justify the price premium.

I'm pretty sure that Dasani (Coke) filters the water to remove all trace elements and then "Re-Mineralizes" it. What that amounts to is that Dasani is water with salt put into it. Sounds thirst quenching to me.

Dunno why people in Calgary drink bottle water like Aquafina or Dasani. Our city is revered for it's water filtration system. Our tap water is among the worlds best.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by llama64

I'm pretty sure that Dasani (Coke) filters the water to remove all trace elements and then "Re-Mineralizes" it. What that amounts to is that Dasani is water with salt put into it. Sounds thirst quenching to me.

What you say with a hint of sarcasm is actually quite true. Our bodies are not designed to handle pure water. Pure H2O would run right through you, but by adding minerals, those minerals that are disolved stick to us, and the water along with it. Not sure where the break even point is; but a small amount of salt in the water quenches your thirst more than it continues to imbalance the salt/water level in your body.

[NSFL]

Originally Posted by llama64

I'm pretty sure that Dasani (Coke) filters the water to remove all trace elements and then "Re-Mineralizes" it. What that amounts to is that Dasani is water with salt put into it. Sounds thirst quenching to me.

Dunno why people in Calgary drink bottle water like Aquafina or Dasani. Our city is revered for it's water filtration system. Our tap water is among the worlds best.

Added salts in the water mimics what's in our bodies. So it helps absorbtion. At least that's how I understood it in lecture. And drinking pure, distilled water with nothing but H2O makes wacky things happen to you. That's why there's issues with drinking distilled water from seawater. Something about losing your hair...

[Burninator]

I don't understand why people waste so much money on bottled water. Here is my bitter break down of why it's the biggest scam going.

• Cost. 1000 times more expensive than tap water.
• Environment. It's terrible on the environment, from empty bottles, to carting water all around the world (example Fiji) to here, where water is perfectly drinkable. Giant waste.
• Taste. Most of the taste associated with bottled vs. tap water is purely mental.
• Cleanliness. Very debatable topic, but there is more people in Canada making sure your water is clean than people monitoring bottled water.

In Canada, local water supplies are inspected every day, whereas bottled-water plants are inspected at three-year intervals.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/co...led-water.html

I rarely buy bottled water. Most of the time, including at work, I'll bring a water bottle with me and I'll refill it with tap or filtered water. We have a water cooler at our office that is hooked up directly to the tap supply. Not sure if it filters or not, but it definitely keeps it cold.

Also for the people who buy bottled water and reuse the bottles, I recall studies being done that pointed out that the bottles leached chemicals into the water. It wasn't recommended that you reuse them too many times. Unfortunately I can't find the article. But it might be something to keep in mind.

[bigtmac19]

Fiji water is great tasting.

Be careful about re-using your water bottles too many times. I have read that they leach chemicals from the plastic into your water, if they are re-used a lot. Don't know why. It is worse also, if you leave them in a hot car.

[Dion]

Filling up a jug of tap water and putting it in the fridge to cool off works for me.

The local gym here uses those large bottled water on stands. Always the argument from the bottle water folks that it tastes better. One day last week the owner of the place hear's a similar argument going on and tells the people he takes the empty jug in the backroom and fills it with tap water. The look on the pro bottled water person was priceless

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Burninator

Also for the people who buy bottled water and reuse the bottles, I recall studies being done that pointed out that the bottles leached chemicals into the water. It wasn't recommended that you reuse them too many times. Unfortunately I can't find the article. But it might be something to keep in mind.

Originally Posted by bigtmac19

Be careful about re-using your water bottles too many times. I have read that they leach chemicals from the plastic into your water, if they are re-used a lot. Don't know why. It is worse also, if you leave them in a hot car.

Snopes says that is false:
http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/petbottles.asp

For hygene reasons though, I usually only re-use a bottle a handful of times.

[The Yen Man]

Hmm, well honestly, the bottled water companies have to get the water from somewhere right? And shouldn't tap water be a relatively cleaner source than say just getting it from the river? I'm sure they do some kind of filtering to clean it up before bottling it up. Well, I guess like most, I just assume they do.

But honestly, I only buy it because it's convenient. Not everyone carries a water jug wherever they go. And I reuse the same plastic bottle for the gym for like a week or so before changing it.

[Winsor_Pilates]

what about Evian? That stuff has got to be more then tap water. It's so good!

[Burninator]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Snopes says that is false:
http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/petbottles.asp

For hygene reasons though, I usually only re-use a bottle a handful of times.

I don't know about that. Plus one of the snopes sources is the international bottled water association, possibly a little bias.

http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/200...tle-study.html

http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/press/n...601antime.html

http://www.polarisinstitute.org/irel..._bottled_water

It does seem as though the bottles may leach chemicals, but it doesn't go over the safe limit.

[skins]

I avoid buying bottled water whenever possible.

the thought that I'm paying more $/L for water than for gasoline seems strange.

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

what about Evian? That stuff has got to be more then tap water. It's so good!

As Troutman always says in these threads...

Evian spelled backwards is naïve

[REDVAN]

I like Evian water too...

However, the thing about bottled water isn't that it is sooooooo tasty or better for you or anything. I use it when I want water and am not home, don't trust the water fountains, or if I am in another town.

The appeal of bottled water is convenience, as well as knowing exactly what the water will be like.

P.S. The waters that are specifically labeled from sources like springs and what not, I assume those are not just tap water? If it is then it doesn't bug me, except that some water seems to cost more than other brands.

[Burninator]

Originally Posted by REDVAN

P.S. The waters that are specifically labeled from sources like springs and what not, I assume those are not just tap water? If it is then it doesn't bug me, except that some water seems to cost more than other brands.

Well if the municipal supply is coming from a spring, then technically they are correct. Lots of bottled water gives the allusion that it comes from something natural or fresh. Either by it's name or a picture on the front. But that doesn't mean that is does.

[Dion]

Some food for thought.......

http://www.emagazine.com/view/?1125

A 2001 World Wildlife Fund (WWF) study confirmed the widespread belief that consumers associate bottled water with social status and healthy living. Their perceptions trump their objectivity, because even some people who claim to have switched to bottled water “for the taste” can’t tell the difference: When Good Morning America conducted a taste test of its studio audience, New York City tap water was chosen as the heavy favorite over the oxygenated water 02, Poland Spring and Evian. Many of the “facts” that bottled water drinkers swear by are erroneous. Rachele Kuzma, a Rutgers student, says she drinks bottled water at school because “it’s healthier” and “doesn’t have fluoride,” although much of it does have fluoride.

Idaho’s Pure Health Solutions, a water purification company, also conducted its own study that concluded certain bacteria grow significantly in bottled water over a 12-day period. Bacteria will normally grow in tap water within a few days if it is kept bottled up at room temperature. Most municipal water managers leave a residual amount of chlorine in tap water after treatment specifically to inhibit the growth of bacteria as the water runs through pipes and sits in tanks

So why do so many of us trust and prefer bottled water to the liquid that is already piped directly into our homes? For the price of one bottle of Evian, a person can use 1,000 gallons of tap water in the home. Americans spend around $10,700 on bottled water every minute, reports Co-op America, and many consumers think nothing of paying three times as much per gallon of bottled H2O as they do for gasoline

[bigtmac19]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Snopes says that is false:
http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/petbottles.asp

For hygene reasons though, I usually only re-use a bottle a handful of times.

thanks, good to know

[Dion]

Nestlé’s Perrier built a $100 million bottling plant in Michigan, but residents worry that it will take an unreasonable toll on regional ground and surface water.