Is bottled water better than tap water?

Quicksilver · #1 04-01-2007, 08:26 AM

I guess it depends on who you ask, where you live, and where the bottled water comes from. But here's a question. What would you say the price of water is per gallon.

Twice as expensive as gasoline, 3 times the price of milk, and 10,000 times more expensive than tap water. Is it worth it?
Do we buy it NO. NEVER. Truth be told though we do use a reverse osmosis filter for our drinking water.

http://www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/nbw.asp

Ironically, public concern about tap water quality is at least partly responsible for the growth in bottled water sales, which have tripled in the past 10 years. This bonanza is also fueled by marketing designed to convince the public of bottled water's purity and safety, marketing so successful that people spend from 240 to over 10,000 times more per gallon for bottled water than they typically do for tap water.

In fact, about one-fourth of bottled water is actually bottled tap water, according to government and industry estimates (some estimates go as high as 40 percent). And FDA rules allow bottlers to call their product "spring water" even though it may be brought to the surface using a pumped well, and it may be treated with chemicals. But the actual source of water is not always made clear -- some bottled water marketing is misleading, implying the water comes from pristine sources when it does not. In 1995, the FDA issued labeling rules to prevent misleading claims, but while the rules do prohibit some of the most deceptive labeling practices, they have not eliminated the problem.

Thunder22 · #2 04-01-2007, 09:41 AM

I always love it when I see people get bottled water and then pour it over ice cubes, you know ice cubes made with non-filtered tap water.

Ishniknork · #3 04-02-2007, 01:13 AM

I'd say a little less than twice the price as gas (at least for the moment as gas prices are rising again). I get 6 one liter bottles (1.58 Gal.) of Evian for a little over 7 bucks with tax.

Personally I can't stand the taste of most tap water. I buy Evian for drinking water for me and my cat. GG, my cat, is 17 years old and has renal problems so I figured better water with no flouride, chlorine or other chemicals in it would be better for her. She loves it BTW, if I run out and give her tap water she looks at me like "WTF?"

About 10 years ago I read an article about bottled water while waiting in a doctors office. In the article 7 out of 10 tested were nothing more than re-filtered tap water. Some, like Ozarka, were just plain bottled tap water. Evian was found to be pure natural spring water and of all the ones I've tried it tastes the best.

5Xwen · #4 04-02-2007, 01:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ishniknork

Personally I can't stand the taste of most tap water. I buy Evian for drinking water for me and my cat. GG, my cat, is 17 years old and has renal problems so I figured better water with no flouride, chlorine or other chemicals in it would be better for her. She loves it BTW, if I run out and give her tap water she looks at me like "WTF?"

.

Your cat call tell the difference between tap water and Evian?

Either you cat is Duchess from the Aristocats or your town's water supply is drawn from 3 Mile Island.

Ishniknork · #5 04-02-2007, 09:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 5Xwen

Your cat call tell the difference between tap water and Evian?

Either you cat is Duchess from the Aristocats or your town's water supply is drawn from 3 Mile Island.

Damn right she can! Do you know very much about animals? Dogs and cats can smell the chlorine and flouride in the water that we never even notice. I spoiled her when I started giving her Evian but I don't blame her one bit! She ain't stupid... once she got a taste of the good stuff there was no giong back

. Plus the lack of all those chemicals in the water help with her kidneys. That's why I started giving it to her.

Though not drawn from 3 Mile Island, the tap water here is very hard and has a funny taste to it. I don't mind brushing my teeth or washing the clothes with it but I'd rather drink something else. I don't care what anyone says about Evian (or the backwards spelling of the name). I can tell if the water is just purified tap crap or real spring water after just one sip. The difference is night and day.

Rev Z-Man · #6 04-02-2007, 10:55 PM

I actually drink Poland Spring when I can and since we have well water at home that runs everything orange -- including my insides I'm sure -- we have a PUR filter on the drinking faucet. We've had 2 filters in the unit and the window is already getting an iron haze to it.

Quicksilver · #7 04-02-2007, 10:44 AM

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.

motordavid · #8 04-02-2007, 10:50 AM

RO water is good stuff for offset printing and some chemical
reactions...not my fave for drinking, as most of the "taste"
stuff is gone.

The best home water we've had in decades was from our
400 ft deep well back in NY. Our NC Mtn water is ok; the stuff
from the tap here in SW FL tastes like it ran through the
Dow Chemical plant.

All in all, I prefer most tap water, as it doesn't have the
plastic blt taste. What a racket: $5 for a 10 oz blt of
water at many events. Who'da thunk?

By the bye, for the eco fans, the "carbon footprint" on a
blt of water is pretty big: blt mfg'ng, transport, distribution,
etc.
BR,mD

Rev Z-Man · #9 04-02-2007, 10:55 AM

Oh yeah! Evian isn't NAIVE spelled backwards for nuttin! Many tests have shown that NYC tap water tastes better and IS better than most major brands. Plus the labels can be confusing. Spring water HAS to be from a spring but bottled "non-spring" water can be from the tap -- such as Dasani and Aquafina. Both are just the "purified" tap water that Coke and Pepsi use to make their drinks ... so, technically, even those would be different between regions.

motordavid · #10 04-02-2007, 12:11 PM

My fave story is the "Perrier Craze" in the late '80s on...
they finally admitted they were injecting CO2 into the
stuff to give it its spritz. It's "source" was not exactly
sacred/pristine or some geologically unique site, either.

This blt water stuff is simply a decent gross margin prod
for the bottlers, and a convenient way to carry it around.

Agree on the NYC water: it all comes from the upstate
reservoirs in areas that are quite unpopulated and have
some outstanding haulazz fast 2 lane blacktop M'cycle
roads, too; I've ridden all of them many times!