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[–][deleted] 698 points699 points  (453 children)

Way ahead of you... if not for environmental reasons, for the fact that bottled water is one of the biggest scams in the history of business.

[–]danscannnn 28 points29 points  (1 child)

I completely agree. Although unfortunately I'm in China where the tap water will fuck you up

[–]thebedthateats 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Same. I feel like I am championing death every time I brush my teeth with tap water.

[–]HeteroSapien 126 points127 points  (17 children)

Evian spelled backwards is "naive".

[–]jimtk 25 points26 points  (6 children)

Evidently... it was said years ago in that unforgettable movie

[–]asunretaueae 5 points6 points  (4 children)

For the record, it's not done on purpose. Evian is the name of the city in the French Alps were the water comes from.

[–]AndrewCarnage 117 points118 points  (175 children)

I never drank bottled water for that reason. I could never justify the cost despite the fact that I could afford it... it's water for God's sake. I live in the Portland area though so I guess I'm fairly confident in our rather pristine Bull Run watershed.

[–]trolloc1 126 points127 points  (103 children)

I find I buy bottled water more often for the bottle than the water itself ie. badminton, hockey or soccer tournaments when I have forgotten my bottle.

[–][deleted] 72 points73 points  (90 children)

Same, I reuse the bottle and refill it with gasp tap water!

[–]wonger 60 points61 points  (79 children)

it's actually not good to reuse plastic bottles due to the decomposition of the plastic. you should just buy a nalgene bottle or something and reuse that.

[–]kukkuzejt 24 points25 points  (31 children)

Citation please. That sounds like something the bottling companies would say.

[–][deleted] 39 points40 points  (17 children)

Here's some

BPA is a key component of hard and clear polycarbonate plastics, such as a number of water bottles and baby bottles, though there are many BPA-free varieties of those now.

You only find BPA free bottles in the form that wonger mentioned i.e. long use nalgene type bottles. These bottles, however, are not guarenteed BPA free (Nalgenes weren't for a long time). Because of this, anyone making BPA free bottles usually promotes them as such (since they clearly know they're doing it and it's a selling point).

And why would bottling companies say that in the first place. Wonger's comment is saying 'bottles used by bottling companies leech chemicals over time, so don't buy them and reuse them; buy a permanent bottle that's BPA free'. That doesn't help the bottling industry sell more; just the opposite actually.

[–]nixonrichard 45 points46 points  (8 children)

Actually, you'll only find BPA in the nalgene type bottles. BPA is a reactant in resin-type moldings.

Blow-molded structures like disposable bottles, milk jugs, etc. are nearly always HDPE or PETE (which are perfectly safe). Thicker softer opaque plastic blow-molded objects (like squeeze bottles and some gas canisters) are sometimes LDPE (which is also perfectly safe).

Plastic consumer items containing BPA are typically clear, smooth, and rock-hard. Typically these plastics are used when a hygienic, shatter-proof, and rigid structure is needed (baby bottles, nalgene bottles, food storage, etc.)

[–][deleted] 3 points4 points  (3 children)

Old nalgene bottles, the new ones are bpa free.

[–]CitizenPremier 3 points4 points  (1 child)

Citation please. That sounds like something the bottling companies would say.

Hardly. I doubt they want you to know that you shouldn't drink bottle water that's been sitting in a hot car. People would start to realize filtration is a much better idea.

[–][deleted] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Hey man, back off, BACK OFF! I drink ALL of my water from bottles sitting in hot cars!

[–]obviouslynotworking 18 points19 points  (4 children)

Although having access to bottled water is nice when construction messes up a water main (not a regular occurrence). I usually just get a jug and refill it with my tap water when I finish it off.

Besides, we have tasty beer! Who even needs water!

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (1 child)

Good call.

"Half a billion bottles every week...that is more than enough to circle the globe five times" - THAT did it for me. I'm in, guys. I live in Arizona and the tap H2O is notoriously disgusting (stinky, white and crunchy) but I can pick up a filter.

[–]diamond9 10 points11 points  (7 children)

My tap water is not that good, so I have to buy my water.

I always ask myself why aren't they using paper instead of plastic, just like the cardboard milk cartons.

I guess trees will have something to say about that.

Edit: tried using a filter twice. Each time the filter was useful for about 2 weeks before turning black.

[–]knobtwiddler 15 points16 points  (1 child)

get a good RO filter and use stainless bottles

[–]multivoxmuse 10 points11 points  (0 children)

2nd this. put tap water in filter.
put filter in fridge.
drink cold filtered water ...
profit???

[–]pteridophyta 15 points16 points  (1 child)

Or you can invest in a 5 gallon jug, about 3 dollars, and buy filtered water at the grocery store for about 25c a gallon. That way you are only paying for the water and not all the waste.

[–]zylo47 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I got the aquasana filter that hooks up to the end of the faucet. It's great, and tasty

[–]ClogGear 12 points13 points  (27 children)

Similarly I live near Hamilton, OH which as of 2010 has the World's Best Tasting water. I really have no reason to justify buying or drinking bottled water anymore or ever.

[–]freehunter 14 points15 points  (3 children)

I think best tasting water is a matter of what water you grew up drinking. As long as the water was even half good, everyone swears their hometown water is the best tasting water. If I had to guess, I'd say Hamilton just got lucky that all of the judges grew up drinking similar water at home.

I live in the City of Grand Rapids, which is notorious for letting raw sewage overflow into the Grand River (where they get their water from), and I think it's some damn fine water, even though I know I should be disgusted by it.

[–]Kni7esMaryland 62 points63 points  (47 children)

What, you don't think it's convenient to pay about 3000% more for a product that you could get out of any given tap in your house, school, or office? Psssh.

[–]TheLateThagSimmonsWashington 34 points35 points  (74 children)

I used to be big on bottled water, but that was just after I had quit drinking soda because it was a scam.

Later I realized that my favorite waters (Dasani and Aquafina) used the same filtering process as my R.O. at home and tried to quit.

I didn't fully stop buying bottled water until I saw this video a few months ago, and haven't bought one since.

[–][deleted] 13 points14 points  (39 children)

For sure. We have free water at work and I see people buying bottles. I don't understand it at all. I will drink about 3L while at work. I can't imagine paying bottled water prices for that everyday.

[–][deleted] 9 points10 points  (2 children)

Plus it has that chemical-ly platic-y taste, especially at room temperature. Ick!

[–]krattr 2 points3 points  (0 children)

What? You're killing free enterprise with your socialist agenda.

[–]Sushubh 22 points23 points  (5 children)

not here in india.

tap water in india is a sham.

the government cannot provide safe drinking water to villages.

and they fail to do so even in metro cities.

if you do not have a water purifier at home, you are in trouble.

and on the road, the only safe bet you have is a branded bottled water.

the problem is so bad that even the government runs a bottled water company named RailNeer.

[–]dchestnykh 4 points5 points  (2 children)

the government runs a bottled water company named RailNeer

Ah, this explains each point above.

[–]Spunge14 57 points58 points  (52 children)

Already trying. Buy a Brita filter and a SIGG, it makes it easier somehow. (The investment maybe?)

[–]gnuvince 31 points32 points  (35 children)

I have a Brita and a Nalgene bottle. Makes it easy to drink copious amounts of water and not spend a cent on overpriced bottled water.

[–][deleted] 23 points24 points  (7 children)

I just use tap water and two Nalgene bottles. I have to agree. I drink at least an entire Nalgene full of water in the morning between getting up and going to work, and one throughout the evening. I hardly ever drink soda, since I always have an ice cold Nalgene for me sitting in the fridge. I have two, so that if I leave one out, or take it to work or whatever, I always have at least one cold one in the fridge.

Feels good man. It's a healthy and thrifty habit to be a water drinker.

[–]radiojosh 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I think I was spending almost $90 a month on liter bottles of Aquafina and decided I was being ridiculous. Bought two Nalgene bottles and a Brita pitcher and I love it.

[–]oldpplfreakmeoutFlorida 4 points5 points  (11 children)

I have never heard of Nalgene bottles until I read this topic. What's so special about them?

[–]gnuvince 16 points17 points  (6 children)

They're solid enough to be used to club a grizzly bear to death. And once he's down, you can drink delicious water.

[–][deleted] 4 points5 points  (4 children)

This is true. it took us a couple days and multiple attempts by several different people to destroy a single nalgene bottle.

[–]metametMinnesota 11 points12 points  (10 children)

I have a 27oz Klean Kanteen Stainless Steel bottle with a wide neck. It was a good birthday present from my girlfriend. :) And I really prefer drinking from stainless steel over the Nalgene plastic.

[–]adamsw216Pennsylvania 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I JUST did this. Best decision ever. All the portability of disposable plastic bottles and much less pollution.

[–][deleted] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I use a Pur tap filter and a off brand Thermos. Works great.

[–]killswithspoon 195 points196 points  (32 children)

Choir status: Preached to.

[–][deleted] 50 points51 points  (29 children)

Thats what I was thinking. Also, as an immigrant from Digg I find it interesting how much circle-jerking goes on here at Reddit. I found the same kind of thing at Digg but always assumed Reddit was on a higher intellectual level. Undoubtedly Reddit contains more sophisticated conversations than Digg, but why is it that there is not more debating going on? It's like it is just assumed everyone is going to have a liberal attitude towards everything and no conservative thinking is allowed. I understand where a lot of this comes from and everything, but come on guys lets pull up our sleeves and look at things with a critical eye. I found many problems with this video. Little things, but for instance she states in the beginning how Fiji used anti-Cleveland billboards to advertise their bottled water and how this did not work because Clevelanders did not appreciate being the butt of jokes. However, a couple scenes later she uses this same example to back how bottled water companies "manufacture demand." If this didn't work in Cleveland, or anywhere else for that matter, how is it a supposed successful tactic these companies use to manufacture demand? Little things like this turned me off, and I was sad to see less critical thinking when I came here.

I love all my new fellow redditors and it is not my intention to insult anyone here. But lets debate damn it!!!

[–]laofmoonster 23 points24 points  (1 child)

If you haven't customized your front page subscriptions, do that ASAP. The smaller the subreddit, generally the better the discussion quality.

[–]faultyproboscus 31 points32 points  (2 children)

You can start the debate by listing your points about the video, instead of taking a jab at the people of this site. Now the comments replying to yours will deal with your jab at reddit comment quality instead of what you wanted to say about the video (like this one).

Protip: don't berate the people you want to have a reasoned discussion with.

As to the video, I actually agree with you. It has several disconnects that should be fixed before it's used in any wide-spread PSA. If you'd like to start the discussion by listing any others you noticed, we can compile a list and send it to the makers of this anti-bottled-water propaganda.

[–][deleted] 76 points77 points  (44 children)

Find me a water filter that can remove arsenic from well water and I gladly will.

[–][deleted] 108 points109 points  (18 children)

Technically speaking, the human body acts as an excellent filter for that.

[–][deleted] 137 points138 points  (15 children)

Yeah too bad death is a byproduct of that filtration process.

[–][deleted] 75 points76 points  (2 children)

Use someone else's body.

[–]titbarf 38 points39 points  (1 child)

Wouldn't you get to drink their urine for that to work?

I mean, uhh, have to?

[–][deleted] 5 points6 points  (1 child)

Fantastic news. I shall be the human filter industry pioneer.

[–]metametMinnesota 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I failed at making up a joke that had to do with the Nazis so I just wanted to say hi.

[–][deleted] 29 points30 points  (3 children)

Or how about those people whose tap water is on fire?

[–]pred[🍰] 17 points18 points  (2 children)

[–]jicamon 15 points16 points  (1 child)

Man, those whiners. Most people have to pay for that stuff.

[–]TangLikeAnAstronaut 9 points10 points  (4 children)

This one? Also, many grocery stores have an affordable water filling station where you can fill reusable gallon (or other size) containers.

[–]SnacksOnAPlane 4 points5 points  (3 children)

You have arsenic in your water?

[–][deleted] 78 points79 points  (150 children)

I absolutely hate bottled water, both as an environmentalist and the fact that it's a waste of money for most people living in the developed world. I went nuts living in Beijing because bottled water is literally the only option you have, and even then you're probably getting something far less than clean.

Also, while we're on the topic of water waste and shams, can we go back to using bar soap please(or Dr. Bronner's style liquid soaps) instead of buying "body wash" that's literally our bar soap with water added at twice the price?

edit: Took some comments into consideration, rethought my own choice of words, and tried to rephrase things.

[–][deleted] 14 points15 points  (6 children)

I live in Beijing now, and having to buy bottled water isn't so bad, mainly because it costs RMB1.5 (USD$0.22) to buy one from a store.

You're spot-on, the majority of people buy bottled water for convenience and safety (where tap water is non-potable)

[–]whiteskwirl2 21 points22 points  (3 children)

I live in Taiwan, and we just put tap water in a kettle and boil it, then let it cool and store it in whatever container you like. Do that every morning and you always have water.

[–][deleted] 23 points24 points  (2 children)

Boiling doesn't remove heavy metals like lead or mercury, also doesn't remove fossil fuel products like butane, etc.

[–]StinkyRej 14 points15 points  (0 children)

also doesn't remove fossil fuel products like butane

I'm pretty sure butane is a gas at room temperature, so boiling will definitely get rid of it. You must mean some other petroleum product.

[–]dkdl 37 points38 points  (10 children)

Wow, I thought I was the only one who thought body wash was a scam. Instead of good ol' bar soap, they use cheap synthetic detergents (sodium laureth sulfate) and charge us twice the price.

[–]soulcakeduck 5 points6 points  (3 children)

I've had the same bottle of body wash for about 3 years. I'll use it if I am showering directly before some notable event like a first date, especially if I think people are going to be close to me. It smells a bit nicer than the cheap soap I buy.

As a daily washing routine though, absolutely not.

[–]voteformein2016 15 points16 points  (20 children)

I use Dr. Bronners soap for body wash and shampoo. People look at me like I'm gross and I look back at them because they are the ones using artificial fragrance and lathers that dries the skin and hair. Talk about a scam.

[–][deleted] 12 points13 points  (6 children)

I tried to use Dr. Bronner's, but my private parts couldn't handle the peppermint.

Yay for the website though, apparently they have other types.

[–][deleted] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Yeah I had that problem too. They do an unscented one which I tend to use, and the tea tree oil is great as well.

[–]dkdl 4 points5 points  (3 children)

I don't know why they use peppermint oil so liberally in personal care products now (maybe because it's "all natural"?) It's actually a photosensitizer, meaning it makes your skin more prone to UV damage when you're outside. That's why some products containing peppermint oil will say "Caution: do not use prior to sun exposure."

Seriously, "all natural" does not mean "completely harmless".

[–][deleted] 4 points5 points  (2 children)

For glowing skin: try all-natural lava!

[–][deleted] 16 points17 points  (13 children)

I think it's a matter of convenience really, on top of that, normal bar soap dries my skin out like no tomorrow.

[–]newmodelno115 13 points14 points  (8 children)

Agreed. I dunno what it is, but bar soap always made me feel itchy. Since I switched to body wash, I've had no such troubles.

[–][deleted] 11 points12 points  (10 children)

I use Dove bar soap and Suave shampoo and conditioner. Am I "good"?

[–]zdigglerNew Hampshire 22 points23 points  (1 child)

I use what ever kind of soap or shampoo in the bathroom. I'm not incharge in that department. Sometime my hair smells like flowers but only for like 30min.

[–]anonamous 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Tell your mom you're a big boy now and need more manly stuff.

[–]321_Contact 26 points27 points  (8 children)

I'm curious -- how do you think it's a scam? Are you equating expensive with scam?

In that sense, a Toyota Camry is a scam in the sense that a Corolla will do most of the same things for less money.

Edit: JudeFawkes changed his post in several ways, so my response makes less sense. To respond to the changes: convenience is not a waste of money if someone is willing to pay for it. I may be wrong, but in my mind campaigns against bottled water are doomed if they ignore the thought that people KNOW it's expensive and wasteful, but seem to value the convenience more.

Instead, help support companies that offer a less expensive, less wasteful alternative that may also have a convenience compromise people are happier to support.

[–][deleted] 5 points6 points  (6 children)

Fair enough! Perhaps I should have used a different word. I meant "scam" in the sense that marketing has done a good job of convincing people that product X is better than Y, even if it's not the case. I'll try to think of a better way to phrase it going forward, but I think my negative attitude towards advertising leaves me thinking of it as such.

[–][deleted] 5 points6 points  (5 children)

i like body wash because it doesn't dry out my skin. i have yet to find bar soap that does the same. suggestions?

[–][deleted] 3 points4 points  (1 child)

You could go the giant water cooler bottles, 4 kuai each

[–]intermission87 23 points24 points  (11 children)

If I'm buying a "meal" at a fast food place or restaurant, and it comes with a drink, I'll gladly take the bottle of water over the coke.

Bottles of water aren't replacements for tap water while you're sitting at home. They are replacements for carbonated crap when you're out and happen to be thirsty.

Also, Britta filters are great at home. You're going to store your water in a jug in the fridge anyway, might as well have water that tastes as good as bottled water by pouring into a relatively cheap filter jug.

[–]anachronic 4 points5 points  (2 children)

If I'm buying a "meal" at a fast food place or restaurant,

Fast food restaurants are a whole additional level of environmental catastrophe... I think you're pretty much fucking the environment no matter what you buy at a McDonalds.

[–][deleted] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

The restaurant doesn't have tap water that they can poor in a glass for you? It has to be bottled water (which is tap water in most cases)?

[–][deleted] 12 points13 points  (11 children)

sometimes i buy bottled water purely because i have no water, or a bottle.

what do i do then??

[–][deleted] 33 points34 points  (11 children)

I try to avoid the reddit hivemind, but I have to agree from experience that this makes practical sense.

  1. Buy a Nalgene for $9.
  2. Retain all the benefits of bottled water.
  3. Save $10 per week.
  4. ???
  5. Actual profit.

[–]radiojosh 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I'd guess I saved roughly $15 a week or more.

[–]penguinv 3 points4 points  (1 child)

You have to really wash them well.

I buy the open mouthed bottles, ie vitamin water. And toss them after a week or so. If you keep them long even if you wash them they will get you sick. I'll bold that.

Clean your water bottles or rotate them. They will breed germs.

[–]rycar88 20 points21 points  (34 children)

done and done. Brita+Nalgene and never looked back

[–]wuddersup 20 points21 points  (31 children)

What's with everyone's obsession with Nalgene bottles?

[–]rycar88 32 points33 points  (16 children)

they're nice because they hold water

[–]kasutori_Jack 9 points10 points  (2 children)

They dont break. Ever. No matter what you do. They. Dont. Break.

Ever.

Also they look cool and attach easily to backpacker`s pack.

[–]Goraidh 12 points13 points  (0 children)

OK

[–][deleted] 13 points14 points  (11 children)

I have to drink bottled water because I work at a place where a leaking gas station poisoned the water supply and I don't want to drink soda.

Bah!

[–]JJJJShabadoo 21 points22 points  (2 children)

I'll stop drinking bottled water when my tap water stops tasting awful.

[–]Varo 44 points45 points  (56 children)

What about bottled soda? What about packaged snack cakes? Disposable coffee cups? Take out boxes and plastic deodorant dispensers? Why blame one product and not all the rest?

[–][deleted] 31 points32 points  (12 children)

This type of confusion always happens with this argument. People like to stray away from the major point. 1) Tap water in most cases is equally as good if not better than bottled water. 2) Tap water can be made equally as good or better with a cheap filter. 3) Piped water is available everywhere (snake cakes and coffee are not) by law making bottled water unnecessary and a waste of resoruce.

[–]AtarioCalifornia 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Because snack cakes and deodorant don't come out of pipes in your home for 0.05% the price?

[–][deleted] 17 points18 points  (29 children)

While it should be done, it is a bit unreasonable, at first, to tackle everything at once. Start small.

[–]blazingsaddle 3 points4 points  (2 children)

Yeah where is my Tap Coffee and Tap Rootbeer?

[–][deleted] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

This video is utter bullshit. I live in Irvine, CA, one of the richer neighbourhoods in Southern California, and the tap water tastes like licking chalk.

In comparison, Fiji water actually tastes pretty good.

Better than Fiji water is tap water from Canberra, Australia; the best water I've ever had comes from Canberra.

I buy bottled water because some varieties (not all) taste a lot better than tap water. An example of bottled water that tastes as bad as tap water would be Arrowhead.

Anyways, just my thoughts. Perhaps improve the quality of tap water and I'll stop buying bottled water? Just a thought.

[–]pokie6 7 points8 points  (3 children)

What should I drink on the airplane, smartypatns? Huh, huh?

[–][deleted] 5 points6 points  (9 children)

I personally buy one bottle of bottled water per week and reuse the bottle each day at work. It's either that or using plastic disposable cups from the water cooler (Another evil product).

I know there are risks health wise, but I'm fine right now, and now will probably invest in a reusable bottle because of this advertisement. I've even convinced two people in my time at university to stop drinking bottled water.

[–]fit4130 3 points4 points  (2 children)

I just installed a filter system in my house today.

[–]eddytsp 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Petition your city or water supply company to replace chlorination with UV+ozonation and remove fluoride.

[–]digitalcowboy 4 points5 points  (0 children)

This is fine if you live in a newer home. If you live in a 50+ year old place (Like myself) the pipes are not safe to drink out of. Before you say "Buy a filter, problem solved" filters do not clean out the harmful crap that comes from the older pipes.

Could I change the pipes? Sure I could call a plumber in and have him repipe the entire house, but that would cost probably 5-10K to have done, and that's not much of a cost savings really (Would take years to recoup those costs). Since new pipes do not increase the value of a house, it's just not worth it.

I do take the less evil route though, and have water delivery. 4 5 gallon jugs of water come every month, and every month the empties go back to be sterilized and reused.

[–]TLGJames 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Klean Kanteens rule. And you could knock someone out if you hit them with a bottle hard enough.

[–]brazilliandanny 26 points27 points  (18 children)

My girlfriend drank about 10 bottles a day, after a year of living together I finally convinced her to switch to tap water. This may seem insignificant but I think of how many bottles she would have drank in her lifetime and it brings me some satisfaction that I prevented that.

Tl:Dr; If we all convert just one person off bottled water, the world will be a better place.

[–]msiekkinen 68 points69 points  (7 children)

2 sentences constitutes a TL;DR now? Man, we're fucked, forget the plastic bottles.

[–]schmuckle 31 points32 points  (0 children)

No Kidding!

TL;DR: I agree with the above statement that two sentences is too short for a TL;DR and redditors should rethink when they use it.

[–]supremeMilo 19 points20 points  (63 children)

Someone please tell me where the tap water tastes better than bottled water (and please not Aquifina, it tastes like shit.)

[–]catmampbell 21 points22 points  (15 children)

Southern New England and New York

[–]berberineNebraska 10 points11 points  (4 children)

I agree, New York has some great tasting water. Unfortunately, my Dutch friends say it tastes like shit.

[–]origin415Washington 11 points12 points  (1 child)

Seattle is some of the best water I've tasted bottled or not. I know what you mean though, I went to college in Buffalo and that stuff is absolutely vile.

[–]Low-Far 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I wouldn't trust anything coming from Buffalo

[–]SnacksOnAPlane 11 points12 points  (1 child)

Mountain states. The glacier runoff water tastes way better than any bottled water.

[–]demizerCalifornia 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Pacifica, CA. I could not believe how clean tasting the water was. Best I ever had IMO.

[–]golga 4 points5 points  (1 child)

Colorado has the best tap water in the united states.

[–]SnacksOnAPlane 7 points8 points  (6 children)

I love my Camelbak water bottle with bite valve. Got one for the car and one for work. The bite valve means that you can actually carry the bottle by biting down on it, leaving both your hands free! And the straw thing folds down so it's completely protected by the rubber handle.

[–][deleted] 19 points20 points  (19 children)

In the US, municipal tap water is subject to much stricter regulation than bottled water.

[–]xNIBx 22 points23 points  (6 children)

You forgot to add "in theory". And you also forgot to add that those restrictions have nothing to do with how the thing tastes. Bottled water on the other hand had to taste "good"(neutral i guess), otherwise noone would buy it.

[–]AuntieSocial 7 points8 points  (5 children)

This. Unfortunately, mine is apparently regulated into undrinkability. Tastes so bad I can't even force myself to swallow it. Luckily, the Brita seems to get most of it, but damn. Forgot and absent-mindedly tossed back a mouthful straight from the sink and did a literal spit take. Gag.

[–][deleted] 13 points14 points  (6 children)

As much as I agree with getting rid of bottled water this video is just so utterly wrong about taste of tap versus bottled water. I don't drink 3 dollar fiji water because I'm not retarded so I don't know about that brand specifically but we use to have deer park bottled water all the time because out tap water was just that bad. IT DEFINETLY TASTES ALOT BETTER. I've lived in many different places and each time the tap water tasted like crap. Always has this slightly slightly chlorinated metallic taste to it. Now the solution I have found as the tap water at my house is unbearably bad that the only thing that really really works is reverse osmosis filtration. We like it so much that we had taps installed around our house and out in our green house as we have even discovered our plants grow noticebly better from the osmosis filtered water versus tap water. SEE even plants know that tap water sucks!

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It might be all the chlorine. People rarely, if ever, consider that the chlorine is never removed. I can barely rinse my fucking mouth out with the water that comes out of my tap for the overwhelming smell of chlorine in it sometimes. That shit can't be healthy to be ingesting all the time. I'm not sure if Reverse Osmosis removes Chlorine, but if it does, there's probably a lot of benefit being had there.

[–]sirberus 26 points27 points  (19 children)

Here's the real issue:

  • Bottled water is convenient

I love water, and I drink a lot of it. I even have a fancy aluminum, re-usable bottle I fill with my filtered water at home. But when I don't want to lug the bottle with me, forget it, or any other reason I don't have it with me, when I want cold, tasty water... what are my options?

Am I supposed to drive until I find a drinking fountain? Hell, half of the ones I run into don't work, or you need to almost suck on the nozzle to get a sip.

Am I supposed to go find a public hose? What are my options? Right now, my option is to walk up to a convenient box with buttons, insert what I feel my thirst is worth to me, and get a cold refreshing bottle of water.

I'm not paying 2000% more for the water, I'm paying for the service.

Maybe if there were public water stations where they had chilled, filtered water, I'd be happy to go that route. But they don't. So I buy bottled water from time to time.

  • Bottled water is filtered and, for me, tastes better.

I'm happy to admit that tastes vary, and I'll even buy that tap water beats out bottled in tastes tests. But not for me. I can always tell the difference between tap and filtered water. I'm even the first to know when our fridge's filter is about to turn yellow to be replaced.

I don't think tap water is dangerous, I understand its safer, regulated, etc. etc. But the taste isn't as good as filtered. Period.

It annoys me how so many of these anti-bottled water campaigns go the strawman route. No one I know who uses bottled water does it because they think its safer or healthier... they just do it because it is a convenient, chilled, packaged bottle of filtered water.

Here's an idea:

  • Allow citizens to purchase special reusable bottles from local governments with small RFID chips in the lid.
  • It is connected to your water bill or some other method of preventing abuse
  • The city sets up "drinking water" stations with cheap, chilled, filtered water.
  • Bring your bottle, scan the tag, fill it up.

That's the only thing I can see even starting to end the trend. And it has to be all o those, because "chilled" and "filtered" are both services that make 2000% on a .01 product worth it.

[–]VoodooD2 4 points5 points  (1 child)

Brillaint, exactly what I think everytime I hear these ridiculous ban water but not soda arguments.

[–]MasterChiefer 8 points9 points  (2 children)

You hit the nail on the head. That is why I use bottled water as well, out of pure convenience.

Also I hate when people act like you are a bad person for using bottled water. Most people do things that are much worse for our environment.

[–][deleted] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I'm for this. Idiots can pay whatever they want. It is their money to waste. Disposal of plastic bottles is my main problem with having bottled water be our primary source.

However: At one point in the video, the authors imply that manufacturing bottles uses enough oil to power some huge number of automobiles (I can't actually remember how many it said, but they lined up cartoon cars to make sure you got the point). But this represents a fundamental misunderstanding of the properties of crude and the way petroleum refining works.

A 42-gallon barrel of oil does not yield 42 gallons of gas or 42 gallons of jet fuel or 42 gallons of plastic precursors, depending on the whims of the refiner. A certain percentage of every barrel will refine to make all of those things, and the percentage that eventually ends up as plastic would be considered a byproduct and disposed of(!) in the absence of a market for plastics.

Again, I don't like the huge, floating mass of plastic that coalesces in the middle of the Pacific any more that the next guy, and so I try to avoid bottled water unless I am at an airport or event or something, but to frame using plastic as somehow cheating us out of energy or wasting fuel is disingenuous. The clear truth is frightening enough without misleading people.