57 replies to this topic

[GreenQueen]

Liv, on 06 November 2011 - 03:53 PM, said:

I also use tap and bottled water. I don't mind using tap when I am boiling it but I will not let my kids drink water from the tap. This stems from an issue we had in the area where we live a few years back. The water was contaminated and a lot of people became really ill. While this is no longer an issue, I no longer trust tap water at all.

This would be a reason to not drink tap anymore. I personally dont
notice the difference. Boiling is good as well. My mom would always
boil the water. Especially when there were the warnings in the
neighborhood about the water being bad.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

"Food and Water Watch reports(with the nasty statement of "wrathful environmentalists")
that 17 million barrels of oil
are needed to produce all the plastic water bottles we use in the U.S. each year — and, shockingly,
86 % of them will never be recycled.

And what many consumers don't know is that a third of bottled water is actually from the same source as tap water.
Companies like PepsiCo, Coca-Cola and Nestle, the big three water bottlers, are actually sucking municipal water systems
for the product they bottle and sell back to us for hundreds and even thousands of times the cost.
Additionally, Nestle has been mining groundwater in rural communities — many of which are concerned about
their springs and streams going dry because of bottling operations. Learn more about the growing backlash against the
company here."
http://news.change.o...water-addiction
http://www.foodandwa.../water/bottled/
http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/

[Shortpoet-GTD]

"The National Park Service chief has said that his decision to block a ban on selling bottled water at Grand Canyon
National Park was based on safety and contracts, but emails released Friday indicate an early concern was how Coca-Cola,
a major water vendor as well as parks funder, would react.
"While I applaud the intent, there are going to be consequences, since Coke is a major sponsor of our recycling efforts,"
NPS Director Jonathan Jarvis said in the email exchange posted by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.
The watchdog group obtained the documents through a Freedom of Information Act request.
"Zion National Park, a desert park, banned plastic bottles more than two years ago with no reported ill effects."
http://usnews.msnbc....sy-gets-murkier

[Pushhyarag2000]

I wish I could attach a slideshow showing shocking facts about disastrous consequences of production & consumption of bottled water. Unfortunately, due to size limits, it can't be attached

Here are a few startling revelations:

# In the US alone, bottled water consumption is 26,000,000,000 liters
# That's equivalent of 28,000,000,000 bottles a year
# 86% of those bottles end up as garbage [1500 bottles every second]
# 26,000,000,000 liters of water cause manufacture of bottles releasing 2,500,000 tons of carbon dioxide release
# ONE HUNDRED BILLION DOLLARS is the amount spent by consumers for bottled water

More facts & pictures, if some one can help me attach/upload a .pps file here.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

As long as everyone knows that pepsi, coke and nestle are making a killing from bottled water sales,
that they siphoned from local water supplies, and packaged it with a picture of a mountain stream - BS
some here, may stop buying into their LIES.

[GreenQueen]

Pushhyarag2000, on 04 December 2011 - 04:12 AM, said:

I wish I could attach a slideshow showing shocking facts about disastrous consequences of production & consumption of bottled water. Unfortunately, due to size limits, it can't be attached

Here are a few startling revelations:

# In the US alone, bottled water consumption is 26,000,000,000 liters
# That's equivalent of 28,000,000,000 bottles a year
# 86% of those bottles end up as garbage [1500 bottles every second]
# 26,000,000,000 liters of water cause manufacture of bottles releasing 2,500,000 tons of carbon dioxide release
# ONE HUNDRED BILLION DOLLARS is the amount spent by consumers for bottled water

More facts & pictures, if some one can help me attach/upload a .pps file here.

Those facts are insane. I didn't know we spent that much money on bottles water.
its only water. I also didn't know about the carbon dioxide being released. This
stuff is crazy.

[GreenQueen]

We drink the water and throw the bottle in the garbage. But I thought that it eventually
gets separated. They take out the plastic, paper, and glass and recycle it.

[Pushhyarag2000]

GreenQueen, on 04 December 2011 - 09:06 AM, said:

Those facts are insane. I didn't know we spent that much money on bottles water. its only water. I also didn't know about the carbon dioxide being released. This stuff is crazy.

GreenQueen, on 04 December 2011 - 09:08 AM, said:

We drink the water and throw the bottle in the garbage. But I thought that it eventually gets separated. They take out the plastic, paper, and glass and recycle it.

Here's the link to the full presentation [You may ignore the cover page notification and click >:

Water Disaster

[kat74]

I use tap water because some of the so called bottled water are from the same tap then labeled mineral water. If I feel the tap water am using is not safe enough, I just purify it or even boil it up to kill any germ presence.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

kat74, on 04 December 2011 - 10:06 AM, said:

I use tap water because some of the so called bottled water are from the same tap then labeled mineral water. If I feel the tap water am using is not safe enough, I just purify it or even boil it up to kill any germ presence.

It's not the bacteria/pathogens that are the problem. All city (small town) public water systems have federal guidelines that
they must meet in providing safe, clean drinking water. Bottled water? They don't have to meet those same
standards.
Additional filters on tap water will filter out minerals, heavy metals, chlorine, pharmaceuticals; some even filter out lead and hexavalent chromium.

Also-
"What's more, unless the bottled water is transported across state lines, there are no federal regulations
that hold the producers responsible for the purity.
In fact, anywhere from 60% to 70% of the bottled water sold in this country is exempt from ANY regulations
because it is produced and consumed in the same state.
Considering how much we spend each year on bottled water, which is absurdly expensive compared
to what it costs us to get water from a faucet, this should amaze and alarm us in equal measure.
http://www.waterfilt...ered-water.html
Here are some more findings from the NRDC report:

• All municipal water systems must test regularly for harmful pathogens like Cryptosporidium and Giardia, but bottled water is exempt from these testing requirements.
  
• Each year, municipal water systems are required by law to issue a report on what their drinking water contains. Lobbyists from the beverage industry successfully killed a bill that would have required bottled water producers to do the same.
  
• Municipal water systems are required by law to filter and disinfect drinking water. As of 2007, there are no federal regulations outlining the filtering and disinfecting of bottled water that is produced and sold in the same state.
  
• 
  
• Municipal water systems can have no fecal coli form bacteria present in the water that they produce. The Food and Drug Administration laws for bottled water include no such provision.(Fecal matter?) JFC
  
• 
  
• The Environmental Protection Agency requires municipal water systems to test for over a dozen different chemical contaminants. Bottled water producers, lobbyists defeated legislation that would have held bottled water to the same standards."
  
• http://www.waterfilt...ght-choice.html
  

[KeenGreen]

Years ago, my community was screwed over by our then water company, who had spent years falsifying their test results.  Suffice to say, they were fined out of business and we got a new company and a new water source.  But the paranoia had already set in.  My family and many of our neighbors lived on bottled water for years.

However, because of hearing so much about how bottled water isn't really much different from tap, how it's much less regulated, and concerns about plastic bottle leaching, my family went through the arduous process of switching back to tap water about 2 years ago.

Our first step was contacting the water company and talking to the inspector.  I really suggest everyone do this if they can.  The inspector I talked to was willing to answer any questions I had and set my mind at ease about a lot of concerns.  He also personally delivered an updated water test report to me.

That's the next important step:  Reading your city's water contaminant report.  Use the internet to look up the different contaminants to determine exactly how safe your water is.  This can also help you to narrow down the type of filter you need to buy.

The last step was researching water filters.  This was the hardest part, because there's so much noise online from people just wanting to sell you the most expensive system.  We ruled out reverse-osmosis and distilling because of the cost of the systems, the water waste, and the controversy over whether or not the mineral removal could have adverse health effects.  And really, after doing our homework, we realized such stringent filtering would be overkill for our pretty decent water.
We also skipped granulated carbon filters (Brita, et al) because of their tendency to "channel" the water and lose efficiency over time. (We did have one of these for a little while but weren't thrilled with it.)
We settled for the happy medium of a single-filter carbon block system.  They sell multiple-stage systems that will take blocks which target different contaminants...but those were a little too pricey for us at the time.  We may upgrade in time...or not. Our system seems to be doing pretty well for us (and the cartridges last a while -- much longer than a Brita cartridge did).  But if your water is iffy, I strongly suggest a multi-stage filter.

Once you go through this process and find a filter that's right for you, unless your water is really foul, there's not much reason to lean on bottled water.

I hope detailing my little adventure helps someone else out there!

[anEgrahm]

In the areas I live, I reckon that bottled water is no better for you than tap water. Regardless, in my household, I use a kettle and boil my water, before leaving it to cool (if I want cold/cool water). I'm no fan of bottled water - I use my own bottles and as a matter of fact take water form home no matter where I'm going, regardless of the weight.

[BillK22]

Tap by far.  Easy and I don't feel like a prima donna.  Some offices have large-scale filters too.  The bottles are just too wastely to feel good about drinking them.

[Sandra Piddock]

I have a Brita filter, so I generally use tap water, which has run through the filter. I find tap water straight from the tap is usually unpalatable. Now and again, I'll buy small bottles of water, so that I can fill them with filtered water to take around with me. I do buy large bottles of carbonated water, though. I make my own soft drinks with fresh fruit juice and fizzy water. It's cheaper and healthier than buying regular soda.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

• In 2007 in the USA alone, bottled water production and transportation used the energy equivalent of 47 million barrels of oil. This is enough to fuel 1.5 million cars for a year.
  
• Approximately 75% of plastic bottles are never recycled, despite being in demand by recyclers due to the high quality of plastics used.
  
• Bottled water produces up to 1.5 million tons of waste each year, ending up in our landfills, oceans, and lakes.
  
• It can take anywhere from 450-1000 years for a plastic bottle to biodegrade.
  
• Nearly half of all bottled water in 2009 came from municipal tap water supplies.
  
• http://www.foodandwa...e-back-the-tap/
  
• http://www.epa.gov/e...cipal/index.htm

[ACSAPA]

I drink my local tap water and they actually bottle my local tap water and sell it at baseball games. So drinking tap water here is basically drinking bottled water before it gets bottled. I have some reusable water bottles and I just fill them and keep them in the fridge.
Not only is it cheaper but it cuts down on all those nasty plastic bottles that only 22 percent of get recycled.

[catevanne]

I have a water filter on my faucet, which I feel saves me money and helps the environment by cutting down on the use of plastic bottles. I have a few plastic water bottles that I fill with filtered water when I'm on the go-this is a much more economical way to go, and it's healthy as well. Be sure not to keep plastic bottles for too long, as they will eventually leach chemicals into your water. A good alternative are the water bottles made of aluminum.

[StevesWeb]

We use a filter on tap water to improve the taste.  I try to avoid bottled water because I strongly suspect many plasticizers leech into bottled water, and these may serve as hormone disruptors.

I will drink bottled water when traveling.