Bottled Water

[Hootad Binky]

Now that I've returned to Canada, I can drink water out of the tap. Why? Because, as in many developed countries, tap water must adhere to strict safety standards ...which is why bottled water companies put tap water into bottles and re-sell it (just like they do in Thailand ).

However, bottled water doesn't have to meet the same standards as tap water.

Confused?

Meanwhile, fitness morons walk around with expensive bottled water, everywhere they go.

Hydration nation: Our national obsession with bottled water

San Antonio Express-News

Water used to be a cheap and efficient way to quench your thirst. It was boring, but it got the job done.

Then, in the early 1990s, French interlopers Evian and Perrier hit pay dirt with their upscale bottled beverages that helped transform water from prosaic hydrator to lifestyle beverage.
Today Americans aren’t just drinking bottled water. We’re practically soggy with it.

Americans are the leading consumers of bottled water in the world, according to the Beverage Marketing Corp. Bottled water is also the fastest-growing segment of the beverage industry.

Our 2006 per capita consumption of bottled water was 27.6 gallons per person, up from 16.7 gallons per person in 2000 and a parched 1.6 gallons per person in 1976, according to the International Bottled Water Association.

And, it seems, plain old water isn’t good enough anymore. You can now get your water “enhanced” with fruit juice, vitamins, herbs, caffeine and electrolytes.

It doesn’t just prevent you from getting cotton mouth, either. It “keeps you fit,” “revives your soul” and gives you “all the focus you need,” as the marketing slogans go.

There’s even “Skinny Water” and “Smart Water,” which may lead you to ask yourself why you’ve been drinking fat, stupid water all these years.

Speaking of stupid, that’s how some felt after PepsiCo announced last week that it would change the label on Aquafina to clearly spell out the water’s source: Public Water Source.

That’s tap water, folks.

Then there’s the new Aquapod, an Ozarka water product bottled in cute, squatty, kid-friendly bottles. The label touts that the spring water contains fluoride.

So does tap water.

What’s driving us to drink? Part of it is the perception that bottled water is safer and cleaner than tap water, even though this isn’t necessarily true.

Public water supplies in this country are overwhelmingly safe, thanks to strict EPA regulation and standards — standards that are tougher than the FDA’s that govern bottled water.

According to a 1999 study by the National Resources Defense Council that analyzed 1,000 bottles of 103 brands of bottled water, the stuff in bottles wasn’t necessarily better than that from municipal water systems.

“Bottled water is largely a market based on anxiety,” says Gina Solomon, a senior scientist with the NRDC, whose report recommended the FDA institute more rigorous standards for bottled water.

“My concern with bottled water is not so much a safety concern (but) the fact that people may be thinking they’re getting something that they may not be.”

Of course, lawsuits have been filed against companies claiming they have duped consumers about the purity and source of their products.

For example, in 2003 a class-action suit was brought against Poland Spring (owned by Nestle) arguing that its bottled water didn’t come from a spring “deep in the woods of Maine” at all, but was groundwater piped from man-made wells near some parking lots.

When it comes to the source of water, you don’t have to go far to get an international taste, either. Grocery store shelves are a veritable United Nations of bottled water, with Wales, Germany, Spain, France and Norway sending their very best.

We don’t just drink water — we are made of it. It comprises almost 70 percent of our weight and is critical to vital functions, such as carrying nutrients and oxygen to cells, flushing away waste, lubricating and regulating body temperature.

www.kansascity.com | 08/07/2007 | Hydration nation: Our national obsession with bottled
water

Aquafina To Admit Being From A "Public Water Source" On Label



Aquafina labels will soon say "Public Water Source," a nod by bottler PepsiCo to the fact that its bottled water is the same water that goes into a Pepsi, just pre-carbonation.


As you recall, bottled water costs 1,000 times more than tap water. Places like New York have tap water just as good or better than bottled water. Add a home water filter, refrigeration, and the foresight to bring the water with you in, and bottled water starts to look pretty stupid.

[FatBoyEric]

The problem with many publicly provided water supplies is that they add things like flouride to them, which as we all know makes you impotent or should that be important?

[quote]

Fluoride in tap water can cause bone cancer in boys, a disturbing new study indicates. http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,1504672,00.html

[/QUOTE]

Stick to bottled water.

[keda]

A good post that follows a string of reports into bottled and so called mineral waters to question the survival of a billion $ industry.

Yonks ago used to be the French duo Evian (naive spelled backwards) and Perrier were the most expensive, but recently saw a report on waters going for $10 and up to something ridiculous like $50 a bottle AND selling well.

Aside from those buying bottled stuff for convenience when out and about, most Western drinkers of the stuff know they're paying for a well worn novelty rather than cleaner or healthier living, even if they're less inclined to admit it.

It may also piss off a few greens with career/financial interests in bottled water that their hardcore colleagues have bottled water in the crosshair, claiming that with all taken into consideration from production and distribution to storage, transportation and especially disposal of packaging, bottled waters have an overall negative impact on the environment. Greens can be real fun, put two in a room and only one tail...

[buad hai]

One of my fondest memories from childhood is of coming in from a hard day of play and drinking water direct from the tap. I lived in the San Fernando Valley (LA) and the water came from, I believe, the Owens River. It was delicious and refreshing. I still enjoy a big glass of ordinary tap water when I go "home" to visit Mom.

I started drinking bottled water when I moved to Saipan where the mineral content of the tap water is so high you'd swear it came straight from the ocean. Here in Korat the tap water is probably potable, but it is so full of sediment that it's not very appealing.

Then again, I drink the tap water in Bangkok and think it's pretty good....

[Hootad Binky]

Bottled water creates a LOT of plastic.

If you get a home filtering system and use recycled plastic bottles, you don't have to ever buy bottled water again.

In any case, the market is now saturated! *ahem*

[Mid]

forget oil ,

water will be the catalyst for the next global conflict

[Jet Gorgon]

^ good call, Mid. I drank tap water at home in Thailand. Most places I lived had its own well. Rainy season, well, bottled water then. Never got sick. Always drink tap water now unless I'm out and the wanklettes won't give me a "glass" of water. Crikes, I'll pay, but why add more friggin refuse with a plastic bottle. Thailand, you buy the big Bt10 containers that they reuse.

[Mid]

inflation there 12 now

[Spin]

Well if American bottled water is worse than tap water then what the hell is the quality of Thai bottled water like?

[Mr Earl]

I had my tap water here in Patong tested by a someone who was trying to sell me an expensive water filter.
Turned out my tap water is safe to drink!
I still don't drink it. I like Minere and Singha water.

[a. boozer]

Well if American bottled water is worse than tap water then what the hell is the quality of Thai bottled water like?

Most bottled Thai water is an improvement on that American one, you know, the slightly fizzy one, can't think of it's name at the moment.
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Oh, yes!
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Something like 'Budwizer'

[Hootad Binky]

Thai bottled water comes straight from the tap; I remember reports of e coli being found in it. Thai tap water through a Brita should be fine.

[Spin]

I use of of those machines they have on the street that does reverse osmosis because I cant be bothered to carry bottled stuff from Big C on me motorbike.

I havent grown any extra heads or arms yet

[TizMe]

When I was a very young boy I loved to drink the water from the kitchen tap.

No way would I touch the stuff from the laundry tap though.