HA! Bottled water is tap water!

[Orochi Avlis]

I knew it. (http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/07/27/pepsico.aquafina.reut/index.html)
We save money by not cleaning our water supply, then we use that money to buy it in stores.:doh:
Well, you can now cut out the middleman.

The industry newsletter estimated that U.S. consumers spent about $15 billion on bottled water last year.
Wow, the more "advanced" we get, the more gullible we become.

[Joe Siegler]

Let's be not panicy with our subject, eh?

The random claim of "bottled water is tap water" is FUD, and really not helpful to a good conversation. It would be more accurate to say that Aquafina is tap water.

It's not like Ozarka that claims to be spring water. Aquafina (and Coke's variant Dasani (http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0304-04.htm)) both have always said they were tap water. Processed mind you - it's not STRAIGHT out of the tap, but that was the source, yes. And to be honest, they never pretended it was anything else. They never stood on the top of hilltops screaming it either, but they didn't lie about it. They just banked on the fact that folks would see it in a bottle, and buy it.

So to go around going "HA! Bottled water is tap water!" Is a bit extreme in it's subject choice, I would think, because not all bottled water is.

[avatar_58]

Uhh....Orochi I kind of thought that was common knowledge? I always knew that it was just processed tap water. Where else would it come from? Theres very few that claim to be "spring" water these days, and most that do are simply from a "spring" that exists in some town.....and is just their tap water.

[Commando Nukem]

Reminds me of an episode of Penn and Teller where they took off the labels of various tap waters, emptied the bottles, put new labels on, and filled them with water from a garden hose... and then had people taste testing the stuff. It was PRICELESS "Oh yeah this really does taste kinda tropical." "mmm! Really citrusee! I like it."

I just got a filter and stuck it on the faucet. At least I can see the difference.

[Water12356]

No wonder Aquafina dosnt taste good to me. Don't get me wrong, I love water (the name give me away?), especaly tap water from Lake Michigan. But I was never a fan of Aquafina. I always thought it was the stuff they added in the water, now it may be the public reservoir where it comes from. Or it could be both. Evian and Ice Mountain (my dad buys it often) taste good.

[Destroyer]

not all bottled water is tap water.
And i agree with water123456 aquafinia sucks.

[thefly]

I knew it. (http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/07/27/pepsico.aquafina.reut/index.html)


Yeah, you really showed up....who?

[Syph]

Poland Spring is good. Never liked Aquafina

[Dave-ros]

In 2004 we found out that Dasani was tap water, and there was a bit of a scandal (especially when one batch turned out to have been contaminated :p). But that just was life imitating art, because in an episode of Only Fools and Horses years before, Del had come up with "Peckham Spring" which really was just tap water -- and his bottling operation was causing a water shortage in Peckham, leading to people buying more Peckham Spring!! And then the bottles started glowing in the dark... :insomnia:

TBH I've stopped buying mineral water anyway, and now just fill an old bottle under the tap and put it in the fridge. This is because lukewarm tap water tastes awful, for uncertain reasons :mryuck:

[ShadeEX]

Well the only way I'm buying Botteled water is if the Water Supply became contaminated.. Until then I'll just drink it strait from the tap..

[Tang Lung]

TBH I've stopped buying mineral water anyway, and now just fill an old bottle under the tap and put it in the fridge. This is because lukewarm tap water tastes awful, for uncertain reasons :mryuck:

I do the same, during the summer especially...water comes out the tap lukewarm and it's horrible.

The only time I ever buy bottled water is If I'm out...and I usually keep the bottle for that very purpose.

[peoplessi]

I don't care since we have enough lakes and fountains here in Finland :) In future we fight over water rather than oil.

[Hudson]

What's wrong with tap water?

[Scream]

What's wrong with tap water?


In most major cities it takes like shit because of traces of the chemicals used to clean it up. I think the worst I've tasted is in Washington. You could not only taste the chlorine in the water, but you could smell it on EVERYONE because it was of course what they bathed in. Everyone smelled like they just got out of a swimmng pool. Gave me a new appreciation for the water where I live (which sucks as well, but was way better than DC).

I use a Brita to clean out most of that crap in my tap water, and it does a good job. The water tastes pretty much as good as any purified water you'd drink. I drink a lot of S. Pellegrino as well, which is my favourite carbonated mineral water.

[Blade Nightflame]

Funny, tap water tastes practically like normal water here in our country. Seems to be just great. The bottled water I tasted.. Tasted like bloody BUBBLEGUM and smelled like it too. :mryuck: (Not that I hate bubblegum, I like it, but still..)

[Nessus]

What kills me is Coca Cola takes water, filters it, imports coco beans, processes them and all of the other ingredients then adds corn syrup and sells a bottle for about a 1.50. They then take the same water as Dasani, throw it in a bottle and ask the same 1.50 for it, the profit margin must be 10x what it is for beer and soda.

There must be some huge invisible barrier to competition because if there wasn't someone would sell it for 50 cents and still make a killing.

Scream I also like San Pelligrino, I've been meaning to buy some and add fresh squeezed orange juice for homemade Orangina.

[Joe Siegler]

Well the only way I'm buying Botteled water is if the Water Supply became contaminated.. Until then I'll just drink it strait from the tap..

What's wrong with tap water?

You guys have never researced it, have you. You really should. Now it's not like it's going to kill you or is bad... But you really should filter or or something. Since I moved to Texas, all water in my house goes through a Brita filter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brita). It tastes better, as most of the crap put in there gets filtered out. Again, pure tap water is not bad, but a lot of the crud that is in there gets taken out, and it just tastes better through some sort of filter.

Course the bad side is that it does filter out things that are good. I know that where I grew up Philadelphia would put flouride in the water supply, making it a bit helpful with teeth. It's probably why I've never had a cavity in my life, or at least part of it.

[Hudson]

You guys have never researced it, have you. You really should. Now it's not like it's going to kill you or is bad... But you really should filter or or something.

Well, I have researched it in the past (if looking things up on google now counts as "research" ;)) but like you said it's not going to kill me. Sure filtered water tastes better, but it's never bothered me enough to buy a kit.

[DavoX]

All the water in my house is filtered, otherwise i wouldn't be able to lose weight on my cutting phase, because all i drink is water.

[ShadeEX]

You guys have never researced it, have you. You really should. Now it's not like it's going to kill you or is bad... But you really should filter or or something. Since I moved to Texas, all water in my house goes through a Brita filter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brita). It tastes better, as most of the crap put in there gets filtered out. Again, pure tap water is not bad, but a lot of the crud that is in there gets taken out, and it just tastes better through some sort of filter.

Course the bad side is that it does filter out things that are good. I know that where I grew up Philadelphia would put flouride in the water supply, making it a bit helpful with teeth. It's probably why I've never had a cavity in my life, or at least part of it.

Well filtering is handeled differently here in Denmark, Well atleast in my town.. And it actually tastes good here.. But i can't remember if mom and dad already use filters

[Another Duke Fan]

Tap water is plain illegal to label and market as spring mineral water here, in Switzerland. As simple as that. American tap water distributors, such as Coca-Cola (e.g. Dasani) will never get the chance to be accepted here. People still love to drink Coke though, but that is it.

[SonnyBonds]

We have very clean tap water where I live so I don't have to waste money on bottled water. Anyone buying bottled water around here is wasting their money IMO.

EDIT - well unless it's bubbly water which I kinda like.

[Blade Nightflame]

Bubbly water.. By the name of 'Gasosa' or such? Love those. :D (Sort of coke-ish water, so to say..)

[Phait]

Interesting about the filter...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brita
By reducing the limescale and chlorine content, one of the things that the water filter does is to improve the taste of hot drinks. It means that coffee and tea can unfold their full aroma and that that familiar scum disappears from the surface of tea. In order to demonstrate this positive effect, company founder Heinz Hankammer demonstrated something known as the "tea test". In shops he showed how it is possible not only to taste but also to see the difference between filtered and unfiltered water. To this end he compared teas that had been prepared with filtered and unfiltered water, water that had been boiled and allowed to cool for a while. No scum forms on tea prepared with filtered water.

We have a Brita filter but it's not used, cause our house is old and apparently when it's attached to the faucet it ****s with the water pressure in that line - the faucet had been known to pop off with water splurting out :D

[Orochi Avlis]

Uhh....Orochi I kind of thought that was common knowledge?
I mean, now this knowledge hit mainstream news people cannot deny it.

Yeah, you really showed up....who?
...

[Inanimate Carbon Rod]

It has been mainstream for quite some time.

[Orochi Avlis]

First I've heard about it.
Must have my head in the sand.

[Gamebrain]

Saw this on Penn and Teller's Bullshit a LOOOOONNNG time ago. No surprise at all.

[Joe Siegler]

Tap water is plain illegal to label and market as spring mineral water here, in Switzerland. As simple as that.

As it is here. Nobody is claiming that happened, I believe. Just what I said, that the major makers were banking on the fact that people would see it next to say Ozarka, which is spring water, and assume it's the same stuff and buy it, because "It's from Coke". It's how things sell. Anywhere, not just here.

American tap water distributors, such as Coca-Cola (e.g. Dasani) will never get the chance to be accepted here.

Depends on how it would be marketed, I think.

[Destroyer]

personally i buy bottled water not cuz its not tap water but because its in a bottle, its easy to take with you, I buy this 40pack of 500ml(1 pint) bottles from costco for 5$, Im pretty sure its just filtered tap water but i buy it cuz its in bottles and i can take it with me to school/work.

[Commando Nukem]

personally i buy bottled water not cuz its not tap water but because its in a bottle, its easy to take with you, I buy this 40pack of 500ml(1 pint) bottles from costco for 5$, Im pretty sure its just filtered tap water but i buy it cuz its in bottles and i can take it with me to school/work.

You do realise you could just buy one bottle, and fill it with tap water, have the same effect and save your five bucks every few weeks/months?

[Waiter]

What kills me is Coca Cola takes water, filters it, imports coco beans, processes them and all of the other ingredients then adds corn syrup and sells a bottle for about a 1.50. They then take the same water as Dasani, throw it in a bottle and ask the same 1.50 for it, the profit margin must be 10x what it is for beer and soda.

I have no problem with that. If people are stupid enough to buy it, it's their own problem.

I only buy bottled water if I can't get anything else. I use a Brita filter (or a 1/4-price copy...) for the water that goes into the coffee machine and the kettle, but only because it saves me from using a descaling agent on them everytime I use them. I have a glass-kettle, and with the local tap water here it wouldn't be see-through after 2 usages ...

[Detharin]

Bottled water is tap water i dont have to hear about gallons of sewage leaking into, or rocket fuel for that matter.

[peoplessi]

Tap water is good enough here in Finland.

[WestSeven]

Hey I remember whern Dasani was launched in the UK. You Americans might not see anything wrong with this, but an advertising slogon that says "Bottled Spunk" (no really) in the UK is not going to go so well.

[Dave-ros]

It didn't, did it?!?!? They never said that on BBC News, I wonder why? :D

(For our American viewers, that word may mean "guts" or "additood" on your side of the pond, but over here it's... well, it's another name for a word that sounds like the thing submarines are full of :o)

[Waiter]

Hey I remember whern Dasani was launched in the UK. You Americans might not see anything wrong with this, but an advertising slogon that says "Bottled Spunk" (no really) in the UK is not going to go so well.

LOL!

Suppose the same goes for danish liqourice (http://www.migthegreek.com/scraps/content/0806/spunk2.jpg)...

[Dogy]

Tap water down here in Miami is really good quality (At least in my area). I prefer tap water over bottled water :p

[Scotty]

My tap water has always been pretty decent. I usually have a pint of it sitting next to my computer.

[Kevin Wolff]

The tap water at my house is decent, but we filter it anyway. It's not something I think about much here.

At school, across the state, the tap water is pretty bad, and the dorms don't have filters. So, I buy gallon jugs of water for 69 cents each and use them to filll up bottles, which I then refrigerate.

On the flip side, I was visiting family in Chicago this and last week (hence my absence that probably 2 people noticed), and the tap water there is excellent. The only place I've been to in my life where I'll drink it straight from the faucet - and, it comes out cold. In Florida, it comes out lukewarm all year round.

[Stedmister]

As someone close to water inspection, tap water is actually more requlated that bottle water industry is. In fact tap water is more safer to drink, than bottled watter, sure they filter bottle water more, but it goes threw more crap than tap water goes. We don't really know when these companies actually change the filters.

[Rellik66]

While I don't know which is really regulated better, I will say that in the US, bottled water is regulated by the Food and Drug administration (FDA), and tap water is regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency.

This article from the FDA (http://www.fda.gov/FDAC/features/2002/402_h2o.html) says that they adopted very similar regulations to the EPA regulations.

The EPA also has a guide, Water on Tap: What you need to know (http://www.epa.gov/safewater/wot/)

[thefly]

Do you realize that in addition to fluoridating water, why, there are studies underway to fluoridate salt, flour, fruit juices, soup, sugar, milk... ice cream. Ice cream, Mandrake, children's ice cream.

[oak man]

I drink distilled water 'cause it doesn't taste like crap. Until the tap stops spewing black stuff in me water, I'll stick with distilled.

[The Red Slaughter]

Here it's well water (best words in english I could find to describe it) straight from the underground place were water is (Don't know the right word in english too). But we filter it anyway.

[Phait]

^ I think that's called an aquifer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquifer)

[Dave-ros]

Ah, my friends in Michigan do the same thing -- water straight from the aquifer, filtered through a load of gravel (I helped the dad of the family carry some BIG and heavy bags of it down to the basement), but always smelling faintly of sulphur. Sorry, "sulfur", since it's in America :p

[shiranui]

It didn't, did it?!?!? They never said that on BBC News, I wonder why? :D

(For our American viewers, that word may mean "guts" or "additood" on your side of the pond, but over here it's... well, it's another name for a word that sounds like the thing submarines are full of :o)

As in one of Hugh Laurie's best lines in Bladder4:

"'When are we going to give Fritz a taste of our British spunk!?'"

[Thriller]

We have great water here in sweden. :)
I cannot believe that some people actually pay for water here as well (not to the same extent as in the states though).

EDIT: Ok, everyone payes for water. But cold tap water cost like.. nothing.

[TBZ]

Yeah, the water here in Sweden are pretty good. I prefer drinking that instead of drinking soda.
And shouldn't i be cold enough, well, a couple of ice cubes can solve that fairly quick :)