# $6.03 for a gallon of water?!!! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 4, 2004, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-03-for-a-gallon-of-water/248608 "2004-06-04T12:59:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2004, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-03-for-a-gallon-of-water/248608/21 "2004-06-04T20:06:26Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > My favorite brand, for instance, is Mountain Valley, which is bottled in Arizona Say what? > **[Mountain Valley Spring Water | Bottled in Glass Since 1871](https://www.mountainvalleyspring.com/)** > > Pure, natural, premium, award-winning spring water sourced in the heart of the Ouachita Mountains. Bottled in glass since 1871 and available for home or office delivery across the nation. BTW I drink tap water. From a well. Sissies. šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2004, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-03-for-a-gallon-of-water/248608/22 "2004-06-04T20:11:18Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Anyone who wants to undertake to send me a case or two, feel free to contact me. Any excuse to go to Hot Springs. It would be, like, illegal to trade it for beer, right? ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2004, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-03-for-a-gallon-of-water/248608/23 "2004-06-04T20:32:46Z")
Iā€™m sure everyone knows this, but I always thought it was funny that Evian backwards was naive. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2004, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-03-for-a-gallon-of-water/248608/24 "2004-06-04T21:56:42Z")
> [@athelas](#): > > Heh. Iā€™ve been saying the same thing every time someone complains about high gas prices. Thatā€™s like comparing apples and oranges. You donā€™t have to buy bottled water, but most of us have to pay the gas prices. ---
**Author:** ![kung\_fu\_lola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f4b2a3/32.png) [@kung\_fu\_lola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kung_fu_lola)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2004, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-03-for-a-gallon-of-water/248608/25 "2004-06-04T22:05:06Z")
I miss _Volvic_. It tasted almost sweet. ---
**Author:** ![kung\_fu\_lola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f4b2a3/32.png) [@kung\_fu\_lola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kung_fu_lola)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2004, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-03-for-a-gallon-of-water/248608/26 "2004-06-04T22:06:45Z")
> [@Reeder](#): > > You donā€™t have to buy bottled water, but most of us have to pay the gas prices. Take a bus. Bike. Car pool and split the gas money. You donā€™t have to pay for all that gas yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2004, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-03-for-a-gallon-of-water/248608/27 "2004-06-04T23:15:54Z")
> [@kung fu lola](#): > > Take a bus. Bike. Car pool and split the gas money. You donā€™t have to pay for all that gas yourself. These can also not be possible. Busses may not go to where you need to go (not every city has a good bus system). The distance may be too great to bike. There may be no people you can car pool with, who go where you also go. Sometime you _have_ to buy the gas. ---
**Author:** ![Tierce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@Tierce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tierce)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2004, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-03-for-a-gallon-of-water/248608/28 "2004-06-04T23:21:23Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Yes; the tapwater in Chicago is among the best in the country, so I bought very little bottled water when I lived there. The water in Seattle is pretty bad though, so I tend to buy it more often out here. And I use a filter on my tap, which I wouldnā€™t do in Chicago. Tastes differ, I guess. Seattleā€™s tap water always tasted pretty good to me. Las Vegas, now _thereā€™s_ tap water that tastes like itā€™s been through the urine recyc system one too many timesā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-03-for-a-gallon-of-water/248608/29 "2004-06-05T00:37:42Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > These are simply filteredā€“diluted, if you willā€“tapwater: Hinckley and Schidt, Dannon, Your Local Grocery Store Brand Here, etc.) Thereā€™s a brand call Hinckley and Schidt?? How does it sell? ---
**Author:** ![Graycat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Graycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Graycat)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-03-for-a-gallon-of-water/248608/30 "2004-06-05T00:44:52Z")
I got the bottled water habit in Europe, too. I buy Gerolsteiner or Appolinaris fizzy mineral waters (whichever is cheapest that week). We make juice spritzers in our house; not soda or Koolaid. Less sugar and calories; more minerals like calcium. Definitely more expensive than Koolaid, though. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-03-for-a-gallon-of-water/248608/31 "2004-06-05T00:51:42Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Mountain Valley? Wouldnā€™t that pretty much amount to Plains? > > I can see one clear reason to buy bottled water, and that is when the tap water available to you is clearly horrid. That is the case for me at work. The tap water here smells a little ā€“ well, putrid. And even then, Iā€™ll buy a bottle of Dasani and just keep refilling it from the bubbler. I figure Iā€™m paying for the bottle, not the contents therein. Exactly-our tap water here tastes disgusting-not dirty, it just has this plasticky-metallic taste to it. Yuck. So we just buy the Dannon stuff and stick it in the fridge. You can buy filtered pitchers and even tap attachments. The pitcher though wouldnā€™t fit in our fridge. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-03-for-a-gallon-of-water/248608/32 "2004-06-05T03:11:17Z")
> [@gregj632](#): > > Las Vegas, now _thereā€™s_ tap water that tastes like itā€™s been through the urine recyc system one too many timesā€¦ Ye gods, donā€™t remind me. I remember staying a few nights in LA. I bustled over to the hotel roomā€™s bathroom tap, poured myself a mug of water, took a biiiiig long drinkā€¦and spat it right back out. _shudders_ ---
**Author:** ![Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_News_Baboon)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-03-for-a-gallon-of-water/248608/33 "2004-06-05T03:14:01Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > You might save a little money by buying a bottle of soda, dumping it out, and filling it with mountain spring fresh tap water. Our tap water tastes bad. Otherwise, I would! ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-03-for-a-gallon-of-water/248608/34 "2004-06-05T03:47:02Z")
> [@](#): > > **XWalrus2** said: > \ > I can break Nalgene bottles with my bare feet. However, Iā€™ve not met another person who can do this. > \ I am very, very impressed. Wanna get married? šŸ˜‰ ---
**Author:** ![Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/eada6e/32.png) [@Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_You_Big_Red_Fire_Engine)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-03-for-a-gallon-of-water/248608/35 "2004-06-05T10:55:42Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > Sometime you _have_ to buy the gas. And sometimes you _have_ to buy bottled water. My roommate seriously thinks that the water they give you in cups at McDonalds for free is spring water. :smack: Iā€™m not into this whole bottled water fad. It seems rather ridiculous to buy water that you can get from a tap. But maybe itā€™s just me. Mountain Valley Springā€¦ mmm. Lime. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2004, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-03-for-a-gallon-of-water/248608/36 "2004-06-06T10:58:27Z")
Weird, I thought I hit Submit, but this was in preview for a couple of days. Thatā€™s what I get for having 30 browser windows open at one time. > [@tdn](#): > > I figure Iā€™m paying for the bottle, not the contents therein. Same here. I fill bottles halfway with Britta water and put them in the freezer. When theyā€™re frozen I take them out, let them melt down a little, top them off with more Britta, then put them in the fridge. I have a constantly rotating stock of iced water that we drink here and take with us when we go to the movies. Since we only ever drink water, and only out of bottles, our glasses have become obsolete. My fridge freezer is so stocked with frozen, half-frozen, and getting-ready-to-be-frozen plastic bottles that thereā€™s no room for any food. We bought an upright freezer specifically for food. Itā€™s very weird, and might seem obsessive (maybe even white-trashy), but we now drink a LOT of water, whereas before I started doing this, we both hated water. I can think back to when Iā€™d go for several months if not years at a time and never drink a drop of water, and then only if I was taking a pill. If Iā€™m out and about and have no water with me and get thirsty, Iā€™ll buy another bottled water, but Iā€™ll make sure the bottle itself is sturdy so it will last repated freezings/meltings, and has a good cap, preferably one that will fit some of the other bottles so I donā€™t have to play which-cap-fits-which-bottle? when I wash them. My favorite bottle is Silver Creek, plus they claim that 10% of the proceeds goes toward Breast Cancer research. Iā€™ve bought several, but sonā€™t ask me what the water tastes like. > [@lissener](#): > > Yes; the tapwater in Chicago is among the best in the country, so I bought very little bottled water when I lived there. The water in Seattle is pretty bad though, so I tend to buy it more often out here. And I use a filter on my tap, which I wouldnā€™t do in Chicago. You think so? Blah. We started doing the Britta thing after we moved to Chicago because the water tasted so nasty to us. For some reason Britta tasted better to us so we stuck with it. Maybe we just had nasty water pipes. I know in our current apartment, you have to let the cold water run for a while, because if the tap hasnā€™t been turned on for a while the water comes out orange. Yuk. The best tap water I ever tasted was, oddly enough, in New York City. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2004, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-03-for-a-gallon-of-water/248608/37 "2004-06-06T11:02:28Z")
Now I remember why I had it in Preview, to go double-check the spelling of Brita and check for typos. Damn. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2004, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-03-for-a-gallon-of-water/248608/38 "2004-06-06T17:01:21Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > You think so? Blah. We started doing the Britta thing after we moved to Chicago because the water tasted so nasty to us. For some reason Britta tasted better to us so we stuck with it. Maybe we just had nasty water pipes. I know in our current apartment, you have to let the cold water run for a while, because if the tap hasnā€™t been turned on for a while the water comes out orange. Yuk. > > The best tap water I ever tasted was, oddly enough, in New York City. Everybody gets used to the taste of their local water; the summer I lived at my g-parentsā€™ lakehouse in wisconsin, I got used to nasty, irony, sulfury well water, and it took me a while to get used to Chicago water again when I came home. Chicago used to be famous for how bad its water was, so in the 70s the municipal water system underwent a great number of changes. By the late eighties, it was among the cleanest municipal waters in the country, when it beat out Evian in a series of blindfolded ā€œpepsi-likeā€ challenges, all held, IIRC, in the East Coast; the purpose of the challenges had been to get people to drink NYC water, but the Chicago water came from behind and beat them all. ---
**Author:** ![ReuvenB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@ReuvenB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReuvenB)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2004, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-03-for-a-gallon-of-water/248608/39 "2004-06-06T20:00:50Z")
> [@catsix](#): > > I am very, very impressed. Wanna get married? šŸ˜‰ Iā€™m 16. 'Nuff said. ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2004, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-03-for-a-gallon-of-water/248608/40 "2004-06-06T20:45:00Z")
Ahā€¦ So not for a couple years then. Sorry dude, didnā€™t know you were only 16. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-03-for-a-gallon-of-water/248608.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-03-for-a-gallon-of-water/248608.md?page=3)