Apparently there was a study done by a group of Swiss scientists who state that even though bottled water has more minerals and salts than tap water, it is largely a waste of money because what we pay for is the bottling and distribution. If we would just boil tap water and drink it says the study, we would be just as well off and a little richer to boot. How do y’all drink your water and what are your opinions?
Thanks
Quasi
It is indeed a waste of money—depending where you live. A good friend of mine is a chemist who runs a water-testing company in the New York area, and she told me that MANY (not all) U.S. cities actually have surpisingly clean tap water. Also, the bottled water—even the “best” ones—still contain as many impurities as most tap water, if not more.
She also told me those water filters you buy are a waste of money. “In order to really work, you’d have to have a water filter the size of a room. The ones you buy commercially only filter out cat-sized impurities.”
What is the purpose of boiling your tap water? Just to remove excess chlorine? It can’t be to kill bacteria, because bottled water almost always has many many times the bacteria of average tap water due to being stored at room temperature for long periods. Many brands of bottled water are just tap water from someplace else anyway.
Mineral content can vary by region, but I wouldn’t rely on water for dietary minerals. Contaminants may also be a factor, depending on where you live, and whether boiling is effective depends on what contaminants you are worried about. On the other hand, you have no idea what contaminants and at what level might be in your bottled water. Municipal waters are tested for various contaminants, and where I live the results are published in the local paper every year.
I just drink the tap water. In this case it’s highly likely that the devil you know really is better than the devil you don’t.
Be still my galloping heart! Eve has just replied to one of my posts! Y’all excuse me, because I am getting moist. I will cherish this reply forever or until such time as she graces one of my questions with another reply. Truly a time for this southern German-American boy to ring some bells! I’ll get back to the thread after I read and re-read those precious words…
Humbly,
Quasi 
[Mae West voice] "Oh, Quasi . . . Peel me a grape . . .
Hey Quasi. I feel that way about her, too.
But to the quote…all that’s fine if you’re on muni water. I’ve got a well sunk in my front yard and I DO have a filter the size of a room. It’s in the cellar and cost mucho bux. It mostly gets the job done regarding removing the iron from our water. We cook with it.
But we still buy bottled water because of the taste.
The water at my friend’s house seems to taste better when it’s going through the Pur filter than straight from the tap… or am I just imagining that?
If you prefer the taste of the bottled water that you buy to that you get from your municipal system, that’s one thing. But don’t expect it to be better for your health. As posted, municipal water is treated and tested. It must be up to certain standards. Bottled water does not undergo the same rigid requirements. And most bottled water comes from municipal systems anyhow.
On the rare occasion that I buy bottled water, it is carbonated, because I like the taste and feeling of the carbonation.
Another thing, bottled water contains no Floride. There have been stories of parents who give their kids “only the best” – nothing but bottled water, no municipal swill for them. Only they end up with mouthfuls of cavities.
There is something to this bottled water thing, though…
I had been drinking lots of bottled water in L.A. Usually just Ralph’s generic brand, or maybe Arrowhead, if I wanted to splurge.
When I visited my mom one summer, in a different part of the country. I didn’t drink my bottled water there, just the tap water. And after a few weeks, I had broken out SO BAD. I had never had such bad skin - it was very, very miserable. And I finally figured out that the culprit was the tap water. When I started drinking bottled water, my skin cleared up. It couldn’t have possibly been my imagination, I had NO clue that the tap water would do that to me.
Now, whenever I drink the tap water for more than a week or so, my skin gets bad. I keep on hoping that I can get away with drinking it, because bottled water is a pain. But nope - each time I try - Bingo! Mondo bad skin breakouts.
So, give me my bottled water. Besides, I like the taste better.
I use one of those brita-filter pitcher thingies. I’m not worried about healthiness of tap water–it simply tastes better when run through it–the difference at my folks’ house is especially noticeable. I dunno about impurities, but it does a good job at scrubbing out that horrid chlorine taste.
However, if it does keep cats out of my drinking water, it’s still a good thing–but the mention makes me worried.
What size of cat typically exists in tap water? Would a kitten squeeze through the filter anyway? Have the people at http://www.bonsaikitten.com looked into this yet?
The water in LA tastes like shit. It’s ok if you’ve got a filter installed, but if you don’t you’re gonna have to by some water.
I pulled a fast one on my folks once when I was visiting home. Their freaks about their Brita, so I swiped the filter and made sure the covering cap was still in place. (Hey, I gotta play pranks sometime)
I found leaving unfiltered water sitting in a pitcher in the fridge tasted the same as filtered water.
The problem with filters is that not only are you filtering out impurities but also essential minerals (that make the water “hard”). Now you may think that’s a good thing, but those minerals are essential for good health.
Typically hardness (calcium carbonate) and other minerals cannot be filtered because they are dissolved, not suspended. Removing hardness from water is generally done by a “softener” which exchanges sodium anions for the CaCO3 anions. People with high blood pressure should avoid using such systems in the home. ISTR that in a municipal water treatment plant, this process may be done differenty by adjusting pH, precipitating the CaCO3, and readjusting pH.
Minicipal water is almost without exception safer than store bought, because of near-constant testing of the finished water for contamination.
Best,
Dev Null (who has very, very hard well water that is just delicious)
We drink water from the tap. Lansing has good water.
My husband’s parents have well water and it’s loaded with sulfur and iron and tastes…well…rough. Not horrible, just smelly.
Now Nashville, TN. That’s some nasty city water. Loaded with chlorine, tastes like it’s fresh from someone’s swimming pool with a little of the Cumberland River thrown in.
http://www.healthcentral.com/drdean/DeanFullTextTopics.cfm?ID=52363&src=n2 states that altho bottled water may contain some more minerals, it is ecologically bad due to the plastic containers.
this states that bottled water is no better than tap water, only more expensive.
http://www.healthcentral.com/news/newsfulltext.cfm?ID=52383&src=n1
My conversion didn’t work, so I did it without being cute. Guess I forgot the beginning quotation marks.
My family buys bottled water for the reason Jonathan said. Our well was dug by a #%% who’s declared chapter 11 at least 4 times to avoid lawsuits…anyway the iron content in our water is so high it tastes like blood. Filtering gets it to look more or less clear and ok for cooking and cleaning, but no one wants to drink it!