Basically those vending machines usually outside supermarkets where you can put either your hard plastic 5 gallon water jug or a regular gallon jug underneath and refill it for about a quarter a gallon (at least recent prices I’ve seen) though some offer discounts if you fill a 5 gallon jug all at once for under a buck.
I noticed all my older supermarkets would have a bunch of those outside the place, but ever since those older grocery stores closed down and new ones moved in over the past decade I notice none of those new grocery stores have those machines. The only places I get find to refill my own 5 gallon jugs are the two old school grocery stores still near me.
Did new supermarkets basically axe those to force people to come in and buy their $1 a gallon water instead? Or did the manufacturers of those vending machines just stop making them?
I seem to recall there were a lot of complaints about the quality of the water because some places weren’t maintaining them properly, not changing the filters often enough, not cleaning them out regularly etc, so I expect there was just to much effort and cost involved in keeping the going than they were worth, specially if, as you pointed out, they could make more selling bottled water inside the store
Around here, they seem to be placed mostly in front of / near ethnic supermarkets, and from what I can tell, seem to be fairly popular. I’m guessing that more well-to-do people either buy bottled water or simply drink tap water, while ethnic/immigrant communities probably have an innate distrust of the tap water and lack the cash to buy bottled water.
Around here, they seem to be placed mostly in front of / near ethnic supermarkets, and from what I can tell, seem to be fairly popular. I’m guessing that more well-to-do people either buy bottled water or simply drink tap water, while ethnic/immigrant communities probably have an innate distrust of the tap water and lack the cash to buy bottled water.
All the Walmart supercenters near me seem to have one. They’re always inside, and it may take some hunting around to find them. Sometimes they’re near the front of the store, sometimes way in the back.