# Price of water **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 5, 2013, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-of-water/646118 "2013-01-05T00:10:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-of-water/646118/21 "2013-01-05T14:57:04Z")
The worst part is that many of the bottled waters use tap water as their source. > [@Leaffan](#): > > Yes. Me too, and although I loathe paying $1.50 to $2.50 for a bottle of water, it’s usually the most appealing beverage in the fridge. Nothing quenches my thirst like ice cold water. I agree, but occasionally I’ll stop at a vending machine for a drink, if the water is the same price as the soda I’ll buy a soda just for spite. Their profit isn’t so ridiculously high because they had to spend something on color, flavor, & carbonation therefore it seems like a better ‘deal’ to me. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-of-water/646118/22 "2013-01-05T15:09:09Z")
I buy bottled water because water is heavy and I’m not going to carry an additional 0.5 kg around for 60c (I bring 500 ml of my own water, after that I buy). ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-of-water/646118/23 "2013-01-05T15:11:03Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > The worst part is that many of the bottled waters use tap water as their source. Virtually all of them do. Even many that claim to come from an exotic source simply come from the tap in an “exotic” location. Dasani comes from your local Coke bottler; it’s simply local public water run through their filtration system and diverted to bottles before adding any syrup, sugar, coloring etc., and it’s usually within the same price range as the flavored drinks. (Why do I have no problem hearing the howls of laughter from the board room when they look at the sales reports?) Almost any water bought in large jugs is local public water run through commercial filtration. I’m not knocking anyone who buys the cheap tier of filtered water because their pipe water tastes bad - although decent osmotic filtration systems can be had for $100, and that covers a lot of even generic bottled water plus time, transport and effort. We have well water that’s pretty good straight out of the tap, but the prior owners put in such a system and I do prefer that extra level of taste improvement and filtration for cooking. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-of-water/646118/24 "2013-01-05T15:46:28Z")
We have well water that tastes. . .like water. It is delicious. That said, we occasionally buy a case of bottles for convenience (taking boating, serving guests, etc) but I repeatedly refill the bottles. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-of-water/646118/25 "2013-01-05T16:11:36Z")
I drink beer, not water. I hear fish fuck in it. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-of-water/646118/26 "2013-01-05T18:55:35Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > \ I have a Brita pitcher at home, and carry a Nalgene water bottle to work. I have a re-fillable water bottle in my car with me at all times - I just re-fill it from taps while we’re on the road. ---
**Author:** ![Roland\_Orzabal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@Roland\_Orzabal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland_Orzabal)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-of-water/646118/27 "2013-01-05T19:33:47Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > I drink beer, not water. I hear fish fuck in it. Consider switching brands. Like **don’t ask** , when I first saw people paying soda prices for tap water, I figured it was a Pet Rock type thing that would die out soon enough. Glad I didn’t make any bets on that one. Even better is the multitude of varieties of _premium_ tap water — 75% more nothing than the leading national brand, all for only six bucks a bottle! Ah well, just makes [this Penn & Teller clip](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfPAjUvvnIc) that much sweeter. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-of-water/646118/28 "2013-01-05T19:54:00Z")
> [@NitroPress](#): > > I was just writing a section on product costs, and I used bottled water as an example. The calculation was so staggering I had to do it several times, then use a simplified online calculator to make sure I’d set it up correctly. As an exercise for the Dopers: > > In front of you is a pint bottle of water you bought for $2.00, and a pint glass of water from your residential tap. The ratio between their cost is: > > [spoiler] **800,000%**. That’s **Eight Hundred Thousand Percent**. > > Okay, let’s be sensible and discard the inflating factor of percentage: The ratio is a mere 8000:1. Feel better? > > (The average cost of residential public water is $2.00 per thousand gallons, or about $0.00025 per pint. _À votre santé…_.)[/spoiler] > > Anyway, this was a number I thought I already knew. I wuz rong. But what the hell else would we put in our Keurigs!? ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-of-water/646118/29 "2013-01-05T19:58:24Z")
I have a case of bottled water that I bought during the last hurricane warning. It’s sitting unused. I have a Pur filter on my kitchen sink and if I didn’t have that I’d probably just drink straight tap water. As others have said, bottled water is a huge scam, and it seems like they’ve successfully conditioned younger generations to insist on it. I see people who claim to be concerned about the environment yet buy their water at the supermarket. They don’t even buy the big jugs, which at least use less resources per gallon. I know someone who says that it’s for the convenience of being able to carry water with them. When I suggest that they refill the bottles from the tap, they say that they’ve heard that it’s not safe to reuse the bottles. I don’t know where they get the idea, but it sounds to me like marketing propaganda from the bottled water companies. Even if they get contaminated somehow, you can wash the things. ---
**Author:** ![Simple\_Linctus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Simple\_Linctus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simple_Linctus)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-of-water/646118/30 "2013-01-05T20:09:07Z")
I don’t see any reason why bottled water is stupider than, say, coca cola - and it’s definitely more intelligent than uber expensive wine. Obviously drinking it for health reasons is silly, but the mineral balance of water definitely affects how it tastes. I am very confident I could tell the difference between evian and volvic on a blind taste test, for example. ---
**Author:** ![toofs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@toofs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toofs)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-of-water/646118/31 "2013-01-05T20:17:04Z")
Yeah, but with Coca Cola I get caffeine, a nice brown color, sugar and bubbles and shit. Bottled water is just… water. No bubbles. You don’t get any other stuff. ---
**Author:** ![toofs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@toofs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toofs)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-of-water/646118/32 "2013-01-05T20:18:23Z")
I like bubbles. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-of-water/646118/33 "2013-01-05T20:27:10Z")
> [@toofs](#): > > I like bubbles. I do love me some San Pellegrino. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-of-water/646118/34 "2013-01-05T20:27:23Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > The only place I truly hated the water was when my inlaws lived in Jacksonville, FL - so much sulfur in the city water, it was gross! If it was cold enough and I didn’t look at the particulate matter floating in my glass, I could choke some down, but it was nasty stuff. That’s where I live, and yeah. ---
**Author:** ![Simple\_Linctus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Simple\_Linctus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simple_Linctus)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-of-water/646118/35 "2013-01-05T20:27:46Z")
> [@toofs](#): > > Yeah, but with Coca Cola I get caffeine, a nice brown color, sugar and bubbles and shit. Bottled water is just… water. No bubbles. You don’t get any other stuff. You get trace amounts of minerals that affect the taste. And you do get bubbles with a lot of bottled water anyway. I would have thought more than half of it is carbonated, at least that’s the case over here. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-of-water/646118/36 "2013-01-05T21:36:56Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > I drink beer, not water. I hear fish fuck in it. That is true for some discount light beer breweries that never clean their tanks but I am not sure why you consider that a selling point. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-of-water/646118/37 "2013-01-05T22:12:57Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > But what the hell else would we put in our Keurigs!? Whatever you wash your BMWs or Priuses with. ---
**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-of-water/646118/38 "2013-01-05T22:26:09Z")
> [@toofs](#): > > Yeah, but with Coca Cola I get caffeine, a nice brown color, sugar and bubbles and shit. Bottled water is just… water. No bubbles. You don’t get any other stuff. You get the bottle. And it’s refrigerated. That’s what makes it cost more than tap water. How much do you think the colour, caffeine, sugar and bubbles cost? The markup on coca cola would be similarly absurd if you only count the ingredients. I buy bottled water occasionally when I’m eating at a fast food place or restaurant. Because I rarely drink alcohol or sugary drinks. What’s left? I’m going to spend a few dollars on a drink with my meal. It’s no sillier to spend it on cold water than it is on cold sugary water. Eggs on toast costs maybe $10 at a restaurant. That’s at least a 1000% markup! Oh the iniquity! ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-of-water/646118/39 "2013-01-05T22:26:09Z")
> [@NitroPress](#): > > Dasani comes from your local Coke bottler; it’s simply local public water run through their filtration system and diverted to bottles before adding any syrup, sugar, coloring etc., and it’s usually within the same price range as the flavored drinks. (Why do I have no problem hearing the howls of laughter from the board room when they look at the sales reports?) Not only is Dasani, (and other bottled waters) just filtered tap water from wherever it is bottled, things like Epsom salt and regular salt are added back in to provide a ‘mineral water’ taste. > **[Dasani](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dasani)** > > Dasani (/dəˈsɑːni/) is a brand of bottled water created by the Coca-Cola Company, launched in 1999. It is one of many brands of Coca-Cola bottled water sold around the world. The product is filtered and bottled. > Coca-Cola uses water from local municipal water supplies, filters it using the process of reverse osmosis, and adds trace amounts of minerals, including magnesium sulfate (Epsom salt), potassium chloride and sodium chloride (table salt). > Coca-Cola announced that they would be distribu... > [@](#): > > Coca-Cola uses tap water from local municipal water supplies,[3] filters it using the process of reverse osmosis,[3] and adds trace amounts of minerals, including magnesium sulfate (Epsom salt), potassium chloride and table salt (sodium chloride). I am fortunate that my local water system gets its water from wells sunk into the cracked basalt of the local mountains, and it is delicious right out of the tap. I still buy bottled water for convenience when traveling in my car or at work but I know what it is that I am getting. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-of-water/646118/40 "2013-01-05T22:34:43Z")
> [@tellyworth](#): > > Eggs on toast costs maybe $10 at a restaurant. That’s at least a 1000% markup! Oh the iniquity! Which includes cooking, cleanup, probably the coffee to go with it and a place to eat it. (And it’s more like $5-6 for something that basic.) Water is water is water, whether it comes from a drinking fountain, a generic tap-water bottle or Fiji. Even a Coke has to be compounded from some somewhat exotic ingredients in a technically exacting process, creating some added value. (I won’t argue that a bottled Coke at $2.00 is any better buy, but the sheer audacity of bottling and selling something at premium prices that is essentially free anywhere you go in the western world - just a staggering triumph of marketing that has few equals.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-of-water/646118.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-of-water/646118.md?page=3)