# Why stock up on bottled water? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [March 7, 2020, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stock-up-on-bottled-water/849069 "2020-03-07T21:53:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stock-up-on-bottled-water/849069/41 "2020-03-09T14:39:54Z")
> [@pullin](#): > > Not only this, but water is moved by pumps. And therefore susceptible to interruptions of either power or the water utility itself. Those big water towers you see dotted around the city have less than a day’s supply stored. > > Another concern involves the chemicals used to sanitize and prepare the water prior to its movement toward the customers. Who supplies those products? I’d bet at least some of it comes via containerized freight, which would make it at risk now. > > I actually asked this same question in the other Corona thread and Broomstick answered it pretty well (like here). > > Utilities do not invest in backup capability, preferring to spend as little as possible on maintenance (PG&E anyone?). So I’ve long considered it prudent to prepare for temporary household independence from the “the grid”, be it power, water, food, or fuel. As such, we’ve done absolutely nothing due to the Corona virus. We did all that long ago and are just waiting (and hoping it was wasted effort). I worked for a water treatment facility. We were required to be able to run the whole thing using generators which were tested and run on a regular schedule. There are generators at all remote pumps as well. We were never days away from not delivering water. Sure, if there is total societal collapse, then the water would stop eventually. ---
**Author:** ![Driver8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Driver8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Driver8)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stock-up-on-bottled-water/849069/42 "2020-03-09T17:48:07Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > I’m in SF and I’ve been buying more food recently and also bottled water to stock up a bit. The non-perishable food stuff is related to COVID. I’f I get sick and/or quarantined I want to have a good amount of food around. I bought the water because I should have already prepared for an earthquake but like many, I kept putting it off. COVID serves as a reminder that I need to be better prepared in general for emergencies. > > I think maybe a lot of people are kind of thinking along these lines. “Well, I’m not sure how it will help with the corona virus thing but I’ve been meaning to be better prepared for emergencies for a long time. This got my but in gear.” This is me in the Seattle area. We really ought to be prepared to live “off the grid” for a month or so in case of things like earthquake, etc. This virus reminded me to get moving on those plans. So we did stock up on 25-year shelf-life emergency rations and made sure we had ample non-perishable items that we’ll rotate through normal use. And I did stock up on stored water, except in my case it was ordering some long term storage jugs from REI and filling them with tap water. I guess I’d be one of those bottled water buyers if I didn’t like tap water. ---
**Author:** ![a6ka97](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c2a13f/32.png) [@a6ka97](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a6ka97)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stock-up-on-bottled-water/849069/43 "2020-03-09T18:00:21Z")
I lived in a rural rental house with a well. Water was safe to drink according to the tests but undrinkable to me due to the taste/smell. Now if my family drank 8 bottles a day at home and went to Sam’s Club once a month I would need 240 bottles. I would be picking up 10 or more cases in 1 visit. It would look like I was stocking up but it would be my normal usage. ---
**Author:** ![Limmin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f04885/32.png) [@Limmin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limmin)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stock-up-on-bottled-water/849069/44 "2020-03-09T18:36:49Z")
I too live in a rural area. The local power is largely supplied by wind generators, and my water is provided by my own well. So…it seems possible my well would continue working just so long as the wind generators are turned on / not broken. The well water tastes pretty bad, so I double-filter it: Filter one is on the faucet, and removes the metals, pesticides and some of the mineral hardness. Filter 2 is in the pitcher, it removes everything else, including hard minerals. Letting the water stand a few minutes in the pitcher removes the gassy smell. After double-filtration, the water is actually pretty good. I would switch to a reverse osmosis system for drinking water if I could pony up the cash. So…I’d stock up on filters, not bottled water. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stock-up-on-bottled-water/849069/45 "2020-03-09T18:46:34Z")
> [@a6ka97](#): > > I lived in a rural rental house with a well. Water was safe to drink according to the tests but undrinkable to me due to the taste/smell. I live in a rural house with a well. The tests said the water has way too much iron, so don’t drink it and don’t cook with it. So I buy a lot of gallons of water normally for me to drink/cook with and to top off the fish tank with anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stock-up-on-bottled-water/849069/46 "2020-03-09T19:32:58Z")
I was just in the supermarket, the water and toilet paper shelves were fully stocked. And yet we still get images of empty shelves and panic buying. ---
**Author:** ![sjankis630](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ea924/32.png) [@sjankis630](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sjankis630)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stock-up-on-bottled-water/849069/47 "2020-03-09T21:33:12Z")
Here in Northern Virginia I have been slowly picking up canned food which inya pinch can be eaten cold and bottles water. My roommate works at a grocery store so we should be good on tp (lol) I also have a Brita pitcher that I use for drinking water. > [@](#): > > Also if you’re going to a football game or something, it’s easier to smuggle bottles of water than jugs (at least if you’re a guy). Hmm for some reason I read this originally as it was harder to smuggle in bottles of water if you were a guy VS a woman who could put them in her purse. Now that I reread it I don’t understand the statement. ---
**Author:** ![a6ka97](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c2a13f/32.png) [@a6ka97](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a6ka97)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stock-up-on-bottled-water/849069/48 "2020-03-09T21:59:11Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > I live in a rural house with a well. The tests said the water has way too much iron, so don’t drink it and don’t cook with it. So I buy a lot of gallons of water normally for me to drink/cook with and to top off the fish tank with anyway. Mine was palatable to cook with and shower. Drinking it straight out of the tap I couldn’t do. ---
**Author:** ![Mallard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Mallard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mallard)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stock-up-on-bottled-water/849069/49 "2020-03-09T22:34:37Z")
> [@sjankis630](#): > > Here in Northern Virginia I have been slowly picking up canned food which inya pinch can be eaten cold and bottles water. My roommate works at a grocery store so we should be good on tp (lol) > I also have a Brita pitcher that I use for drinking water. > > Hmm for some reason I read this originally as it was harder to smuggle in bottles of water if you were a guy VS a woman who could put them in her purse. > Now that I reread it I don’t understand the statement. A man just has to put the bottle of water in the crotch of his jeans and tell everyone he’s the reincarnation of Johnny Holmes. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2020, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stock-up-on-bottled-water/849069/50 "2020-03-10T00:09:22Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > I was just in the supermarket, the water and toilet paper shelves were fully stocked. And yet we still get images of empty shelves and panic buying. Yeah, I think it’s a local problem. I don’t see any signs of it around here; things looked entirely normal at the stores (though I didn’t check the face mask supply.) ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2020, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stock-up-on-bottled-water/849069/51 "2020-03-10T00:21:21Z")
Something similar on CNN. This is about toilet paper, but some of the same reasons are along the same lines. > **[The psychology behind why toilet paper, of all things, is the latest...](https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/09/health/toilet-paper-shortages-novel-coronavirus-trnd/index.html)** > > Toilet paper does not offer special protection against the virus. It's not considered a staple of impending emergencies, like milk and bread are. So why are people buying up rolls more quickly than they can be restocked? There are several reasons. ---
**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:** [March 10, 2020, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stock-up-on-bottled-water/849069/52 "2020-03-10T01:19:29Z")
> [@a6ka97](#): > > I lived in a rural rental house with a well. Water was safe to drink according to the tests but undrinkable to me due to the taste/smell. > > Now if my family drank 8 bottles a day at home and went to Sam’s Club once a month I would need 240 bottles. I would be picking up 10 or more cases in 1 visit. It would look like I was stocking up but it would be my normal usage. What an utter waste; of your money & of resources. Have you considered getting water delivery service; yanno, those 5 gal jugs you see in many offices, or at least switching to purchasing gallons & refilling the little bottles? > [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > I was just in the supermarket, the water and toilet paper shelves were fully stocked. And yet we still get images of empty shelves and panic buying. A lot of those images are from Australia; haven’t heard about them so much in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2020, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stock-up-on-bottled-water/849069/53 "2020-03-10T08:53:26Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > What an utter waste; of your money & of resources. > > Have you considered getting water delivery service; yanno, those 5 gal jugs you see in many offices, or at least switching to purchasing gallons & refilling the little bottles? Or just getting a Brita pitcher or equivalent. When I lived at a place with a well that’s what I did - I ran the water through that sort of filter for cooking and drinking. MUCH cheaper. Just replace the filters as needed. Instead of cases and cases of water I just picked up a small box of filters once or twice a year. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2020, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stock-up-on-bottled-water/849069/54 "2020-03-10T18:53:33Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > What an utter waste; of your money & of resources. > > Have you considered getting water delivery service; yanno, those 5 gal jugs you see in many offices, or at least switching to purchasing gallons & refilling the little bottles? > > A lot of those images are from Australia; haven’t heard about them so much in the US. I saw a photo from a local Target store where all of their soup shelves were empty. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2020, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stock-up-on-bottled-water/849069/55 "2020-03-10T22:26:35Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > I was just in the supermarket, the water and toilet paper shelves were fully stocked. And yet we still get images of empty shelves and panic buying. Every single story I’ve read or saw about empty shelves is always at a CostCo, every single time. People with CostCo memberships treat them like it’s the only place they buy stuff, my friend only gets his gas at CostCo despite having to drive 15 minutes out of his way to get it and waiting in a 20 minute line only to save 10 cents a gallon. Said he waited 40 minutes in line last week at CostCo to get his bottled water, when he could have very easily gone to a Food 4 Less just next door and just walked in and out with bottled water that was plentiful like I did. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stock-up-on-bottled-water/849069/56 "2020-03-11T02:57:39Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Yeah, I think it’s a local problem. I don’t see any signs of it around here; things looked entirely normal at the stores (though I didn’t check the face mask supply.) Update: Wegmans in Ithaca, NY, though well supplied with most stuff, was nearly out of toilet paper (and, slightly more logically, also quite low on kleenex/facial tissue.) I commented on this to a store worker and he said it had been like that since about 2 in the afternoon, when some people from Syracuse had descended on the store and nearly bought them out. (No, I don’t know how he knew they were from Syracuse. Maybe they said something about it.) The people from Syracuse didn’t seem to have found either the food coop or the Tops in nearby Watkins Glen; both of which seemed to be normally stocked in toilet paper as in other goods. ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stock-up-on-bottled-water/849069/57 "2020-03-11T03:11:03Z")
> [@sjankis630](#): > > Here in Northern Virginia I have been slowly picking up canned food which inya pinch can be eaten cold and bottles water. My roommate works at a grocery store so we should be good on tp (lol) > I also have a Brita pitcher that I use for drinking water. > > > [@](#): > > > > Also if you’re going to a football game or something, it’s easier to smuggle bottles of water than jugs (at least if you’re a guy). > > Hmm for some reason I read this originally as it was harder to smuggle in bottles of water if you were a guy VS a woman who could put them in her purse. > Now that I reread it I don’t understand the statement. I’m told that in some places “jugs” is a slang term for “hooters.” ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stock-up-on-bottled-water/849069/58 "2020-03-11T18:29:23Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Or just getting a Brita pitcher or equivalent. When I lived at a place with a well that’s what I did - I ran the water through that sort of filter for cooking and drinking. MUCH cheaper. Just replace the filters as needed. Instead of cases and cases of water I just picked up a small box of filters once or twice a year. We lived in Jewett City here in Connecticut for about 4 months, and there was enough iron in the water that if you set a pitcher of it in the sunlight, it would rust [well, go that muddy reddish brown color of rust] over the course of a day. We got a Britta, and as a hoot we backwashed the filter into a pieplate and found what were effectively iron bits when we looked at it under a microscope. We could pick them up with a magnet - very freaky. It was like someone had dumped that stuff that is in those draw on a cartoon with a [magnet toy](https://www.amazon.com/PlayMonster-Magnetic-Personalities-Original-Wooly/dp/B00BT92SB0/ref=asc_df_B00BT92SB0/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312061058569&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1041648274372570908&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9003285&hvtargid=pla-450530900368&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=60872326783&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=312061058569&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1041648274372570908&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9003285&hvtargid=pla-450530900368) into our water. But the britta made it palatable and not rust, I am very fond of filtering the water at our town house, it is town water rahter than well water and otherwise distinct chlorine and whatever smell that comes from however old the town water system pipes and tanks are. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stock-up-on-bottled-water/849069/59 "2020-03-11T18:59:03Z")
Our local water is delicious, but we’ve run it through a Berkey filter for years since I was in chemo. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2020, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stock-up-on-bottled-water/849069/60 "2020-03-15T03:07:38Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > I saw a photo from a local Target store where all of their soup shelves were empty. We were in a Walmart here in Honolulu the other night, and soup and chili were cleaned out. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stock-up-on-bottled-water/849069.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stock-up-on-bottled-water/849069.md?page=4)